Red Sea Nations Watch as Houthis Seize Bab Al-Mandeb Strait
The Houthis have completed their takeover of Yemen’s entire Red Sea coastline, capturing the port city of Mocha and overrunning the strategic island of Mayyun (Perim) over the weekend. Houthi forces are now positioned just 20 kilometres from the African coast and essentially control the strategically significant Bab al-Mandeb strait, a chokepoint for Red Sea maritime traffic. While there are no indication that the Houthis would intervene outside Yemen’s borders, the war is already being felt on the African continent. … Bab al-Mandeb handles roughly 12 percent of global trade, including 11 percent of maritime oil and 8 percent of liquefied natural gas (LNG). … The Yemenis’ new position as gatekeepers to the Red Sea has given Eritrea, also across the Bab al-Mandeb strait from Yemen, a key geostrategic role. Under Eritrea President Isaias Afwerki’s rule, which has emphasised self-reliance, the country has had little interaction with the outside world. In recent years, Afwerki has utilised Eritrea’s strategic position on the Red Sea to break out of international isolation, including improving relations with the US and Israel. Al Jazeera
Yemen Displacement Tops 85,000 as Conflict Continues, 2,000 Flee to Djibouti
According to the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Displacement Tracking Matrix, displacement in Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country, has now reached 85,818 people, up sharply in recent days (82,164 since beginning of September alone ) as fighting continues along the West Coast. Families are being forced from their homes, and some are now fleeing the country altogether. Over 2,000 people fleeing the hostilities have reached Djibouti’s northern shores so far, landing at scattered points along the coast near Obock. Djiboutian authorities are leading the response, mobilizing the Navy, army, police and health services, with support from IOM and UN partners. Arrivals, many of them women and young children, have been transported to the Markazi site in Obock, where they are receiving water, high-energy biscuits and hot meals. More are expected to flee as fighting intensifies. … Inside Yemen, families continue to flee multiple times, some for the second or third time in 12 years of conflict, with almost nothing left. Roads are increasingly inaccessible due to ongoing fighting, and communications in affected areas remain disrupted, making it harder to reach people and assess needs. IOM News
Anthropic Says UAE-linked AI Op Targeted UN Experts Over Sudan
AI firm Anthropic has said it detected a UAE-linked influence operation that targeted the Muslim Brotherhood and United Nations experts critical of Abu Dhabi’s alleged role in Sudan’s war. In a report on misuse of its AI models on Thursday, Anthropic said it uncovered and disrupted the broad campaign it linked “with high confidence” to UAE government officials. Aimed primarily at the Muslim Brotherhood, the operation used the company’s Claude chatbot to generate reports, advocacy materials, social media content and testimony on Sudan. … Anthropic said the operation focused on an AI persona known as “Deadshot”, guided by a doctrine calling for “a coordinated transatlantic and regional operation to dismantle the Muslim Brotherhood globally”. … Anthropic said the operation compiled what it described as “counter-accountability dossiers” on UN special rapporteurs who had criticised the UAE’s conduct in Sudan. Another effort involved appropriating the identity of a genuine Sudanese human rights organisation and drafting testimony for two named individuals so that “materials serving a party to the Sudan conflict would reach the UN as from independent local witnesses, rather than state messaging”. Anthropic said the operation also ghost-wrote official testimonies intended for delivery at the 62nd session of the UN Human Rights Council, drafting them under “specific restrictions” that neither speech mention the UAE. … Anthropic said the operation ran roughly 300 fake social media accounts, though it could not determine whether the testimonies or dossiers reached their intended audiences or influenced policy decisions. AFP
Niger’s Junta Leader Appoints New Head of Military following Mutiny
Niger’s junta leader appointed a new armed forces chief, less than two weeks after a deadly mutiny threatened the junta’s grip on power. Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani named Brig. Gen. Mamane Sani Kiaou chief of staff of the armed forces in a decree read on state television late Friday. No reason was given for the change. Kiaou replaces Maj. Gen. Moussa Salaou Barmou, a junta member who had served as top military commander since the July 2023 coup that ousted democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum. The reshuffle followed a nearly 24-hour mutiny in the capital Niamey on Aug. 28 and 29. … New armed forces chief Kiaou previously served as army chief. He is a veteran field commander who has overseen operations against armed groups in the western Tillaberi region and southeastern Diffa region, according to local media. AP
Niger Mutiny Exposes Growing Reliance on Russia
The failed mutiny in Niger has shown the extent to which President Abdourahamane Tchiani now relies on Russian support when his government comes under threat, including from within his own security forces. On August 29, soldiers calling themselves the Armed Forces for the Restoration of the Homeland attacked Air Base 101 at Niamey’s international airport, the presidential palace and the national broadcaster in a coordinated assault. A statement circulated during the fighting falsely declared that Tchiani had been removed. Loyalist presidential guard units held the palace overnight, while about 200 Russian Africa Corps soldiers, backed by drones and reportedly reinforced from Mali and Libya, helped retake the airbase by evening. At least 27 people were killed, and about 100 mutineers were arrested. The mutiny showed who Tchiani could rely on when his own security forces turned against him. Nigerien troops held the presidential palace, while Russian personnel and equipment helped loyalist forces retake the key airbase. … The episode showed that Russia’s role in Niger now extends beyond the fight against armed groups to helping protect the military government itself. That is a significant shift from how the partnership was initially presented to Nigeriens: as a way to strengthen the fight against armed groups after the departure of Western forces. Al Jazeera
Nigeria Navy Chief Seeks Stronger ECOWAS Military Cooperation Against Transnational Threats
The Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Idi Abbas, has called for stronger regional military and maritime cooperation among African countries to enhance collective efforts against terrorism, insurgency and other transnational security threats. Abbas made the call on Friday, September 11, 2026, when the Chief of Staff, ECOWAS Standby Force, Brigadier General Sheikh Sulaiman Massaquoi, paid a courtesy visit to the Chief of the Naval Staff at the Naval Headquarters in Abuja. The Naval Chief said broader participation by African countries in regional security initiatives, particularly the recently launched Combined Maritime Task Force–Gulf of Guinea (CMTF-GoG), would strengthen the continent’s collective capacity to respond to emerging security challenges. The Chief of the Naval Staff advocated closer synergy between the ECOWAS Standby Force and the CMTF-GoG, noting that contemporary security threats increasingly transcend land and maritime domains. He stressed that effective responses to such threats required shared capabilities, intelligence, interoperability and coordinated military operations. Abbas therefore encouraged more African countries to participate in the CMTF-GoG, saying wider regional involvement would contribute to the development of a stronger security architecture capable of tackling transnational maritime threats in the Gulf of Guinea and beyond. He also called for the continued strengthening of the ECOWAS Standby Force to ensure that it remains operationally ready and capable of rapid deployment against common threats, including terrorism, insurgency and organised cross-border crime. PR Nigeria
How Rwanda-backed M23 Rebels Finance Their War in DR Congo
Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have embedded themselves into the local economy of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, using revenue from taxes and minerals to pay fighters, maintain an administration, and consolidate territory. But the system faces constraints: The rebels and their backers are extracting revenue from an economy weakened by war, disrupted trade, and the collapse of formal banking, while lacking the financial infrastructure needed to revive it. … Taxation forms the backbone of its financing system, extending from local companies and markets to transporters, cross-border businesses, ordinary residents, and even humanitarian organisations. To cement its system and have greater autonomy in areas it controls, the rebels have also set up a parallel financial system, though these efforts have not yet proved especially successful. Minerals like gold and coltan constitute another important part of the M23’s war chest, with lucrative mining sites and transport corridors subject to taxation and resource extraction. Many of these minerals are smuggled across the border to the M23’s chief backer, Rwanda, which has thousands of soldiers on Congolese soil fighting alongside and commanding rebel operations. … Cross-border trade is another lucrative area for the group, with fees levied on fuel, agricultural goods, timber, charcoal, and manufactured products that pass through M23/AFC territory from and into Rwanda and Uganda. The New Humanitarian
DRC: Tshisekedi Sets up Dialogue Panel amid Opposition Backlash
President Félix Tshisekedi signed a presidential ordinance on Sunday, September 13, 2026, creating an advisory committee tasked with laying the groundwork for an upcoming national dialogue—a political initiative immediately denounced by leading opposition figures who allege executive overreach. Rather than formally convening the assembly, the newly structured body is mandated to evaluate financial, logistical, technical, and security requirements, while submitting strategic recommendations to the head of state regarding the formation of a broader preparatory commission. Under the terms of the decree, the committee operates under the direct oversight of the presidency, which retains sole authority to appoint or dismiss its leadership, members, and eleven technical experts, as well as to control all official public communications. This concentrated structure has drawn swift condemnation across the political spectrum. Spokespersons for former President Joseph Kabila’s People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy dismissed the move as a non-event, while leaders from Moïse Katumbi’s Ensemble pour la République and Martin Fayulu’s Lamuka coalition rejected the process entirely, calling for a genuinely independent forum to address regional conflict and secure constitutional order ahead of the 2028 elections. Meanwhile, the Congolese Human Rights Commission adopted a cautious stance, urging peaceful negotiation while pledging independent oversight to prevent political abuses. APA
Ebola Case Detected in Northwestern Province Far from Epicentre, Official Says
An Ebola case has been detected in a province in the northwestern corner of Democratic Republic of Congo, far from the epicentre of the country’s most lethal outbreak on record, an official said on Friday. The case involves a man who died last Tuesday in the town of Gwaka, in South Ubangi province, according to Jean-Jacques Mbungani, a former health minister and a lawmaker from the area. He travelled from South Kivu province in eastern Congo through Rwanda and Uganda before re-entering Congo and arriving in South Ubangi, which borders Republic of Congo and Central African Republic, Mbungani told Reuters. Jean-Jacques Muyembe, head of Congo’s National Institute for Biomedical Research in Kinshasa, confirmed on Friday that the man had tested positive for Ebola. Authorities fear a large number of contacts due to the patient’s use of road and river transport, with neighbouring provinces and countries potentially at risk, Mbungani said. The ongoing Ebola outbreak, Congo’s 17th, has so far infected 6,942 people, including 3,349 deaths, according to the latest government data. It is the second-largest outbreak on record, behind the outbreak in West Africa that lasted from 2014 to 2016. Reuters
South Africa Extradites to US Six Suspected Members of Black Axe Gang
South Africa will extradite to the United States six Nigerian nationals suspected of being members of the Black Axe organised crime network involved in romance scams and cyberfraud, police said on Friday. The men are wanted by U.S. authorities on charges including wire fraud and money laundering. They allegedly targeted more than 100 women in the U.S., defrauding them of more than 100 million rand ($6.2 million) through online romance scams, South Africa’s elite Hawks police unit said in a statement, adding the victims included pensioners and businesspeople. Black Axe grew out of a student fraternity in the late 1970s called the Neo Black Movement of Africa, and it has since evolved into a structured, violent criminal organisation often dealing in financial cybercrime. The six men were arrested in South Africa in 2021. They will be handed over to officials from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Secret Service on Friday afternoon at Cape Town International Airport, the Hawks said. The extradition comes after other suspected Black Axe members were arrested in Switzerland and Spain earlier this year. Reuters
Addis Standard Receives 2026 NED Democracy Award for Freedom of the Press
Addis Standard has received the 2026 Democracy Award from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), recognizing the Ethiopian publication’s independent reporting on underreported conflicts despite access restrictions, state repression, and targeted attacks. Tsedale Lemma, founder and former editor-in-chief of Addis Standard, accepted the award on behalf of the publication, its journalists, readers, and supporters during a ceremony held on September 10, 2026, at George Washington’s Mount Vernon in Virginia. The publication was honored under the Freedom of the Presscategory, one of five fundamental freedoms highlighted by NED to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States. The awards recognize individuals and organizations advancing democratic freedoms in countries facing repression. In her acceptance speech, Tsedale described the recognition as a tribute to Addis Standard’s continued resistance to efforts to suppress independent journalism in Ethiopia. Addis Standard
Olympic Flame Arrives in Senegal for Youth Games, the First Olympic Event to Be Held in Africa
The Olympic flame was welcomed by music and dancing in Senegal ‘s capital Saturday, as a march by 100 women marked the countdown to the first Olympic sporting event held in Africa — the Youth Olympic Games. More than a hundred people gathered at Dakar’s Place du Souvenir Africain, a waterfront plaza overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by portraits of prominent figures from Africa and its diaspora, to greet the flame ahead of the Youth Olympic Games next month. The event, running from Oct. 31 to Nov. 13, will bring together about 2,700 young athletes to compete in 35 sports across Dakar and the nearby cities of Diamniadio and Saly. The Youth Olympics, first held in Singapore in 2010, are a smaller version of the Olympic Games for athletes aged 15 to 18. The flame was carried on Saturday by 100 Senegalese women, known as “lingeer” — a title for queens or royal women in Wolof, one of the main languages of Senegal. They included influential actors from the cultural, sports and economic sectors. … Senegalese basketball legend Mame Maty Mbengue lit the Olympic cauldron at the ceremony. International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry, who is from Zimbabwe, said the Games will be a “proud moment” for Senegal and the continent. AP