At Least 20 People Killed in Sudan after a Suspected Drone Strike Hits a Prison
A suspected drone strike launched by Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces hit a prison in the southern region of Kordofan on Saturday and killed at least 20 inmates, authorities said. Fifty other detainees were wounded in the attack on the main prison in Obeid, the capital city of North Kordofan, Information Minister Khalid Aleiser said in a statement. Aleiser, who is also the spokesman of the military-allied government, accused the Rapid Support Forces for the attack, which came as the militia escalates drone strikes on the military-held areas across the country…The RSF has launched nearly daily attacks on the camp and the nearby city of el-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur, which the paramilitaries have attempted to seize for more than a year. AP
Strike On Sudan’s Darfur Kills 14 Members of One Family: Rescuers
At least 14 members of the same family were killed in an air strike on a displacement camp in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region, a rescue group said Saturday, blaming paramilitaries. The Abu Shouk camp “was the target of intense bombardment by the Rapid Support Forces on Friday evening”, said the group of volunteer aid workers, which also reported wounded…The camp near El-Fasher, the last state capital in Darfur still out of the RSF’s control, is plagued by famine, according to the United Nations. It is home to tens of thousands of people who fled the violence of successive conflicts in Darfur and the conflict that has been tearing Africa’s third largest country apart since 2023. The RSF, which is at war with the regular army, has shelled the camp several times in recent weeks. Abu Shouk is located near the Zamzam camp, which the RSF seized in April after a devastating offensive that virtually emptied it. The United Nations says nearly one million people had been sheltering at the site. AFP
Burkina Faso Forces Killed at Least 100 Civilians in a March Attack, Human Rights Watch Says
At least 100 civilians were killed by Burkina Faso government forces in March near the western town of Solenzo, Human Rights Watch said Monday. According to victim testimony and videos shared on social media gathered by the rights group, the attackers were Burkina Faso special forces and members of a pro-government militia, the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland. The victims were all ethnic Fulani, a pastoralist community that is widespread across the region, which the government has long accused of supporting Muslim militants…The military junta, which took power in 2022, failed to provide the stability it promised. According to conservative estimates, more than 60% of the country is now outside of government control, more than 2.1 million people have lost their homes and almost 6.5 million need humanitarian aid to survive. The attack in the western Boucle du Mouhoun region, including Solenzo and other towns, began on Feb. 27 and lasted until April 2, involving hundreds of government troops and drones, according to eyewitnesses quoted in the report…After the government forces left, the report said that jihadist fighters from a group known as JNIM reentered the towns and carried out reprisal killings against residents, targeting the men whom it considered to be military collaborators. AP
Burkina Leader Seeks Stronger Military Ties with Russia
Burkina Faso’s President Ibrahim Traore on Saturday called for deeper military and scientific links with Russia while on a visit to Moscow. The head of the African nation’s military-dominated government and President Vladimir Putin held a meeting at the Kremlin, a day after they attended a Red Square parade with other international leaders…Traore said his country had “many projects with the Russian defence ministry”, but did not give details. Under Traore, who seized power in a coup in September 2022, Burkina Faso has turned away from former colonial master France and moved closer to Russia. Russia has faced severe sanctions since launching its offensive in Ukraine in 2022 and has undertaken a significant foreign policy shift, including by strengthening ties with Africa. AFP
Human Rights Watch Says Two Mali Opposition Leaders Missing
Two opposition leaders in Mali have been missing since Thursday after being abducted by masked gunmen, Human Rights Watch said, amid a growing crackdown on dissent by the military government. Abba Alhassane, 68, the general secretary of the Convergence for the Development of Mali (CODEM), was arrested at his home in the capital Bamako by “masked gunmen claiming to be gendarmes” and taken away in an unmarked car, the rights group said in a statement. El Bachir Thiam, a leader of The Change party, was taken “off the streets of Kati town” near Bamako on the same day, the group said, citing party members and local media…A senior official at the Ministry of Territorial Administration, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP the two politicians “are currently being questioned by the relevant authorities for investigative purposes”…Last weekend, in a rare act of defiance against the junta, a coalition of opposition parties managed to mobilise several hundred people for a demonstration in Bamako. HRW said the parties of Alhassane and Thiam were among those that took part in the protest, which prompted the government to suspend the activities of political parties “for reasons of public order”. AFP
Mali Pressed to Pay ‘Enormous’ Debt for Regional Dam, Document Says
Mali owes more than $94 million to the entity managing a dam which also provides power to Senegal and Mauritania, and the debt has become “a question of life and death” for its ability to continue operating, according to a letter seen by Reuters. The funding gap raises the spectre of more electricity supply problems in Mali, where outages in recent years have dented public support for the military government that took power following coups in 2020 and 2021. The Manantali dam and power plant came online in 2002 and has an installed capacity of 200 megawatts. More than half of what it produces goes to Mali while Senegal gets 33% and Mauritania gets 15%. Mali currently owes “an enormous amount of more than 54 billion CFA” francs ($94.12 million) to SOGEM, the entity that manages Manantali and several other projects, according to an April 25 letter from SOGEM to the director-general of Energie du Mali, Mali’s electric utility. Reuters
Nigeria: Northern Governors, Traditional Rulers Support State Police, Call for Accelerated Action
The 19 Northern governors, in collaboration with the chairpersons of the Northern States Traditional Rulers Council, have called for accelerated action in tackling the region’s security challenges. The northern leaders made the call in a six-point communique issued at the end of a meeting at the instance of the Northern Governors’ Forum (NGF), on Saturday in Kaduna. The NGF, which acknowledged the role of non-partisan cooperation and collaboration, in addressing the numerous developmental challenges confronting the north, deliberated on the ways to improve on the security apparatus of the region and Nigeria at large…According to the NGF, the meeting also decided to strengthen local initiatives in combating all forms of security challenges. News Agency of Nigeria
Nigerian State Bans Petrol Aiming to Curb Jihadist Attacks
Nigeria’s northeastern state of Borno, the epicentre of the jihadist insurgency, on Saturday said it was banning the sale of petrol in a bid to curtail a resurgence of militant attacks…The ban is part of the “state government’s strategic response to counter insurgency operations”, the statement added. The cutting of fuel supplies for vehicles is expected to restrict the militants’ mobility. The town targeted by the ban is the largest after the state capital Maiduguri, and sits on the fringes of Sambisa forest, a major enclave of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a splinter group of Boko Haram…Northeastern Nigeria has seen an upsurge in Islamist militant attacks in recent weeks, reigniting a grinding 16-year conflict that has left more than 40,000 dead and displaced some two million people. AFP
Ivory Coast Opposition Leader Resigns but Vows to Still Fight for Victory
Ivory Coast’s main opposition leader, who has been barred from standing in an October presidential vote, said Monday that he was resigning as party leader but would still lead the fight to win the election. Tidjane Thiam’s campaign for the presidency of the west African country has been mired in tussles over his nationality. A court in Abidjan struck him off the electoral list last month, saying the 62-year-old politician had lost Ivorian nationality when he acquired French citizenship in 1987. Thiam, who has not been in Ivory Coast for more than a month, also faces a legal case against his election as head of the Democratic Party (PDCI). That case was brought by a party member who also contested Thiam’s Ivorian nationality at the time he was chosen…But the former banker made it clear his decision to step down did not mean he was withdrawing from the battle for the presidency…Following Thiam’s announcement, PDCI deputy president Ernest N’Koumo Mobio assumes the party’s interim leadership. AFP
Central African Republic Warlord Sayo Detained on War Crime Charges
Central African Republic authorities have detained a rebel leader and former minister who has been charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes, a prosecutor said Friday. Armel Sayo, who was wanted in connection with several attacks on the army, was detained in Cameroon and had been in the Central African Republic since Monday, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement. According to local media, he was detained in Cameroon in January as he tried to take a flight to France. Sayo, 45, is head of the Military Coalition for the Salvation of the People and Recovery (CMSPR). He had previously been a minister in several governments. He was wanted in connection with several attacks but prosecutors said they stepped up formal requests for his transfer after a raid in the Markounda region in the north of the country that was blamed on the CMSPR…Prosecutors said associates of Sayo had also been detained. AFP
Three Radio Journalists Arrested in Niger
Niger authorities have arrested three journalists working at a private radio station, the latest reporters detained since a junta seized power in a 2023 coup. The three journalists all worked for the Sahara FM private radio and were detained in Agadez this week, after reporting that security contracts between the west African country and its Russian ally had allegedly ended, Ibrahim Manzo Diallo, head of the Air Info media group that owns the radio station, told AFP…Civil society and human rights groups say rights abuses and breaches of civil liberties in the west African country have increased ever since the junta came to power…Diallo told AFP that a police unit turned up at about 1:00 am on Saturday night and took the three journalists, two men and one woman…After appearing in court, a judge released them, but the police arrested them again on Saturday, he added. Other journalists have been detained and incarcerated in Niger after broadcasting content related to the ruling military. AFP
Ethiopia Journalists Face Renewed ‘Climate of Fear’
Journalists are facing raids and terrorism charges in Ethiopia as the media denounces a renewed “climate of fear” ahead of elections next year…Last month, three employees of Addis Standard, an online newspaper published in English, were detained for several hours for unknown reasons following a police raid on their offices…In March, seven journalists from the private Ethiopian Broadcasting Service (EBS) were arrested in a terrorism investigation after the broadcast of a documentary in which a woman claimed to have been raped by men in military uniform…On April 23, a journalist for The Reporter newspaper, who was investigating the grievances of dismissed former military personnel seeking financial compensation, was arrested. Last month also saw parliament pass an amendment to the press freedom law, putting oversight powers more firmly in the hands of the prime minister’s office rather than the semi-independent media association. AFP
South Sudan: UN Radio Journalist Detained in Rumbek East
Authorities in South Sudan’s Lakes State have arrested Manyang Mayom Meen, a senior journalist with U.N.-owned Radio Miraya FM, and detained him in the remote Mabor-duong detention center. The arrest was reportedly carried out by a unit of the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) in Rumbek East County. Sources say the SSPDF unit acted on orders from Lakes State Governor Gen. Rin Tueny. Relatives and civil society groups told Radio Tamazuj that Manyang was arrested Saturday under unclear circumstances. His condition is reportedly deteriorating due to a recent surgery. Daniel Laat Kon, a civil society activist in Lakes State, confirmed the arrest…“Mabor-duong is a detention center where criminals are held by security forces. Journalists should not be kept there,” he added, noting that he is following up with state authorities for more details. Radio Tamazuj
Somalia Floods Kill Seven, Displace 200 Families
At least seven people were killed in an overnight devastating flood in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, local government officials said on Saturday. Torrential rains, which started on Friday night and lasted about 10 hours touched off the floods that displaced more than two hundred families. Nine houses were completely destroyed across various districts of Mogadishu, while six major tarmac roads were also damaged…Hassan added “The floods also swept through the houses of 200 families while destroying six key tarmac roads, which are very important for the movement of transport and people in the capital Mogadishu.”…A UN report published on April 30 revealed that more than 45,000 people have been affected by flash floods in Somalia since mid-April. Somalia was hit by intense floods in 2023. More than 100 people were killed and over a million displaced after severe flooding caused by torrential rains linked to the El Nino weather pattern. AFP
More than 100 Dead after Flooding in Eastern DR Congo, Officials Say
Heavy overnight floods have washed away several villages in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing more than 100 people, according to local officials, in a nation suffering war and mass displacement. The floods were triggered by torrential rains and surged through the Kasaba village, in South Kivu province, during the night of Thursday into Friday, regional official Bernard Akili told news agency AFP on Saturday. Torrential rains caused the Kasaba River to burst its banks overnight, with the rushing waters “carrying everything in their path, large stones, large trees and mud, before razing the houses on the edge of the lake”, he said. “The victims who died are mainly children and elderly,” he said, adding that 28 people were injured and some 150 homes were destroyed…South Kivu’s provincial health minister, Theophile Walulika Muzaliwa, told the Associated Press news agency that rescue operations were hampered by a lack of services and a shutdown of telephone lines due to the flooding. Al Jazeera
African AI Fund: Five Questions on How Africa Plans to Join the Race
At the end of the Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit in Kigali, Rwanda, on April 4th this year, 52 countries signed a communiqué announcing the creation of a $60bn AI fund…The fund will likely be overseen by the newly formed African Council for Artificial Intelligence, announced shortly after the Paris AI summit…The council will function as an advisory body, reporting to the Smart Africa Council of Ministers, which in turn reports to the alliance’s governing board. This board consists of the 40 presidents of Smart Africa member states, chaired by Rwandan President Paul Kagame…The fund aims to “create and retain AI practitioners who can meet the continent’s needs” and finance educational programmes for young people at all levels. It will also support training in higher education institutions to develop globally competitive AI skills. Funds will also be allocated to raising public awareness of the benefits and risks of technology, as well as supporting research and researchers. The Africa Report