Ethiopia: More than 700 ‘War-wounded’ Patients Reach Northwestern, Southern Tigray Hospitals as Fighting Intensifies: MSF
More than 720 people wounded in renewed fighting in northern Ethiopia have arrived at hospitals in the Tigray region since 22 September, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said, as its teams scale up emergency medical support amid escalating hostilities. MSF said on Monday that the number of war-wounded patients received at hospitals in Korem and Alamata rose from around 180 in a 48-hour period to more than 420 between 22 and 25 September. In northwestern Tigray, more than 300 war-wounded patients arrived at Suhul Hospital in Shire by 25 September. … MSF has suspended activities at Alamata Hospital because of the security situation. Outreach activities have also been suspended, with staff redirected to hospitals experiencing a sharp increase in war-wounded patients. Addis Standard
Somali Army Clashes with Local Forces for Control of Baidoa
Intense clashes have broken out in the Somali city of Baidoa between government forces and fighters loyal to the ousted regional president. Fighter jets and drones were reported as the hostilities flared on Monday in the South West State city after thousands of local fighters entered the city in the morning. Violence has plagued the city in recent weeks as the army seeks to maintain the control it wrested earlier this year. … A number of states in Somalia oppose President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. His government sent troops to oust the head of South West State, Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen in March. Laftagareen has repeatedly attempted to retake the area, including the administrative capital of Baidoa. Al Jazeera with AFP
Soldiers and Mercenaries Killed at Least 34 Civilians in Mali, Amnesty Report Says
At least 34 civilians were killed in seven incidents during military joint operations in Mali by the army and Russia’s Wagner mercenary group between June 2023 and December 2025, Amnesty International said in a report on Tuesday. The human rights organization documented the deaths of 34 people, who it said were not participating in hostilities, in incidents across Mali’s Segou, Mopti and Timbuktu regions along the Mauritanian border. It said the victims were mostly members of pastoralist communities who were attacked based on their ethnicity and their presence in areas where jihadist groups were active. Mali’s military-led government, which took power after coups in 2020 and 2021, has denied killing civilians in its fight against jihadists. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Moscow. “These murders were deliberate: the victims were shot, had their throats cut, or were burned alive,” Amnesty’s report said, adding that acts described in the report amounted to war crimes. Reuters
More than 50 Members of Niger’s Security Forces Killed in Attacks, Sources Say
More than 50 members of Niger’s security forces have been killed in two attacks in the west of the landlocked Sahel nation, where jihadists including members of the regional Islamic State affiliate are active, two security sources said. A convoy of gendarmes was ambushed near the town of Abala-Filingué on Wednesday last week, the sources said. A separate attack in Birni-N’Konni killed more than 30 soldiers on Saturday, they said. … The Islamic State Sahel Province, issued two statements on Sunday claiming responsibility for the attacks, SITE Intelligence Group said on Monday. The group attacked the civilian airport and military airbase in Niamey, the capital, in January, highlighting a lack of progress against insurgent groups on the part of the military-led government that seized power in a coup in 2023. Last month, mutinous soldiers in Niger attacked the airport and the presidency, triggering a standoff with forces loyal to the government who were supported by troops from Africa Corps, a Kremlin-controlled paramilitary force. Analysts and security sources say frustration is growing within frontline army units after repeated losses to insurgents, notably in western Niger. Reuters
Dozens Kidnapped in Two Weekend Attacks in Northern Nigeria
More than 80 people, mostly women, were missing Monday after being abducted by armed gangs in two separate weekend attacks in northern Nigeria, the latest mass kidnappings to rock the country. Gunmen on motorcycles — members of gangs specialising in ransom kidnappings and cattle rustling, locally known as “bandits” — have for years terrorised rural communities in northwestern and central Nigeria. On Saturday, at least 47 farmers were abducted by armed men while harvesting peanuts in Niger state, and on Sunday, 40 women were kidnapped in the neighbouring state of Zamfara, according to two security reports seen by AFP and a local source. … A local source said the 47 farmers, most of them women, were taken from their farms in Rimi, an agricultural community in the Mariga area of Niger state. … The women kidnapped on Sunday were taken from Yargada, in the Gusau area of Zamfara, according to a security report prepared for the UN and seen by AFP. AFP
Drone Strike Hits Strategic Fuel Depot in Central Sudan
Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) targeted a strategic fuel depot near Wad Madani, the capital of Al Jazirah state, on Sunday, security sources and witnesses said. The strike hit the Um Aleila fuel depot near Abu Haraz, about 20km north-east of Wad Madani, in the early hours of Sunday. Speaking to Radio Tamazuj, witnesses in nearby villages said they heard several loud explosions, followed by thick black smoke rising from the fuel storage tanks at the facility. … The Um Aleila facilities are important fuel storage and distribution sites serving Al Jazirah and surrounding areas, holding supplies including petrol and diesel. The depot was previously damaged and looted during the RSF’s takeover of Wad Madani in December 2023. … The latest attack comes as Sudan’s war between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) enters its fourth year. The conflict, which began in April 2023, has caused widespread destruction and displacement and created a severe humanitarian crisis. Radio Tamazuj
Haftar’s Forces Execute 30 after Secret Military Trials in Eastern Libya
At least 30 men have been executed in eastern Libya since late August after being sentenced to death in secretive military trials and at least 50 others remain at imminent risk of execution, local media and rights groups have reported over the last week. Amnesty International said the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF), led by eastern commander Khalifa Haftar and the de facto authorities in the region, resumed executions on 23 August in Libya for the first time since 2010. Those executed had been convicted following “grossly unfair and secretive trials” marred by torture, the rights group said. Some of those executed or still awaiting death sentences were convicted of murder and terrorism-related offences linked to fighting between the LAAF and opposing armed groups between 2014 and 2018, Amnesty said. Several detainees claimed to have been tortured by armed groups affiliated with the LAAF following their arrests, including to obtain “confessions” that were later used as evidence against them, the rights group said. Middle East Eye
Exiled Guinea-Bissau President Embalo Signals Return amid Political Tension
Guinea-Bissau’s exiled former president Umaro Sissoco Embalo, who was ousted in a November coup, told AFP on Monday he will return and run for president in an election due on December 6. The army seized power in the perennially unstable and poor west African nation just days after a presidential vote, overthrowing Embalo and suspending the electoral process. The junta established under General Horta N’Tam, a close associate of Embalo, has set December 6 as the date for presidential and legislative elections meant to restore civilian rule. Promising to return to the country but without specifying when, Embalo told AFP he “will be a candidate in the presidential election”. Many observers have suspected Embalo of orchestrating the November 26 coup to halt an election process he appeared to be losing. The coup occurred one day before provisional results were to be announced. … Guinea-Bissau is the latest example of an African nation’s leaders seeking to amend or overhaul its constitution to extend term limits, remove age restrictions or expand executive powers, following in the footsteps of Zimbabwe, Guinea, Togo, Uganda and Chad. Africanews with agencies
DRC Politician Beaten to Death after Radio Appearance about Ebola Outbreak
A senior member of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s ruling party was beaten to death on Sunday after appearing on a radio programme to raise awareness about the Ebola outbreak, a party representative has said. Marie-Celestin Karondwa, the acting president of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) party’s federal executive committee in Butembo, a new hotspot for the outbreak, was attacked after taking part in a radio show during which he promoted prevention measures for the disease, the UDPS federation in the city said in a statement, Reuters reported. The party said the attackers beat Karondwa, stole his belongings and set his house on fire, and that he later died from his injuries. It was not immediately clear who carried out the attack, how many people were involved or what motivated it, but the party said Karondwa was “an innocent victim for having defended the party’s position on the existence of the Ebola virus disease … and the threat it poses to the population.” The Guardian
Kenya Destroys $63 Million Meth Haul Intercepted at Sea
Kenyan authorities on Thursday destroyed a massive haul of methamphetamine worth an estimated $63 million, nearly a year after the drugs were intercepted in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Mombasa. The consignment, weighing 1,024 kilograms (about 2,257 pounds), was placed in a high-temperature kiln and destroyed as government officials watched. Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen oversaw the destruction and warned drug traffickers that authorities would step up efforts to disrupt the illicit trade. Murkomen said Kenya was being used both as a “transit hub” and a “market” for illegal drugs, and pledged tougher enforcement to prevent drug trafficking and substance abuse. He said suspected traffickers would face prosecution and that authorities would pursue the seizure of property linked to the illegal trade. AP