Attacks in Somalia have killed a security officer and a man who was released from an Italian prison after being held 16 years in a wrongful conviction case.

Authorities say the first explosive device targeted a vehicle carrying the police officer in the town of Afgooye, 30 kilometers southwest of the capital Mogadishu. He was identified as Mohamed Abdi Madobe.

Security officials in Afgooye confirmed to VOA that the officer was killed when a landmine planted near a river bridge targeted his vehicle.

Al-Shabab militants claimed responsibility.

The second incident killed a man who served close to 16 years in an Italian prison.

Omar Hashi Hassan was killed by a bomb attached to his car in Mogadishu’s Dharkenley district, according to Somali police spokesman Abdifatah Adan, who spoke to VOA by phone.

Hassan was convicted for the March 20, 1994, murder of Italian reporter Ilaria Alpi and her cameraman, Milan Hrovatin. Hassan was later acquitted after it was determined he was wrongfully convicted.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the bombing in Mogadishu.
…

A U.N. investigator warns violence will increase and national reconciliation in the Central African Republic will remain elusive as long as the country has persistent corruption and impunity.

Yao Agbetse’s report was submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council on Wednesday. 

The independent expert on human rights in the C.A.R. presented his last report to the council in March. Since then, Agbetse says MINUSCA, the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the C.A.R., has documented 436 incidents of extremely grave human rights violations against more than 1,300 victims.  

Those include conflict-related sexual violence and grave violations of the rights of children. 

Agbetse says nearly half of the violations were committed by state agents and their allies, the other half by armed groups that had signed the 2018 peace agreement aimed at ending the civil war that broke out in 2013. 

Unfortunately, he says, gross violations continue to be committed with impunity.

“If the current situation persists, the Central African Republic will see an increase in tension and social tension, which may lead to an even more fragile situation in the conflict areas,” Agbetse said through an interpreter. “And the instability will give a new impetus to the armed groups who will take up their belligerent activities in violation of human rights and international humanitarian law.” 

That, he says, will prompt people to flee to other countries in the region and toward Europe. 

Agbetse calls combating impunity a priority. He says the population wants the state to investigate allegations of human rights and start impartial investigations of human rights abuse with the support of the human rights division of MINUSCA. 

“Moreover, it is important that the government follow up on the conclusions of the investigations conducted by its Special Commission of Inquiry established in May 2021 into the allegations of atrocities committed by FACA and their Russian allies,” he said. “The trials of the perpetrators of these violations and other serious violations must be started with no delay.” 

FACA stands for the Central African Armed Forces. 

The independent expert is referring to allegations of violations committed by Russian mercenaries associated with a private security company, the Wagner Group.  

They reportedly have been abusing and killing civilians in the C.A.R. since 2019. The United Nations, several governments and human rights groups accuse the Russian mercenaries of war crimes and crimes against humanity. 

Both Russia and the C.A.R. have repeatedly denied that the Wagner Group is in the country. 

In his response to the report, the C.A.R.’s minister of justice, Arnaud Djoubay Abazene, made no reference to the Wagner Group. However, he told the council the promotion of human rights in combating impunity and sexual and gender-based violence is at the heart of his government’s priorities. 

 
…

Members of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, a regional bloc that includes Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda, met Tuesday in Nairobi to discuss humanitarian, political, and security issues in the region.

The humanitarian situation that has made more than 23 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia food insecure took center stage at IGAD’s 39th head of state and government meeting. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said the countries in the region need to combat the drought situation.

“The drought, the worst in 40 years, has intensified food insecurity, dried up water resources and forced displacement of people, raising tensions that could trigger new conflicts,” said Kenyatta. “We urgently need to manage the drought before it becomes a threat multiplier.”

Some parts of the region have had four consecutive seasons without rain, forcing millions to move in search of food, water and pasture. Sudan’s leader, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, said the drought greatly affects the region and people’s lives.

“If we do not handle the drought situation, it’s going to be the worst we have seen in 40 years,” said the leader. “Drought is killing our people and livestock. The drought has also become a reason for our under development.”

Experts predict the region may fail to get any rain between October and December. Amina Abdulla is the regional director for the Horn of Africa at Concern Worldwide, an Irish humanitarian agency. She recently warned that without urgent humanitarian assistance to millions, the region risks losing 350,000 children to hunger. In Somalia, eight areas are at risk of famine and at least 200,000 children have died due to malnutrition since January.

Climate change and conflict are also blamed on the region’s food insecurity. Bankole Adeoye, the African Union’s commissioner for political affairs, peace and security, assured the IGAD members of the bloc’s support to mitigate the effects of the drought.

“The humanitarian situation, which has been further complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic and by the drought being experienced in many parts of the region, is concerning and the African Union herewith pledges African solidarity and collective responsibility,” said Adeoye. “It’s for us all to continue to fight the glaring effect of climate change in the world today. The African Union is ready to mobilize African and international partners to fight this scourge and to promote sustainable growth and development.”

Humanitarian agencies estimate 5 million children in the Horn of Africa region are malnourished, with 30 percent experiencing severe malnutrition. The European Union ambassador to Kenya, Henriette Geiger, told IGAD leaders that efforts are being made to get much-needed food from Ukraine.

“The security situation in the region is aggravated by unprecedented drought in the Horn and by Russian aggression, which caused the global food crisis,” said Geiger. “In Europe, we are working with the U.N. to transport grain out of Ukraine and the European Union, and its member states pledged over 630 million euros [$648 million] recently to strengthen food systems and resilience here in the Horn of Africa.”

The United Nations says it needs at least $4.4 billion to provide assistance until next month. But the donor support has fallen short of the targets.
…

The French medical aid group Doctors Without Borders reported a jump in cases of malnourished Nigerian children at its Maiduguri nutrition center in the country’s northeast.

The group, known by its French abbreviation MSF, said in a press release July 1 it had recorded an unprecedented influx of malnourished children in its treatment centers between May and June — the highest levels since commencing its project in northeastern Nigeria five years ago.

MSF said it had admitted 2,140 malnourished children this year — about 50 percent higher than cases treated the year before.

MSF said a third of the children were from displaced families barely getting by.

The group warned that cases could worsen between July and September — the so-called lean season, usually when the highest cases of malnourished children are reported every year.

MSF called for immediate action to reverse the negative trends.

“Why we’re saying this now is that this year we have been seeing very early, even when we’re not in the lean season,” said Htet Aung Kyi, MSF’s Nigerian coordinator. “And that’s why we’d like to call for urgent upscale of activities to prevent the future deterioration of the situation in the area.”

MSF responded to the increased malnutrition by extending the capacity of its treatment center from 120 beds to 200 beds.

MSF said its outpatient therapeutic feeding program has also seen a 25 percent increase in enrollment compared with last year.

A camp secretary of the Kawar Maila camp in Borno state, Bukar Bukar, said aid hardly gets to them these days, despite increasing numbers of children suffering from malnutrition there.

“In our camp, they’ve already withdrawn giving the food, that is the reason that the children have malnutrition. Last year we got food, we got everything. One piece of the milk is 700 Naira, we don’t even make that when we go to the market to sell our farm produce. Even last week some people went farming and Boko Haram killed two or three of them,” the secretary said.

For years, malnutrition has been a concern in the conflict-affected Borno state, but trends have been exacerbated by the cumulative impacts of insecurity, displacement, a recent surge in food prices, poverty and lack of access to health care.

“The current ability to respond to that is fairly robust,” said Peter Hawkins, UNICEF’s Nigeria country director. “Insecurity incidences of where capacity might be compromised makes that response mechanism very fragile. We’re concerned that our ability to be able to respond to acute malnutrition — if it is compromised — the situation could deteriorate very quickly.”

MSF said Nigeria needs not only to increase intervention and medical response but also to address other health issues such as measles, cholera and disease outbreaks that could affect children and worsen the situation.
…

At least 500 children have died this year of malnutrition as Somalia deals with record-breaking drought, the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said.

UNICEF Somalia says the death toll is just the “tip of the iceberg” as many deaths go unreported.

UNICEF Somalia spokesman Victor Chinyama told VOA the drought is having its worst effects on children, with 400,000 at risk of severe acute malnourishment.

If not reached immediately with emergency support, those children will be in danger of dying, Chinyama added.

“And so far, we have recorded about 500 deaths of children that have been admitted for severe acute malnutrition and this is only a tip of the iceberg because we know that there are many more children whose deaths are never recorded. These children are dying in their homes, they are dying on the way as they travel in search of help,” he said.

“Help is desperately needed at this point,” Chinyama said.

He said UNICEF Somalia has appealed for $112 million in emergency funds for this year but have only received about half.

The worst drought in the Horn of Africa in four decades is set to get worse as the region faces a fifth straight failed rainy season.

Officials in the town of Dolow, on Somalia’s border with Ethiopia and Kenya, say they still host about 10,000 people displaced from the last major drought in 2011.

In a visit Sunday to an IDP camp in Dolow, Mayor Mohamed Hussain Abdi told VOA that are caring for about 3,000 displaced people from the current drought.

Somalis are arriving every day in search of food, water and shelter, Abdi said.

“Dolow is a hub of U.N. agencies and international organizations. Dolow is a borderline area. And that resulted, you know, large number of internal displaced persons come here to seek … help from U.N. agencies and the government,” he said.

Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamed, who was elected in May, appointed that same month a special envoy for drought response, Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame.

Warsame has been tasked with scaling up aid to those Somalis most in need.

Warsame visited Dolow in June and told VOA that officials were doing everything they could to avert famine.

“That’s why we are calling (on the) international community and international donors to pay attention to Somali drought and increase their level of humanitarian assistance. Also, my government will do as much as possible to facilitate and contribute the assistance of the aid and support to the people who are affected by the drought,” he said.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said since January they’ve provided life-saving assistance to nearly 4 million Somalis.

In late June, the U.N. and its partners launched an appeal for nearly $1 billion for a Drought Response and Famine Prevention Plan in Somalia that would target 6.4 million people.
…

Malawi’s National Organization for Nurses and Midwives says about 2,000 nurses will leave the country this year for jobs in Saudi Arabia and the United States. The group says the nurses were forced to take jobs abroad due to high unemployment in Malawi. Health rights campaigners say the brain drain is alarming as more than half of nursing positions in Malawi’s public hospitals are vacant, which the government blames on lack of funding.

Malawi’s National Organization for Nurses and Midwives said that currently more than 3,000 trained nurses in Malawi are unemployed.

“We feel the pinch that unemployed nurses and midwives have gone through and are going through,” said Shouts Simeza, president of the organization. “Having graduated with a qualification and having been licensed to practice for five years without being recruited is not an easy way of doing things.”

Simeza said the first group of 1,000 nurses is expected to leave for Saudi Arabia in August. The plan is to send 1,000 each year for a five-year project.

George Jobe, executive director of the Malawi Health Equity Network, said he is concerned the nurses going abroad do not know enough about the jobs they are taking.

“Who else has gone to these countries and checked the health facilities they will work in, and under what condition?” Jobe said. “These are some of the issues, but paramount to everything is that we wished these were recruited here.”

Simeza said the organization has received assurances about the work in Saudi Arabia.

Government statistics show that 65 percent of nursing positions in public hospitals in Malawi remain vacant.

Dorothy Ngoma, adviser to the president on maternal mortality and reproductive health, said that unless the government finds a way to boost pay for nurses, many more will leave the country.

“What will happen is that even the ones that are in the mainstream will choose to quit government jobs here and go to the U.S and earn more money,” said Ngoma, who is also a past president of the nurses’ organization. “And there is nothing wrong with that. But, it definitely might cause brain drain and that might not be good for Malawi.”

However, the Malawi government says it cannot hire more nurses now, because of financial constraints.
…

At least two U.N. peacekeepers from Egypt are dead and more are wounded after their convoy hit an improvised explosive device Tuesday, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) said Tuesday.

The explosion happened between the town of Tessalit and the city of Gao, MINUSMA said.

The conflict dates back over a decade when Islamist insurgents began operating in the northern part of the country. Some of the militants are believed to have ties to al-Qaida and Islamic State.

Reuters reports the militants have made gains despite the presence of the peacekeepers.

The conflict has left thousands of people dead and millions displaced, Reuters reported.

Ten peacekeepers have been killed in the first six months of 2022.

Some information in this report comes from Reuters
…

Southern European states including Italy and Spain are urging NATO allies to address threats from North Africa, after the alliance agreed on a new “strategic concept” at its summit last week in Madrid.  

‘Hostile actors’  

While the war in Ukraine dominates NATO’s agenda, member states bordering the Mediterranean want the alliance to prepare for other potential flashpoints from the south, including a rapid increase in irregular migration. Spain warned it could be used as a pressure tactic by what it called “hostile actors.”  

Hundreds of migrants attempted to breach the border fence separating the Spanish enclave of Melilla from Morocco last month. At least 23 people died during the attempted crossing. The migrants, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, are desperate to reach Europe to claim asylum and find a better life.  

Many migrants also arrive by boat on the Spanish Canary Islands, 100 kilometers off the African coast. The numbers arriving in the first six months of the year have more than doubled since 2021 — and Spain fears the pressure on its borders could be about to worsen.  

Ukraine war 

Ukraine is one of the world’s top suppliers of grain, but the Russian invasion has cut its exports by around two-thirds. The United Nations has warned that the situation will exacerbate an already worsening hunger crisis in Africa. Europe is readying for an increase in migration.  

“We have been looking at whether there is more movement of people linked to the increase in prices, to the difficulty of these countries in accessing grain and wheat,” Txema Santana, a migration advisor to the government of the Canary Islands, told the Reuters news agency. “What we have been told is that for the moment there is not, but it is a matter of time.”   

Russian mercenaries 

A resurgent Islamist militancy in parts of the Sahel is also driving migrant flows. Europe also says Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group are exacerbating the conflict. The European Union has imposed sanctions on the Wagner Group, which it says works for the Kremlin. Moscow denies any links but says it is providing “military assistance” through state channels. 

“It is very clear that the Wagner company is there and that there are foreign troops in several countries of the Sahel,” Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told the Reuters news agency last month. “And definitely it is not foreign troops that the Sahel needs. What the Sahel needs is development and stability,” he added. 

Morocco deal 

Spain is seeking international help. In March it struck a deal with Morocco to secure a clampdown on irregular migration.  

“What the war in Ukraine meant for this migratory route is that Morocco changed its international relations profile, accentuated it, and proposed a change in relations with Spain to ensure that at this time of conflict the arrival of people would be lower. In return, Spain was asked, among other things, to change its diplomatic relations with Western Sahara. 

“Spain has accepted this and this is leading to many geopolitical changes and will lead to many changes in the borders and the situation of migrants in Western Sahara and Morocco,” explained government adviser Txema Santana. 

Critics accuse Madrid of outsourcing migration policy to a country with a history of human rights abuses.  

The Moroccan Association for Human Rights, along with the Spanish migration charity Walking Borders, cited the incident at the Morocco-Melilla border in June, describing it as a “tragic symbol of European policies of externalizing borders of the EU.” 

A Moroccan official told Reuters that security personnel “had not used undue force.” 

NATO  

At last week’s NATO summit, Spain secured official recognition by the alliance of the threats emanating from North Africa. At a press conference at the close of the summit, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he had achieved his aims for the meeting. 

“We are really glad to have included the southern flank in the strategic concept … especially about the African sub-Saharan and Sahel area, which is one of the major concerns for Europe and particularly for our country as a consequence of instability and risks coming from the irregular flux of migrants, terrorism, food crisis, energy crisis and the climate emergency too,” Sanchez said.  

Meanwhile, NATO forces held exercises in recent days just off the Spanish and North African coasts. The FLOTEX-22 drills included forces from Spain, Britain, Belgium and the United States, along with other European units integrated into the EU’s maritime force. 

Residents of the Spanish town of Tarifa had a front-row view of the drills. One resident, who asked not to be named, welcomed the focus on North Africa. 

“It is a very unstable area; it is a ticking time bomb, you know what the Maghreb is, anything can come of it, a war, conflict,” he told VOA. He was referring to northwestern Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia. 

Spain maintains it is not calling for any NATO intervention in North Africa, but instead recognition of what it calls hybrid threats. 

VOA’s Alfonso Beato contributed to this report.

 
…

The World Food Program warns the Central African Republic is facing unprecedented levels of food insecurity due to conflict, population displacement, widespread poverty, and underemployment.

WFP officials say they anticipate a sharp increase in commodity prices this year and extending well into 2023. They say the price of rice is expected to rise by 30%, wheat flour by 67%, and vegetable oil by a staggering 70%.

That, they note, will make staple food products unaffordable for millions of people, leading to more hunger and more distress as people are forced to resort to extreme measures to put food on the table.

WFP spokesman Tomson Phiri says 2.2 million people are food insecure in C.A.R.

“The figure might not shock you out of your seats but when you look at the population size, that is nearly half the population of the Central African Republic,” said Phiri. “And the country now joins the league of nations, such as Afghanistan, Yemen, South Sudan with the highest proportion of acutely food insecure.”

As less food becomes available, Phiri says more children will suffer from malnutrition.

UNICEF says the number of severely acutely malnourished children under age five is expected to rise in the country by 10% this year to 69,000. Children suffering from the condition are at risk of dying if they do not get the right medical and nutritional care.

Phiri says the WFP is struggling to provide the food and specialized treatment needed by children, women, and other vulnerable people in the C.A.R. and a lack of money is hindering those efforts.

“Our costs of operating are skyrocketing,” said Phiri. “The United Nations World Food Program is appealing urgently for $68.4 million. Without immediate funding, food and nutrition insecurity will only increase for millions of people.”

Phiri says the challenges facing the C.A.R. are well documented and pre-date the crisis in Ukraine. But noting the impact of the war on rising commodity and fuel prices, he says humanitarian assistance will be required well beyond this year and into 2023.
…

Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi will meet his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, for talks in Angola this week, officials said Monday.

There were no details on what they would discuss, but the neighbors have been at diplomatic loggerheads since a surge of attacks in eastern Congo by the M23 rebel group — which Kinshasa accuses Kigali of backing.  

Rwanda denies supporting the rebels and has, in turn, accused Congo of fighting alongside insurgents — a faceoff that has raised fears of fresh conflict in the region.

The meeting is likely to take place on Tuesday or Wednesday in Angola’s capital, Luanda, according to the officials — two of them from Congo and one Rwanda — who did not wish to be named.

Earlier on Monday, Kagame said he did not mind Rwanda being excluded from a regional military force set up in April to fight rebels in east Congo, removing a potential stumbling block to the initiative.

Congo had welcomed the plan but said it would not accept the involvement of Rwanda.  

“I have no problem with that. We are not begging anyone that we participate in the force,” Kagame told Rwanda’s state broadcaster in a wide-ranging interview.

“If anybody’s coming from anywhere, excluding Rwanda, but will provide the solution that we’re all looking for, why would I have a problem?” Kagame said.

At the end of March, the M23 started waging its most sustained offensive in Congo’s eastern borderlands since capturing vast swaths of territory in 2012 and 2013.

Rwanda accuses Congo’s army of firing into Rwandan territory and fighting alongside the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, an armed group run by ethnic Hutus who fled Rwanda after taking part in the 1994 genocide.  

Recent attempts to stop the violence militarily have proven unsuccessful, and in some cases backfired, security analysts and human rights groups say.

Despite billions of dollars spent on one of the United Nations’ largest peacekeeping forces, more than 120 rebel groups continue to operate across large swaths of east Congo almost two decades after the official end of the central African country’s civil wars. 
…

Ethiopia’s leader reported a massacre Monday allegedly by rebels in a restive region where a rebel group opposed to his government is accused of targeting civilians amid fighting with government troops.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office didn’t provide fatality figures, but the Amhara Association of America told The Associated Press, quoting sources on the ground, that it believes 150 to 160 people may have been killed in the attacks. 

The AP wasn’t able to independently verify casualty figures by the association, which said ethnic Amhara people were targeted and that the killings started early in the day.

“Shene group members fleeing from attacks by (government) security forces are inflicting danger on citizens in West Wellega,” Abiy said in a tweet Monday, adding that operations are under way to chase the rebels. “Citizens in the Oromia region’s Qellen Wellega area have come under a massacre.”

The prime minister’s announcement came three weeks after hundreds of civilians belonging to the Amhara community were killed in the same region in attacks blamed on the OLA, which the government refers to as Shene. The rebel group denied that accusation, instead accusing government forces and a local militia of carrying out the attacks.

Phone communication with the remote area has been cut since midday.

The killings will pile pressure on Abiy’s government to do more to protect civilians as a wave of ethnic unrest persists in Africa’s second-most-populous country. Attacks targeting minorities living across the country have increased in recent years because of political, historical and ethnic tensions.

Ethnic Amhara, the second-largest ethnic group in Ethiopia but a minority in other regions, have been targeted repeatedly.

Several dozen were killed in attacks in the Benishangul Gumuz and Oromia regions over the past three years alone. Last month, witnesses told the AP that more than 400 civilians were killed in a June 18 attack against ethnic Amhara in the Oromia region’s Tole area. 
…

Sudan’s leading general said Monday the country’s military will withdraw from negotiations meant to solve the ongoing political crisis after a coup last year, allowing civil society representatives to take their place.

In televised statements aired on Sudan’s state television, General Abdel-Fattah Burhan also promised that he would dissolve the sovereign council that he leads after a new transitional government is formed. The council has governed the country since the military took power in a coup last year.

Since the coup, the U.N. political mission in Sudan, the African Union and the eight-nation east African regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development have been trying to broker a way out of the political impasse. But talks have yielded no results so far. Pro-democracy groups have repeatedly said they will not negotiate with the military, and they have called for it to immediately hand the reins to a civilian government.

Burhan did not specify any dates or who would replace the military at the negotiating table. After the ruling council is dissolved, he said, the army and the powerful paramilitary known as the Rapid Support Forces will be placed under a new governing body responsible for the country’s defense and security.

Sudan has been plunged into turmoil since the military takeover upended its short-lived transition to democracy after three decades of repressive rule by former strongman Omar al-Bashir. The military removed al-Bashir and his Islamist-backed government in a popular uprising in April 2019.

Burhan’s statements come after a deadly week for the country’s pro-democracy protesters. On Thursday, nine people were killed and at least 629 injured by security forces in anti-military demonstrations, according to the Sudan’s Doctors Committee, which has tracked protest casualties.

Sudanese military authorities have met the near-weekly street protests since the coup with a crackdown that has so far killed 113 people, including 18 children.

Western governments have repeatedly called on the generals to allow peaceful protests but have also angered the pro-democracy movement for engaging with the leading generals.
…

The Tigray conflict in Ethiopia’s north is overshadowing a “persistent cycle of violence” against civilians by security forces and armed groups in the Oromia region, Human Rights Watch said Monday.

The New York-based watchdog said it had documented serious abuses in Ethiopia’s most populous region, including in western Oromia, where an “abusive” government campaign against an armed rebel group had trapped civilians in the crossfire.

This violence has persisted for years without redress while global attention has centered on Tigray, where major combat between federal forces and rebels from the region exploded in November 2020.

“Well before the conflict in northern Ethiopia, there has been widespread impunity for ongoing rights abuses in Ethiopia’s Oromia region, including in areas already suffering from conflict,” HRW said in a statement.

“Many of these abuses still persist and require urgent international attention.”

This culture of impunity “has only emboldened unaccountable security forces and done nothing to prevent further harm,” it said.

Access is restricted to western Oromia, where Ethiopia’s armed forces have been countering a rebellion by the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) for years.

But summary executions and arbitrary detentions by government forces have still been documented there, HRW said, as have abductions and killings of local leaders and government officials by armed groups.

In June, hundreds of people, mostly from the Amhara ethnic group, were massacred by gunmen in the western Oromia village of Tole.

Local authorities said the OLA was responsible, but the rebels denied any role and blamed a pro-government militia.

Earlier that month, government forces were accused of summarily executing suspected OLA collaborators in the capital of the neighboring Gambella region following an attack on the city.

Oromia was the scene of deadly violence after the murder in June 2020 of Hachalu Hundessa, a popular Oromo singer who gave voice to the frustrations felt by many in the region.

More than 160 people were killed in street demonstrations following his death while Oromo political leaders and opposition activists were rounded up and detained in a sweeping government crackdown.

Many were later released, but some remained in detention despite court orders for their release, HRW said.

“Ethiopia’s government and its partners should no longer ignore the mounting tragedies affecting families throughout Oromia. There is a deep need for structural reforms of the abusive security apparatus and for social repair,” HRW said.

“The government can start by facilitating credible independent investigations into the serious abuses by its own forces and by armed groups, as communities demanded.”
…

A senior UNICEF official says humanitarian aid is flowing into previously inaccessible areas in northern Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region. He says lifesaving aid is reaching hundreds of thousands of people in need thanks to the government’s humanitarian truce with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.

Researchers at Ghent University in Belgium estimate as many as half a million people have died from war, starvation, and other indirect causes in Tigray. This, since Ethiopian military forces invaded the region November 4, 2020, in response to attacks by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.

In an interview with VOA from his office in Addis Ababa, UNICEF’s representative in Ethiopia, Gianfranco Rotigliano, says there has been a change since the government truce was declared in March. He says 170 trucks rolled into previously blockaded areas in April and expects that number to increase to more than 1,000 trucks a month.

Rotigliano describes the needs as immense. He says more than five million people in Tigray require international aid, as well as an additional seven million people in the conflict-affected Amhara and Afar regions.

“We have great needs in terms of repairing infrastructures that were looted, that were destroyed… and the, you know the lack of supplies in certain areas makes it also very difficult for children to get health services, to get immunization. Many schools are closed so children cannot go to school and there are more risks for exploitation and sexual abuse in the region,” he said.

UNICEF estimates nearly 400,000 children in northern Ethiopia are malnourished. It says 80,000 severely malnourished children have been treated for this life-threatening condition this year, compared to 36,500 during the same period last year, indicating a seriously deteriorating situation.

Rotigliano tells VOA priority needs include food, seed, and fertilizers, as well as cash to pay civil servants, doctors, nurses, and other essential workers who receive no salary. He says another critical issue is fuel, which is in short supply.

“This is a big problem because fuel is not an issue of Ethiopia. It is a global issue. As you know, with the war in Ukraine, the price of fuel has gone up and the actual supply of fuel has decreased. So, this is a big issue that we have, that we are facing now,” he said.

Rotigliano warns the distribution of lifesaving aid to millions of people in Tigray will be severely affected if fuel supplies run out.

U.N. agencies estimate 100 trucks carrying food, medicine, non-food items and fuel must arrive in Tigray every day to meet the region’s humanitarian needs.
…

African leaders have lifted economic sanctions on Mali.

The move by the leaders of the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, on Sunday, came after Mali’s military leaders submitted a proposal for a transition to democracy within 24 months and published a new electoral law.

Mali received tough sanctions from ECOWAS after the junta did not follow through with previous plans for democratic elections.

The sanctions have resulted in Mali defaulting on millions of dollars of debt.

Sanctions on Burkina Faso were also lifted at the meeting in Accra, after junta leaders promised to restore constitutional order in 24 months.

Some information in this report came from Reuters.
…

The World Food Program warns conflict, climate change, COVID-19, and skyrocketing prices of food, fuel, and fertilizer are further threatening stability and development prospects in Africa’s Sahel region. 

WFP warns a wave of hunger and suffering is sweeping across part of the Sahel, driving people to the brink of desperation and upending years of development gains.

The agency reports 12.7 million people are acutely hungry, including 1.4 million on the verge of starvation. It says 6 million children are acutely malnourished, making them vulnerable to disease and even death if they do not receive treatment for their condition.

Alexandre Le Cuziat is WFP senior emergency preparedness and response adviser for West Africa. Speaking from Dakar in Senegal, he warns the number of people suffering from acute hunger and the number of malnourished children is likely to rise during the current lean season when food stocks are at their lowest.

“What we see is that acute hunger is driven primarily by conflict that will continue to trigger massive population displacements and the violence is often preventing people from accessing markets, fields, or humanitarian assistance. The region also bears the consequences of a climatic shock with very, very poor rains in 2021, one of the worst in the last 40 years,” he said.

Le Cuziat says the conflict in Ukraine has driven up food and energy prices. He adds it also has led to shortages of fertilizer needed for the planting season, which is now over.

He notes less than half of the region’s fertilizer needs have been met. This, he says, could result in a 20% drop in agricultural production in the region this year, further increasing the levels of hunger.

He says needs in the region are at record highs at a time when resources to respond to emergencies are dwindling. He says a lack of money is forcing WFP to reduce the number of people receiving assistance and to cut rations for the remaining beneficiaries.

“Even before the conflict in Ukraine drove up the global prices of food, fuel, and fertilizer, we were forced to cut rations by up to 50% in all of the Sahelian countries, as well as Nigeria, CAR. And our emergency nutrition programs are also underfunded, which combined to the cuts I was mentioning on our operations is going to put a lot of stress on what little resources the poorest families have left,” he said.

Le Cuziat says WFP requires $329 million in the next six months for its life saving operation and to prevent the Sahel from becoming, what he calls, an all-out humanitarian catastrophe.
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Pope Francis urged the people and leaders of Congo and South Sudan on Saturday to “turn a page” and forge new paths of reconciliation, peace and development.

Francis issued a video message on the day he had planned to begin a weeklong pilgrimage to the two African countries. He canceled the scheduled trip last month because of knee pain that makes walking and standing difficult.

In the message, Francis said he was “greatly disappointed” to not be able to travel and promised to visit “as soon as possible.”

He urged the people of both countries not to allow themselves to be robbed of hope despite the violence, political instability, exploitation and poverty that he said had pained them for so long.

“You have a great mission, all of you, beginning with your political leaders: It is that of turning a page in order to blaze new trails, new paths of reconciliation and forgiveness, of serene coexistence and of development,” Francis said.

He said political leaders owed the pursuit of such goals to young people who dream of peace “and deserve to see those dreams come true.”

“For their sake, above all, it is necessary to lay down arms, to overcome all resentment, and to write new pages of fraternity,” the pope said.

He was joined in issuing separate video messages by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, and the moderator of the Church of Scotland Right Rev. Dr. Iain Greenshields, who were supposed to have accompanied Francis on the South Sudan leg of the trip. In their messages, they expressed disappointment that the visit had to be postponed but urged South Sudanese to nevertheless keep working for peace.

“Peace requires much more than not being at war. It must be created together, with your fellow leaders and even with your enemies,” Welby said in his message. Greenshields urged the South Sudanese to “give expression to Jesus’ words that ‘Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called the children of God.’”

While Francis was unable to travel, he is due to celebrate a special Mass at St. Peter’s on Sunday for Rome’s Congolese community. He sent his No. 2, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, to visit both Congo and South Sudan on the days he was supposed to have been there.

The Catholic Church has always played a role in Congo, especially in the establishment of democracy and advocacy for human rights. The church deployed about 40,000 electoral observers in the 2019 election that brought Felix Tshisekedi to the presidency. Tshisekedi, an opposition figure, defeated then President Joseph Kabila’s chosen candidate in what was Congo’s first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence from Belgium in 1960.

There were high hopes for peace and stability once South Sudan gained its long-fought independence from Sudan. But it slid into ethnic violence in December 2013. A 2018 peace deal that binds President Salva Kiir and his deputy, Riek Machar, in a unity government encourages authorities to hold elections before February 2023.
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Police in Nigeria say they have rescued 77 people, including children, from a church basement in the southwestern state of Ondo.

Reports say some of the people had been in the Whole Bible Believers Church for as long as six months and had been convinced they would soon witness the second coming of Jesus Christ.

While some of the people are reported to have been kidnapped, others came freely.  One young woman told Punch, a Nigerian publication, that she had decided to join the church because “my parents were leading me away from God and I want to make heaven.”

Authorities conducted the raid on the church after complaints from parents.

The pastor and other members of the church have been arrested, police said.
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A senior U.N. official for Libya on Saturday condemned the storming of the parliament’s headquarters in the east of the oil-rich country as part of protests in several cities the previous day against the political class and deteriorating economic conditions.

Hundreds of protesters marched in the streets of the capital, Tripoli, and other Libyan cities Friday, with many attacking and setting fire to government buildings, including the House of Representatives in the eastern city of Tobruk.

“The people’s right to peacefully protest should be respected and protected but riots and acts of vandalism such as the storming of the House of Representatives headquarters late yesterday in Tobruk are totally unacceptable,” said Stephanie Williams, the U.N. special adviser on Libya, on Twitter.

Friday’s protests came a day after the leaders of the parliament and another legislative chamber based in Tripoli failed to reach an agreement on elections during U.N.-mediated talks in Geneva. The dispute now centers on the eligibility requirements for candidates, according to the United Nations.

Libya failed to hold elections in December, following challenges such as legal disputes, controversial presidential hopefuls and the presence of rogue militias and foreign fighters in the country.

The failure to hold the vote was a major blow to international efforts to bring peace to the Mediterranean nation. It has opened a new chapter in its long-running political impasse, with two rival governments now claiming power after tentative steps toward unity in the past year.

The protesters, frustrated from years of chaos and division, have called for the removal of the current political class and elections to be held. They also rallied against dire economic conditions in the oil-rich nation, where prices have risen for fuel and bread and power outages are a regular occurrence.

Protesters also rallied Saturday in Tripoli and several towns in western Libya, blocking roads and setting tires ablaze, according to livestreaming on social media.

There were fears that militias across the country could quash the protests as they did in 2020 demonstrations when they opened fire on people protesting dire economic conditions.

Sabadell Jose, the European Union envoy in Libya, called on protesters to “avoid any type of violence.” He said Friday’s demonstrations demonstrated that people want “change through elections and their voices should be heard.”

The U.S. ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland, urged Libyan political leaders and their foreign backers to work for a compromise to hold elections.

“It is clear no single political entity enjoys legitimate control across the entire country and any effort to impose a unilateral solution will result in violence,” he warned on Twitter following a call with Mohammad Younes Menfi, head of the Libyan presidential council.

Libya has been racked by conflict since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. The country was then for years split between rival administrations in the east and west, each supported by different militias and foreign governments.
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As Kenya heads toward a highly contested presidential election, many are worried about a repeat of deadly violence seen in past votes. The Kenyan group Mothers of Victims and Survivors is calling for all sides to maintain peace during this year’s polls.

Benna Buluma, also known as Mama Victor, is clutching photos of her two deceased sons at her makeshift home in the Mathare section of Nairobi.

Election time brings painful memories to the 48-year-old widow.

On August 9, 2017, her sons; Benard and Victor Okoth, both young men, were shot dead following a police crackdown on election protests in the area, just a day after the presidential polls. Five years later, the killers still have not been held accountable.

If it was my sons who had killed someone on the road, they would have been arrested, says Buluma as she fights back tears. But the police who killed my sons have not been arrested to date, she says, and that is what pains me the most. I ask myself why, she adds. They are all human beings, and the law should serve everyone equally.

Mathare, one of the biggest slums in Africa, with some of the most densely populated poor neighborhoods in Nairobi, has remained a constant hotspot of election violence.

MarryAnn Kasina is the co-founder of Social Justice Center, an organization that advocates for social justice in Nairobi.

“Every time we have elections, they know what our issues are, but they have not actualized,” Kasina said. “So, bringing your manifesto, to say that you are bringing water, you’ll do this…it just brings horizontal violence because you are already living in poverty. It is violence already living in it, you know.”

Mama Victor founded the group Mothers of Victims and Survivors Network to help families seek justice.

The group is urging election authorities and participants in the August presidential election to refrain from violence.

We want a peaceful election, she says. And that’s not all – we, as mothers of victims, we want justice for our children, and compensation, she adds.

The Kenyan police have been accused of using excessive force in handling past election-related protests. 

With just over a month to the general elections, the National Police Service says it is prepared to provide a secure environment for the polls to run peacefully.

In a statement to VOA, police spokesperson Bruno Shioso said steps have been taken to improve security, including new election security training and additional equipment for officers.

Past elections in Kenya have been marred by deadly violence. In the most notorious incident, more than 1,100 people were killed in riots and attacks after the disputed 2007 vote.

But, as the clock ticks toward this year’s balloting, observers are cautiously optimistic that the polls will be peaceful.
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The World Health Organization is warning of growing health risks in the Horn of Africa as acute hunger spreads there. 

The World Health Organization’s incident manager for the Horn of Africa, Sophie Maes, says urgent action is needed to slow the health and hunger crisis that is sickening and killing increasing numbers of people in the region.

WHO has released $16.5 million from its emergency fund for operations there.   

“Due to the acute food insecurity, malnutrition rates are getting higher and higher, and especially children and pregnant and lactating women are very, very vulnerable,” said Maes. “… There is this synergy between malnutrition and disease where malnourished children become more easily sick and sick children more easily malnourished.” 

The World Food Program warns 20 million people are at risk of starvation as drought in the Horn worsens. 

Speaking from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, Maes says the priority is to ensure everyone has access to food.  At the same time, she says it is important that’ health needs are not neglected.

She warns the risk of disease outbreaks is higher because of a lack of clean water.  She says the drought has dried up water sources, forcing people to leave their homes in search of food, water, and pasture for their cattle.  Consequently, she says people are more likely to get sick as their living conditions deteriorate.

“And we are seeing a spike in disease outbreaks. We are looking at measles in Djibouti, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Somalia, Sudan,” said Maes. “Cholera and acute water diarrhea in Kenya, in South Sudan and Somalia. Meningitis, Hepatitis E, to name but a few.”   

Maes appeals for international support to help WHO provide needed care to severely malnourished children.  

She says it is crucial to respond to disease outbreaks quickly, to have sufficient supplies of drugs and equipment available, and to ensure children receive needed vaccines.
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The World Health Organization’s Europe chief warned Friday that monkeypox cases in the region have tripled in the past two weeks and urged countries to do more to ensure the previously rare disease does not become entrenched on the continent.

And African health authorities said they are treating the expanding monkeypox outbreak as an emergency, calling on rich countries to share limited supplies of vaccines to avoid equity problems seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.

WHO Europe chief Dr. Hans Kluge said in a statement that increased efforts were needed despite the U.N. health agency’s decision last week that the escalating outbreak did not yet warrant being declared a global health emergency.

“Urgent and coordinated action is imperative if we are to turn a corner in the race to reverse the ongoing spread of this disease,” Kluge said.

To date, more than 5,000 monkeypox cases have been reported from 51 countries worldwide that don’t normally report the disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Kluge said the number of infections in Europe represents about 90% of the global total, with 31 countries in the WHO’s European region having identified cases.

Kluge said data reported to the WHO show that 99% of cases have been in men — the majority in men who have sex with men. But he said there were now “small numbers” of cases among household contacts, including children. Most people reported symptoms including a rash, fever, fatigue, muscle pain, vomiting and chills.

Scientists warn that anyone who is in close physical contact with someone who has monkeypox or their clothing or bedsheets is at risk of infection. Vulnerable populations such as children and pregnant women are thought more likely to suffer severe disease.

About 10% of patients were hospitalized for treatment or to be isolated, and one person was admitted to an intensive care unit. No deaths have been reported.

Kluge said the problem of stigmatization in some countries might make some people wary of seeking health care and said the WHO was working with partners including organizers of gay pride events.

In the U.K., which has the biggest monkeypox outbreak beyond Africa, officials have noted the disease is spreading in “defined sexual networks of gay, bisexual, or men who have sex with men.” British health authorities said there were no signs suggesting sustained transmission beyond those populations.

A leading WHO adviser said in May that the spike in cases in Europe was likely tied to sexual activity by men at two rave parties in Spain and Belgium.

Ahead of gay pride events in the U.K. this weekend, London’s top public health doctor asked people with symptoms of monkeypox, like swollen glands or blisters, to stay home.

Nevertheless, in Africa the WHO says that according to detailed data from Ghana monkeypox cases were almost evenly split between men and women, and no spread has been detected among men who have sex with men.

WHO Europe director Kluge also said the procurement of vaccines “must apply the principles of equity.”

The main vaccine being used against monkeypox was originally developed for smallpox and the European Medicines Agency said this week it was beginning to evaluate whether it should be authorized for monkeypox. The WHO has said supplies of the vaccine, made by Bavarian Nordic, are extremely limited.

Countries including the U.K. and Germany have already begun vaccinating people at high risk of monkeypox; the U.K. recently widened its immunization program to mostly gay and bisexual men who have multiple sexual partners and are thought to be most vulnerable.

Until May, monkeypox had never been known to cause large outbreaks beyond parts of central and west Africa, where it’s been sickening people for decades, is endemic in several countries and mostly causes limited outbreaks when it jumps to people from infected wild animals.

To date, there have been about 1,800 suspected monkeypox cases in Africa, including more than 70 deaths, but only 109 have been lab-confirmed. The lack of laboratory diagnosis and weak surveillance means many cases are going undetected.

“This particular outbreak for us means an emergency,” said Ahmed Ogwell, the acting director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control.

The WHO says monkeypox has spread to African countries where it hasn’t previously been seen, including South Africa, Ghana and Morocco. But more than 90% of the continent’s infections are in Congo and Nigeria, according to WHO Africa director, Dr. Moeti Matshidiso.

Vaccines have never been used to stop monkeypox outbreaks in Africa; officials have relied mostly on contact tracing and isolation.

The WHO noted that similar to the scramble last year for COVID-19 vaccines, countries with supplies of vaccines for monkeypox are not yet sharing them with Africa.

“We do not have any donations that have been offered to (poorer) countries,” said Fiona Braka, who heads the WHO emergency response team in Africa. “We know that those countries that have some stocks, they are mainly reserving them for their own populations.”

Matshidiso said the WHO was in talks with manufacturers and countries with stockpiles to see if they might be shared.

“We would like to see the global spotlight on monkeypox act as a catalyst to beat this disease once and for all in Africa,” she said Thursday.
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In the northwest of Ethiopia’s Afar region, landmines left over from the nineteen-month Tigray conflict are making herders’ struggle with a record-breaking drought even deadlier.  Landmines have killed children and livestock and made people afraid to collect water despite the drought. Henry Wilkins reports from Chifra, Ethiopia.
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Authorities in Nigeria’s central Niger state are searching for gunmen who attacked a mine this week and abducted several people, including four Chinese citizens. Nigerian media report the attack Wednesday killed an unknown number of workers. It’s the second time this year that Chinese workers have been abducted in the state, as insecurity spreads in Nigeria.

Niger state Police Commissioner Monday Bala Kuryas said reinforcements have been sent to the Shiroro local government area, where the Ajata Aboki mining site is located.

Armed men attacked the site on Wednesday, opening fire on operators and killing an unspecified number while kidnapping workers, including four Chinese citizens.

Kuryas said the mining site is far into the bush and that some security operatives, including the military, police and local vigilantes, immediately responded to a distress call from the site and ran after the attackers.

He said four police officers were killed but did not disclose how many military personnel and vigilantes were affected. He also said security officials killed some of the armed men.

“For now, we’re on their trail. Some of them were neutralized,” Kuryas told VOA. “We’re still on it trying to find out the exact number, that’s the update for now, we’re still investigating, the military I cannot speak for them.”

China’s embassy in Nigeria has not made an official statement on the incident and was unavailable for comment Friday.

State Governor Abubakar Sani-Bello called the attack disturbing, and urged security officials not to relent in efforts to restore peace in the state.

Abuja-based security expert Patrick Agbambu said, given the record of attacks in the state, authorities should have been more vigilant.

“Knowing that Niger state has been a flashpoint of such attacks in recent times, I expected more security to be in place,” he said. “Foreign nationals are considered to be more lucrative persons to be kidnapped foe ransom and for attention, it’s going to become rampant and just maybe, Nigeria will become unsafe for business.”

Nigeria is seeing a wave of attacks in several regions and analysts say foreign workers and nationals are often targets of criminal gangs seeking to squeeze huge payments from employers.

In January, three Chinese nationals, working on a hydro-electric power project in Shiroro, were abducted.

Beijing has been warning nationals working in Nigeria to be vigilant in areas prone to attacks. In May, Chinese officials and representatives of local Chinese companies in Nigeria held talks on security matters.
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