Mali Conflict Enters Dangerous New Phase with Banned Cluster Bombs
Cluster bombs, banned under an international treaty, have been used for the first time by Mali’s army and its Russian allies in the country’s north, where jihadist groups, separatist movements and the army have been fighting for more than a decade. The weapons were dropped at least twice last week during anti-terror operations in northern Mali, according to local sources, security specialists and a rights group which documented the attacks. The first strike happened last Friday at Oubder, near In-Gouzma, in the Timbuktu region. The second happened on Sunday at Tadjmart, near Aguelhoc, in the Kidal region. Cluster munitions release large numbers of smaller explosives over wide areas. Many fail to detonate immediately and can remain deadly long after fighting ends. Images obtained by RFI allowed specialists to identify a Russian-made RBK-500 cluster bomb and ShOAB-0.5 bomblets – weapons of the same type that have also been used in Syria and Ukraine. … More than 100 countries have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, also known as the Oslo Convention, which bans the bombs because of the risk they pose to civilians. Mali ratified the treaty after it came into force in 2010. The Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, a civil society group, says more than 90 percent of people killed or wounded by cluster bombs worldwide are civilians, many of them children. RFI
Sudanese Leaders Gather in Nairobi to Build Broadest Civilian Front to End War
A prominent delegation of Sudanese political, civilian, and armed movement leaders arrived in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on Wednesday to take part in high-level meetings aimed at establishing an expansive civilian alliance to halt the country’s ongoing conflict. The two-day meetings, scheduled for May 22–23, bring together the signatories of the “Sudanese Declaration of Principles for Building a New Homeland,” a foundational framework signed in Nairobi in mid-December 2025. The declaration explicitly asserts that “there is no military solution in Sudan” and calls for sustained pressure on the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and their respective armed allies to commit to the peace roadmap proposed by the Quad mechanism in September 2025. … The newly arrived delegation in Nairobi includes a roster of key political and civil figures. Among them are Dr. Abdalla Hamdok, head of the “Samoud” coalition; Abdul Wahid Mohamed Nur, leader of the SLM; Omar Al-Digeir, president of the Sudanese Congress Party; and Al-Wathiq Al-Berier, Secretary-General of the National Umma Party. Sudan Tribune
Sudanese Expatriate Experts to Launch Digital Transformation Initiative for Post-war Reconstruction
The Secretariat for Sudanese Working Abroad (SSWA) has announced final preparations for the inaugural forum of Sudanese expatriate experts and scientists, aimed at spearheading the nation’s digital transformation and supporting post-war reconstruction efforts. … Hundreds of Sudanese experts and scientists are currently deployed across various global destinations, international organizations, and UN bodies, specializing in telecommunications, digital transformation, and advanced technologies. Speaking to Sudan Tribune on Wednesday, Osman Hassan Osman, Director of the Knowledge Transfer Program at the SSWA, described the forum as a milestone in the country’s transition toward digitizing public services. He revealed that over the past 18 months, the program has successfully registered and organized a vast database of expatriate professionals under the umbrella of the Council of Sudanese Experts and Scientists Abroad. … He explained that the initiative aims to leverage the advanced skills of Sudanese professionals abroad to aid the Ministry of Digital Transformation in drafting national strategies, identifying technical knowledge gaps, and implementing effective solutions. The forum will adopt a hybrid format, combining physical attendance in Khartoum with virtual participation via video conferencing. Sudan Tribune
Nigeria Seeks Enhanced Intelligence Sharing, Joint Operations Against Insurgency in Africa
Nigeria has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening African-led security cooperation and collective responses to terrorism, insurgency and other emerging threats across the continent at the 2026 African Air Chiefs’ Symposium in Tunis, Tunisia. The symposium, organised by the Association of African Air Forces, brought together Air Chiefs, senior military officers and strategic partners from across Africa to deepen collaboration in airpower development, interoperability and coordinated security operations aimed at promoting peace, stability and sustainable development on the continent. Chairing the symposium, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke, said the theme of the event, “Operationalizing the Association of African Air Forces: A New Era of Shared Responsibility,” underscored the urgent need for African countries to collectively develop practical and sustainable solutions to evolving security challenges. Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Nigerian Air Force chief stressed that stronger partnerships, intelligence sharing and improved operational coordination were essential in tackling threats capable of undermining peace and economic prosperity across Africa. PR Nigeria
Nigeria Busts Meth Cartel in Largest Seizure, Arrests Kingpin
Nigeria’s anti-drug agency said it had dismantled a methamphetamine syndicate in the largest seizure of its kind in the country, seizing drugs and chemicals worth about $363 million and arresting 10 suspects, including three Mexicans. The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency said late on Wednesday that coordinated raids on a farm in Ogun state and linked properties in Lagos state, southwest Nigeria, uncovered an industrial-scale clandestine laboratory and yielded 2.4 tons of methamphetamine and chemical materials. NDLEA chief Mohamed Buba Marwa said the operation, carried out over 48 hours after months of intelligence work, exposed a network importing foreign “technical expertise” to produce drugs locally. Seven suspects, including three Mexicans described as meth “cooks”, were arrested at the farm used as a lab in Ogun state’s Abidagba forest, while the alleged mastermind, Anochili Innocent, a Nigerian, was detained at his Lagos residence. … The agency said the scale of the haul, equivalent to millions of street doses, highlighted a shift by drug cartels towards setting up production bases in Nigeria. Reuters
Ebola Case Confirmed in Rebel-held Congo Area Far from Outbreak’s Epicentre
A case of Ebola has been confirmed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s South Kivu province – hundreds of kilometres from the outbreak’s epicentre – the rebel alliance that controls the area said on Thursday. The case in a rural area near the provincial capital of Bukavu marks an expansion of an outbreak that experts believe circulated for around two months in Ituri province, several hundred kilometres to the north, before being detected last week. The Alliance Fleuve Congo, which includes the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels who seized swathes of eastern DRC last year, said in a statement that the 28-year-old patient had died and been buried safely. It said the person had come from the northern city of Kisangani, in Tshopo province, but it did not provide details about their recent movements. … South Kivu health spokesperson Claude Bahizire told Reuters earlier on Thursday that two suspected cases, including the patient who died, had been detected in the province. The other patient was in isolation awaiting test results, he said. Last week, an Ebola case was confirmed in M23-held Goma, the capital of neighbouring North Kivu province. Reuters
DR Congo Cancels World Cup Training Camp over Ebola Outbreak
The Democratic Republic of Congo has cancelled its pre-World Cup training camp in the capital, Kinshasa, because of an Ebola outbreak in the east of the country. Preparations have been moved to Belgium amid the upsurge, which is thought to have killed more than 130 people. The World Health Organization (WHO) has called the outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern”, but said it was not at pandemic level. Jerry Kalemo, a spokesperson for the national football team, told international media that pre-tournament games in Europe would go ahead as planned, as the squad gears up for their first World Cup since 1974. DR Congo are due to play friendly matches against Denmark, on 3 June in Belgium, and Chile, on 9 June in Spain, ahead of the World Cup finals. … The US’ public health agency has banned entry from non-Americans who have been in the DR Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the previous 21 days, in response to the Ebola outbreak. All DR Congo’s players, as well as the team’s French coach, Sébastien Desabre, are based outside the central African country and will therefore not be affected by the restrictions now that the training camp has been cancelled. BBC
Somalia: Puntland President Hosts US Delegation after Collapse of Mogadishu Talks
Said Abdullahi Deni, the President of Puntland, on Wednesday received a senior US delegation in Garowe for discussions focused on Somalia’s political transition, security cooperation, and investment opportunities in the northeastern Federal State, officials said. The delegation was led by Justin Davis and included officers from the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), among them Col. Shane Jones, commander of U.S. special operations activities in Africa, according to a statement from the Puntland presidency. Deni, accompanied by Puntland Vice President Ilyas Osman Lugator, discussed the political and security situation in Somalia, with particular attention to what officials described as the country’s ongoing transitional period and Puntland’s role in it. The talks also focused on strengthening cooperation between Puntland and the United States in areas including security, investment, and the development of natural resources, particularly minerals, fisheries, and oil exploration, the statement said. The U.S. delegation praised Puntland security forces for ongoing operations in the Calmiskaad mountains against militant groups and commended what it described as improvements in stability and development across the semi-autonomous region. Garowe Online
Somaliland Recognises Jerusalem as Capital of Israel and Will Open an Embassy
Somaliland is opening an embassy in Jerusalem, and Israel will reciprocate by opening one in the breakaway region of Somalia, in the latest sign that the two are deepening their ties. … Somaliland is an autonomous region in northern Somalia that declared independence in 1991. Israel became the first United Nations member to recognise Somaliland as an independent state in December 2025. … In return for Israeli recognition, Somaliland said it would sign up to the Abraham Accords, the US-led agreements in which Morocco, Bahrain, and the UAE established full diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020 and 2021. Sudan’s agreement to normalise remains unratified amid its civil war. Somaliland is a strategic node in a wider struggle for influence playing out in the region. The unrecognised state is 30km south of the Bab el-Mandab Strait, the narrow waterway that connects the Gulf of Aden with the Red Sea. … A foothold in Somaliland would put Israel a short distance away from Yemen’s Houthis, who targeted shipping in the Red Sea. Middle East Eye
South Sudan: RJMEC Says Proposed Amendments Undermine Peace Deal Supremacy
South Sudan’s peace monitors warned on Wednesday that proposed amendments to the country’s 2018 peace agreement risk undermining the accord’s supremacy and integrity, as implementation of the deal deteriorates amid renewed insecurity and political tensions ahead of elections due in December 2026. The warning came in the first quarterly report of 2026 presented by the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) to the reconstituted Transitional National Legislative Assembly in Juba. RJMEC Interim Chairperson Aggrey George Owinow said proposals submitted by the transitional government in January to amend the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) would fundamentally alter the structure of the peace deal. The proposed changes seek to delink the permanent constitution-making process and population census from the December 2026 elections timeline and repeal provisions establishing the supremacy of the peace agreement over conflicting laws and constitutional provisions. Radio Tamazuj
Ethiopia, Djibouti Advance Oil and Gas Corridor Talks as Regional Energy Logistics Push Accelerate
President Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti held talks on 20 May with Brook Taye, Chief Executive of Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH), on proposed large-scale oil and gas export corridor projects linking the two countries, sources familiar with the discussion told Addis Standard. The discussions centered on a two-phase energy infrastructure plan, developed by anchoring the recent engagement by Dangote Group in Ethiopia and aimed at strengthening Ethiopia–Djibouti strategic cooperation in energy logistics and export capacity. Under the proposed framework, the first phase envisions the construction of a pipeline transporting refined petroleum products from Djibouti’s port facilities to Ethiopia’s inland logistics hub in Daweleh. The second phase would involve the development of separate gas and crude oil pipelines designed to export Ethiopian hydrocarbons from production fields in the Somali Regional State to international markets via Djibouti. … The talks come amid a broader acceleration of Ethiopia–Djibouti energy logistics cooperation, reflected in a series of recent developments. Addis Standard
Final Case at UN Tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda Atrocities Comes to an End
The U.N. courts set up to prosecute the atrocities committed during the violent disintegration of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s and the 1994 Rwandan genocide held their final session on Wednesday, bringing to an end a decades-long process for international justice. The hearing marked “a truly historic milestone,” presiding Judge Iain Bonomy said, formally ending the proceedings involving the alleged financier of the genocide, Félicien Kabuga, who died on Saturday. Kabuga, somewhere in his 90s — his age is disputed — and suffering from severe dementia, had been forced to remain in the United Nations detention facility in The Hague after he was found unfit to stand trial in 2023 as no country was willing to take him in, prolonging the case against him. … He died six years to the day that he was arrested outside of Paris in 2020 after evading capture for nearly two decades. Kabuga’s case was the last ongoing proceeding at the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, the U.N. run body that took over the remaining cases from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda when it closed its doors in 2015 and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia when it shut in 2017. The pair of tribunals, each established on the order of the U.N. Security Council in the early 1990s, convicted 155 people for atrocity crimes and paved the way for the creation of the International Criminal Court in 2002. AP