Nigerian authorities on Sunday said the death toll from attacks by armed groups in northwest Zamfara State this past week has risen to more than 200. The attacks which began Tuesday lasted until Thursday across nine villages. Authorities say many more villagers remain unaccounted for.

Zamfara state residents say the attacks were retaliation for last week’s military raid against the bandits.

Military airstrikes last Monday around the armed men’s hideout in the Gusami forest hideout as well as in Tamre village in Zamfara reportedly killed more than 100 bandits, including two of their leaders. 

Large numbers of angry motorcycle-riding bandits hit back at local communities in reprisal for days, shooting people on sight and burning down houses.

State authorities initially said 58 people were killed but authorities on Saturday said more than 200 bodies were buried and scores of other people were missing.

Last week’s attacks are among the deadliest seen in the region in years. Authorities say up to 10,000 people were displaced and too afraid to return to their homes.

On Saturday, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said in a statement, “The latest attacks on innocent people by the bandits is an act of desperation by mass murderers, now under relentless pressure from our military forces.”

Security analyst Kabiru Adamu said security forces have been making progress and gives a reason.

“One of the key bandits by the name Bello Turji, wrote a letter last month where he indicated his willingness to [as it were] end what he’s doing. The letter was very clear,” said Adamu.

Zamfara state police spokesperson Shehu Mohammed said authorities were gathering intelligence on the attacks from the villages and victims and would aid future operations.

“The information we got will surely assist the security agencies in trying to record more successes in subsequent operations,” he said.

Northwest and north-central Nigeria are recording spikes in attacks on communities, looting and mass kidnappings for ransom that began in late 2020.

The government has repeatedly promised to address the issue. 
…

A leading Sudanese protest group on Sunday rejected a United Nations initiative to hold talks with the military aimed at restoring the country’s democratic transition following an October coup. 

The move is a blow to international efforts seeking an end to Sudan’s political deadlock, and suggest that relentless street protests are likely to continue. Over 60 people have been killed since the military takeover.

The U.N. offer Saturday came a week after embattled Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok resigned, citing a failure to reach compromise between the generals and the pro-democracy movement. 

The Oct. 25 coup scuttled hopes of a peaceful transition, over two years after a popular uprising forced the military overthrow of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir and his Islamist government. 

In a statement, the Sudanese Professionals’ Association, which led the upraising against al-Bashir, said the “only way” out of the ongoing crisis is through the removal of the generals from power. It seeks a fully civilian government to lead the transition, underlined by the motto “No negotiations, no compromise, no power-sharing” with the military.

The SPA has been the backbone of anti-coup protests, alongside youth groups known as the Resistance Committees. 

Protesters continued their marches in Khartoum on Sunday, with security forces firing tear gas to disperse demonstrators near the presidential palace, according to activist Nazim Sirag. Security forces also opened fire on protesters in the capital’s Bahri district. At least one protester was injured, Sirag said. 

Healthcare workers, who joined Sunday’s protests, demanded the government guarantee security at hospitals, which have been repeatedly stormed by security forces during demonstrations. 

A young protester, meanwhile, died in the hospital Sunday from his injuries, the Sudan Doctors Committee said. Alaa el-din Adel, 17, was shot in the neck during Thursday’s protests in Khartoum’s twin city of Omdurman. His killing raised the death toll since the coup to at least 61, according to the doctors committee. 

Volker Perthes, the U.N. envoy for Sudan, said that the talks would be inclusive to try to reach a “sustainable path forward towards democracy and peace” in the country. 

“It is time to end the violence and enter into a constructive process. This process will be inclusive,” he said. 

Though the envoy has yet to offer details of the U.N.-facilitated political process, the SPA’s rejection deals a blow to his efforts to bring the generals and the pro-democracy movement to the negotiating table. 

Perthes is planning to offer more details in a news conference in Khartoum on Monday.

The SPA said Perthes’ moves have been “controversial,” citing his efforts in supporting a deal Hamdok stuck with the military in November that reinstated him but sidelined the pro-democracy movement. 

“He has to listen carefully to the aims of our proud people and their revolutionary forces in establishing a fully civilian, national rule,” it said. 

World and regional powers welcomed the U.N. initiative. 

The United States, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates urged all Sudanese players to “seize this opportunity to restore the country’s transition to civilian democracy” in accordance with the 2019 constructional document that establishing the transitional government. 

At the United Nations, five countries — the U.S., U.K., Albania, France and Norway — requested a U.N. Security Council meeting on the situation in Sudan. Diplomats said it will likely take place Tuesday or Wednesday. 

 
…

Mali’s military government proposed in December a 5-year extension of the transition to civilian rule, after originally agreeing to a period of 18 months. Protesters gathered Saturday in Bamako to call for a return to democracy, ahead of an ECOWAS meeting about Mali Sunday in Accra. This is the first public demonstration since the government’s announcement of a 5-year plan, a contrast to the many pro-military demonstrations that have been held this year.

About 100 protesters gathered Sunday afternoon at Bamako’s Martyrs monument to demand a swift return to civilian rule, after Mali’s military government proposed a 5-year transition plan in December with the next presidential elections in 2026. 

The Martyrs Monument commemorates March 26, 1991, when government soldiers fired on pro-democracy protesters, killing many.

This assembly marks the first anti-transition demonstration since the government announced the 5-year plan.

Ibrahim Kalilou Thera, one of the demonstration organizers, said military leaders proposed a 5-year transition period without consulting the people.

“In reality, if they had proposed at least a transition of a short period of six months, the people could have understood,” he said. “But we can tell that these people don’t have the will to organize elections. Not for February, because they could have organized for February. But there weren’t prior arrangements, there weren’t preparations, there wasn’t the political will.” 

Sina Thera, 23, a student at the University of Bamako, originally was in support of the military government when they first took power in August 2020 in a coup d’Etat that ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. 

The August 2020 coup followed months of anti-government protests in Bamako, some that ended in the killing of protesters by security forces.

When the current military leaders first came to power, they were met by large crowds and widespread support in the streets of Bamako.

He says that before, he supported them a lot, because they came to finish the fight started by the Malian population. “Once the fight is done, though, and the fight was victorious … it’s time. The promise they made is very sacred. They set a deadline,” he said.

A coalition of major political parties rejected the military government’s 5-year transition proposition earlier this week.

Mohamed Ag Assory, a political analyst and consultant, says it’s not so important whether or not the march Saturday has a large number of people, because for months there was a complete lack of opposition.

“Some time ago, there were only supporters of the transition that could be seen here and there. There’s now an emergence of a new pole, a new opposition that’s organizing itself, and people listen to what they’re saying, it’s just the beginning. There have been press conferences, now they’re starting to demonstrate on the ground, and I think there will be more actions in the future in this sense,” he said. 

He adds that everything will depend, however, on what happens this Sunday when the Economic Community of West African States —ECOWAS, a 15-nation regional bloc with a mandate to promote economic integration — will be holding an extraordinary summit on Mali in Accra January 9, which may lead to an agreement between ECOWAS leaders and Mali’s military government on a shortened transition period. 

 
…

The United Nations said Saturday it would hold talks in Sudan aimed at salvaging a fragile democratic transition amid a grinding stalemate following an October coup and the prime minister’s resignation last week. 

Volker Perthes, the U.N. envoy for Sudan, said in a statement the U.N.-facilitated political process would seek a “sustainable path forward towards democracy and peace” in the country. It wasn’t immediately clear when discussions might begin.

“It is time to end the violence and enter into a constructive process. This process will be inclusive,” he said. 

Perthes said key players in Sudan, including the military, rebel groups, political parties and protest movements will be invited to take part in the process, as well as civil society and women’s groups.

There was no immediate comment from the military on the U.N. effort. 

The pro-democracy movement said it has yet to receive details of the U.N. initiative, adding that it would continue street demonstrations until “the establishment of a fully civilian government to lead the transition.” 

The position of the Sudanese Professionals Association and the Resistance Committees, however, would be crucial, given that both groups are the backbone of the anti-coup protests and have insisted transfer of power to civilians. 

October coup

The October 25 coup scuttled hopes of a peaceful transition to democracy in Sudan, more than two years after a popular uprising forced the military overthrow of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir and his Islamist government in April 2019. 

Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok resigned from office January 2 citing a failure to reach a compromise between the generals and the country’s pro-democracy movement. He had been ousted in the coup only to be reinstated a month later following a deal with the military meant to calm tensions and anti-coup protests. 

Hamdok’s resignation sent the country further into turmoil and relentless street protests that have claimed the lives of at least 60 people since the coup. 

More instability

Perthes said repeated violence against protesters since the coup has deepened mistrust of the military among all political parties. 

He warned that the ongoing deadlock could push the country into further instability and “squander the important political, social and economic gains” since the uprising against al-Bashir. 

The protest movement insists that a fully civilian government lead the transition, a demand rejected by the generals who say power will be handed over only to an elected government. Elections are planned in July 2023, in line with a constitutional document governing the transition period. 
…

Aid workers and eyewitnesses are telling media an airstrike in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region has killed more than 50 people. The Reuters news agency reports at least 30 others have been wounded after a camp for the internally displaced was hit Friday night.

An airstrike in Ethiopia’s Tigray region reportedly killed 56 people and injured at least 30, including children, in a camp for displaced people, aid workers told Reuters Saturday, citing eyewitnesses and local authorities.   

Ethiopian government officials have not confirmed the reported strike that hit an area of Dedebit town, near the border with Eritrea. Aid workers, who asked not to be named because they are not authorized to speak to the media, told Reuters the strike occurred Friday night.    

An aid worker said victims were brought to Shire Shul General Hospital, adding the camp was a residence for elderly women and children.    

The reported airstrike happened after the government released detained Tigray People’s Liberation Front senior leaders and other politicians Friday night in an attempt to curb the country’s crisis.   

Ethiopia’s government communications service announced the release of Sebhat Nega, one of the founders of the TPLF, Abay Woldu, a former head of the Tigray region, Jawar Mohammed, Eskindir Nega and others.   

Speaking to the state run news agency Saturday, Ethiopia’a minister for Justice, Gedewon Temotewos, said the individuals were released after the government dropped criminal charges against them. 

Their charges were dropped to facilitate the national dialogue set to happen soon, he said. As you know, the country has established a commission for national dialogue and releasing them will make the process more inclusive and valid, too.  

Ethiopia introduced the process of creating a national dialogue commission in December. Justice Minister Temotewos says the government wants every part of society in the country to take part in the process.

In remarks Saturday, he revealed the government also has dropped charges against Debretsion Gebremichael, Tigray’s region head, and five other TPLF officials. But there is no confirmation whether the TPLF will be part of the upcoming national dialogue.    

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed the decision to release detainees. He has called on the two parties to end hostilities and launch a credible and inclusive national dialogue.  

Tigray forces announced in December they were pulling out of parts of Ethiopia’s Amhara and Afar regions as part of a cease-fire agreement. In a letter addressed to the United Nations secretary-general at that time, Gebremichael set demands, which include establishment of a no-fly zone over Tigray’s airspace.   

Aid agencies told Reuters this week at least 146 people have been killed and 213 injured in airstrikes in Tigray since October 18. But the Ethiopian government denies targeting civilians during the 14-month conflict with Tigray forces.

 
…

An airstrike in Ethiopia’s Tigray region killed 56 people and injured 30, including children, in a camp for displaced people, two aid workers told Reuters Saturday, citing local authorities and eyewitness accounts.

Military spokesman Colonel Getnet Adane and government spokesman Legesse Tulu did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The government has previously denied targeting civilians in the 14-month conflict with rebellious Tigrayan forces.

The strike in the town of Dedebit, in the northwest of the region near the border with Eritrea, occurred late on Friday night, said the aid workers, who asked not to be named as they are not authorized to speak to the media.

Earlier Friday, the government had freed several opposition leaders from prison and said it would begin dialogue with political opponents in order to foster reconciliation.

Both aid workers said the number of dead was confirmed by the local authorities. The aid workers sent Reuters pictures they said they had taken of the wounded in hospital, who included many children.

One of the aid workers, who visited Shire Suhul General Hospital where the injured were brought for treatment, said the camp hosts many old women and children.

“They told me the bombs came at midnight. It was completely dark, and they couldn’t escape,” the aid worker said.  

Ethiopian federal troops went to war with rebellious Tigrayan forces in November 2020. Since the war erupted, Reuters has reported atrocities by all sides, which the parties to the fighting have denied.

One of the aid workers said one of the wounded in Friday’s strike, Asefa Gebrehaworia, 75, burst into tears as he recounted how his friend was killed. He was being treated for injuries to his left leg and hand.

Fighting had forced Asefa out of his home and now the airstrike had destroyed the camp, where even though he was facing hunger at least he had shelter, he told the aid worker. He had arrived in the camp for displaced people from the border town of Humera.

Before the latest strike, at least 146 people have been killed and 213 injured in air strikes in Tigray since October 18, according to a document prepared by aid agencies and shared with Reuters this week.  

Reconciliation Effort

In Friday’s reconciliation move, the government freed opposition leaders from several ethnic groups. They included some leaders of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the party fighting Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s central government.

The TPLF expressed skepticism about Abiy’s call for national reconciliation.

“His daily routine of denying medication to helpless children and of sending drones targeting civilians flies in the face of his self-righteous claims,” TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda tweeted Friday.

The TPLF accuses federal authorities of imposing an aid blockade on the region, leading to hunger and shortages of essentials like fuel and medicines. The government denies blocking the passage of aid convoys.
…

Egyptian authorities deported the son of a prominent Palestinian politician after he served 2 1/2 years of pre-trial detention over allegations of having ties with an outlawed group, his family said Saturday.

Ramy Shaath, son of Nabil Shaath, an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, was released Thursday and then deported, the family said in a statement. He was forced to renounce his Egyptian citizenship to gain his freedom, it said.

The family said Egyptian authorities handed Ramy Shaath over to a representative of the Palestinian Authority at Cairo international airport, where he boarded a flight to the Jordanian capital of Amman.

He then boarded another flight Saturday to Paris, where his wife, Celine Lebrun Shaath, a French national, lives, the statement said.

There was no immediate comment from the Egyptian government.

Ramy Shaath was arrested in July 2019 at his home in Cairo and accused of having links to the Muslim Brotherhood, which the Egyptian government designated as a terrorist organization in 2013.

A dual Palestinian-Egyptian national, he was added to a case that included a former lawmaker and key secular activists. They had been arrested about a month before Shaath and accused of collaborating with wanted Brotherhood members in Turkey to plot violence and riots.

Last year, he was added to the country’s terrorist list.

Ramy Shaath helped establish Egypt’s branch of the Palestinian-led boycott movement against Israel, known as BDS.

The family statement said Egyptian authorities forced him to renounce his citizenship as a “precondition for his release.”

“No one should have to choose between their freedom and their citizenship. Ramy was born Egyptian … . No coerced renunciation of citizenship under duress will ever change that,” the statement read. 

 
…

Mauritanian authorities have released former President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz on bail for medical reasons, the justice ministry said on Friday, amid an investigation into allegations of high-level corruption during his time in office.

Abdel Aziz, 65, who stepped down in 2019 after serving two five-year terms, was moved from house arrest to state custody in June. He has previously denied the corruption allegations.

In late December he was admitted to a hospital in the capital, Nouakchott, for heart treatment, and his family has called for his evacuation abroad.

The justice ministry said the bail decision was based on a doctor’s report that Abdel Aziz needed a stress-free environment and a special diet.

He will remain under judicial and medical supervision, it said in a statement.

His lawyer Mohameden Ichidou welcomed the move as “a step forward which will allow us to continue to demand the release of an innocent man who is seriously ill.”

Abdel Aziz came to power in Mauritania, a vast desert country of fewer than 5 million people, in a 2008 coup and was an important ally of Western powers fighting Islamist militants in the Sahel region.

He was replaced by a political ally, current president Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, but quickly found that his government’s actions, including deals on offshore oil projects, came under scrutiny by parliament.

Former prime minister Ismail Ould Cheikh Sidiya and his entire government resigned amid the parliamentary investigation into the allegations last year.

 
…

More than 100 people have been killed in Nigeria’s troubled northern region, survivors told The Associated Press, as authorities continue to search for bodies and for suspects of the three-day violence. 

Bandits arrived in large numbers in the Anka and Bukkuyum local government areas of Zamfara state on Tuesday evening, shooting guns and burning down houses until Thursday, according to Abubakar Ahmed, a resident in Bukkuyum. 

“They killed more than 100 people,” Ahmed said, adding that as many as nine communities were affected. 

Resident Aliyu Anka, in Anka, also confirmed that the casualty figure was more than 100. In one village, “they killed people from 20 years and above,” he said. “Some have been buried, some were burned and we are still looking for bodies.” 

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but blame quickly fell on the armed groups that have carried out thousands of abductions and killings in the northwest and central states of the West African nation. 

Ibrahim Dosara, Zamfara commissioner for information, told AP they were awaiting more information about the incident, including the number of casualties. As of now, a military aircraft has been deployed along with security forces as a manhunt for the attackers continues, he said. 

Africa’s most populous country has been struggling to contain pockets of such violent attacks, especially in the troubled northern region, but the latest incident is one of the deadliest in recent years.

Banditry plus insurgency

It came as authorities in Nigeria said they were noting successes in the fight against the armed groups. The widespread banditry in Nigeria’s northwest comes in addition to the Islamic extremist insurgency in the northeast that has lasted more than a decade. 

Some of the bandits, whom Nigerian authorities have designated as terrorists, are now joining forces with the extremist rebels, security analysts and residents say. 

The groups mostly consist of young men from the Fulani ethnic group, who had traditionally worked as nomadic cattle herders and are caught up in a decadeslong conflict with Hausa farming communities over access to water and grazing land. 

The problem continues to be that the Nigerian security personnel are outnumbered and outgunned by the assailants, according to Oluwole Ojewale of the Africa-focused Institute of Security Studies. 

“We don’t have adequate security in Zamfara state but [in] some areas, we don’t have security at all,” said Yusuf Ibrahim in Gusau, the state capital. 

Commissioner Dosara, however, blames informants for the persistent attacks. 

“One of the serious problems is that we have a lot of informants getting information to these people [the gunmen],” he said, a challenge that experts have said continues because of the extreme poverty in many affected communities.
…

Cameroonian officials have joined hundreds of Muslims and Christians in the capital, Yaoundé, to pray for peace during the Africa Football Cup of Nations games.

Cameroon is hosting Africa’s top football championship starting Sunday, including in western regions, where anglophone separatists have vowed to disrupt the games. Police say the rebels set off a bomb Thursday in one of the towns where matches will be held, but nobody was injured.

Imam Souleymane Bouba of Yaoundé’s Tsinga Mosques prays in Arabic for peace in Cameroon. During the prayers Thursday (January 5) Bouba asked God to protect football players, fans and match officials coming to Cameroon for the African Football Cup of Nations which begins on Sunday (January 9).

Among the more than 60 Muslim and Christian clerics present was Jean Mbarga, archbishop of Yaounde. Mbarga says the prayer at the Mary Queen of the Apostles Basilica in Yaounde asked God to intercede for a peaceful AFCON in Cameroon.

Mbarga says he knows Cameroonians love football very much and will be coming out to cheer their team, the Indomitable Lions, and other African teams they cherish. He says the African Football Cup of Nations should therefore mark a new beginning for a peaceful, strong and united Cameroon. He says Muslims and Christians have jointly prayed for the safety of players, match officials and football fans who will be in Cameroon for AFCON.

Mbarga said he and the cleric who attended the prayer strongly believe that because Cameroonians love football, AFCON will remove the country from the agony it has been going through in several troubled spots.

Mbarga said the Cameroon Association for Inter-religious Dialogue organized the prayer. Cameroon Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute represented President Paul Biya at the prayer. The Cameroon Association for Interreligious dialogue said at least 400 civilians, 20 ministers and senior state functionaries attended the prayer.

Cameroon is hosting the continent’s top football tournament from Sunday to February 6.

Separatists fighting to create an independent English-speaking state in the French-speaking majority country have vowed to disrupt the games. On social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp, the separatists say they are in ongoing battles with Cameroon government troops. They add that Limbe and Buea are not safe zones.

Limbe and Buea are English-speaking western towns that will host group matches for teams from Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, and Tunisia.

Separatist fighters said Thursday they set off a roadside bomb in Half Mile, a neighborhood in the town of Limbe.

Capo Daniel is deputy defense chief of the Ambazonia Defense Forces, a rebel group in Cameroon’s English-speaking North-West and South-West region. Capo says fighters have vowed to disrupt the games in Limbe despite the heavy presence of Cameroon troops.

“The Cameroon government has drawn our forces [separatists] to those venues because they have stationed their military in those areas so we shall combat them. On the 30th of December we planted an IED [improvised explosive device] at Half Mile, today [Thursday] again we planted another IED to send a message to all the visitors that are coming to watch football to understand that they are putting themselves in harm’s way,” Capo expressed.

Cameroon military confirmed Thursday’s explosion in Limbe but called it an isolated attempt to scare football fans, players and officials. The government said no one was injured but called on civilians to collaborate with the military by reporting suspected fighters in their communities.

Biya last week called on civilians to use AFCON as an opportunity to turn a new page in the country that has suffered so many crises. The central African state started a military campaign against Boko Haram terrorism on its northern border with Nigeria in 2013.

In 2013, Cameroon said the political turmoil in neighboring Central African Republic was having a spill over on its eastern border with rebel incursions. The Cameroon military has been deployed to the eastern border with CAR since 2013.

The military is also deployed to stop rebels fighting to create an independent state in the central African state’s English-speaking western regions. The United Nations reports that more than 3,300 people have died in the conflict since 2017. 
…

With kidnappings and other crimes on rise in Nigeria, the U.S. Department of State is urging Americans, dual citizens and others to “reconsider travel” to the West African country.

The State Department’s travel advisory  issued January 4, warns that “violent crime – such as armed robbery, assault, carjacking, kidnapping, hostage taking, banditry, and rape – is common throughout the country. Kidnappings for ransom occur frequently, often targeting dual national citizens who have returned to Nigeria for a visit, as well as U.S. citizens with perceived wealth.”

That same day, Nigeria’s federal government officially designated armed bandits as terrorists, as Agence France-Presse reported.The designation provides tougher sanctions and penalties for criminals and those who assist them.

The U.S. advisory includes a flat “do not travel” warning for Borno, Yobe and northern Adamawa states due to terrorism and kidnapping concerns, and a similar warning for the northern states of Bauchi, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina and Zamfara due to kidnapping.

Coastal areas in Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta and Rivers states – except for Port Harcourt – are also on the “do not travel” list.

Africa’s most populous country has been gripped by growing insecurity, including a surge in kidnapping for ransom. In Kaduna state alone the government reported 1,723 people kidnapped in the first six months of 2021, compared with nearly 2,000 for the entire previous year. 
…

Russian soldiers have deployed to Timbuktu in northern Mali to train Malian forces at a base vacated by French troops last month, Mali’s army spokesperson said Thursday. 

Mali’s government said last month that “Russian trainers” had arrived in the country, but Bamako and Moscow have so far provided few details on the deployment, including how many soldiers are involved or the Russian troops’ precise mission. 

The Russians’ arrival has generated sharp criticism from Western countries, led by former colonial power France. They say the forces include contractors from the mercenary Wagner Group, which they accuse of human rights abuses in other countries. 

Mali’s government has denied this, saying the Russian troops are in the country as part of a bilateral agreement. 

“We had new acquisitions of planes and equipment from them [the Russians],” the Mali army spokesperson told Reuters. “It costs a lot less to train us on site than for us to go over there. … What is the harm?” 

He did not say how many Russians had been sent to Timbuktu. 

Local residents told Reuters that uniformed Russian men were seen driving around town but could not say how many there were. 

Russia’s defense ministry was not immediately available for comment. 

The Russian forces’ arrival in Mali follows deployments to several other African hot spots, part of what analysts say is an attempt by Moscow to recover influence on the continent after a long absence following the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991. 

France helped to recapture Timbuktu from al-Qaida-linked militants in 2013. France’s withdrawal from the city is part of a significant drawdown of a previously 5,000-strong task force in West Africa’s Sahel region sent to battle jihadist groups.
…

Security forces shot dead three protesters and fired tear gas in Sudan on Thursday as crowds thronged Khartoum and other cities in more anti-military rallies, medics and other witnesses said. 

At least 60 people have died and many more have been wounded in crackdowns on demonstrations since a coup in October that interrupted efforts to bring about democratic change, according to a group of medics aligned with the protest movement. 

The people killed Thursday were all protesters and died from shots fired by security personnel during rallies in the cities of Omdurman and Bahri, across the River Nile from Khartoum, the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors said. 

Protesters again tried to reach the presidential palace in the capital to keep up pressure on the military, whose coup halted a power-sharing arrangement negotiated after the 2019 overthrow of Omar al-Bashir. 

There was no immediate comment from authorities, who have justified the coup as a “correction” needed to stabilize the transition. They have said peaceful protests are permitted and those responsible for causing casualties will be held to account. 

In Omdurman, where several protesters have been killed in the past week, a protester said that security forces fired live rounds and tear gas and ran over several protesters with armored vehicles. 

“There was incredible violence today. The situation in Omdurman has become very difficult. Our friends have died. This situation can’t please God,” he said, asking not to be named as some protesters have been arrested in recent days. 

Khartoum State’s health ministry said that security forces raided Arbaeen Hospital in Omdurman, attacking medical staff and injuring protesters, and that the forces besieged Khartoum Teaching Hospital and fired tear gas inside it. 

In Bahri, a witness saw forces use heavy tear gas and stun grenades, with some canisters landing on houses and a school as protesters were prevented from reaching the bridge to Khartoum. 

As in previous demonstrations, mobile phone and internet services were largely cut from late morning, Reuters journalists and Netblocks, an internet blockage observatory, said. 

Most bridges connecting Khartoum with Bahri and Omdurman were closed. Images of protests in other cities including Gadarif, Kosti and Madani were posted on social media. 

Kept back from palace 

The Forces of Freedom and Change coalition, which had been sharing power with the military before the coup, called on the U.N. Security Council to investigate what it described as intentional killings and raids of hospitals. 

In Khartoum, protesters tried to reach the presidential palace, but security forces advanced toward them, firing frequent volleys of tear gas, a witness told Reuters. 

Some protesters wore gas masks, while many wore medical masks and other face coverings, and several brought hard hats and gloves in order to throw back tear gas canisters. 

Protesters barricaded roads with rocks, bricks and branches as they marched toward downtown Khartoum and security forces approached from more than one side. 

Motorcycles and rickshaws could be seen taking away injured protesters. 

The protests, the first of several rounds of demonstrations planned for this month, came four days after Abdalla Hamdok resigned as prime minister. 

Hamdok became prime minister in 2019 and oversaw major economic reforms before being deposed in the coup and returning in a failed bid to salvage the power-sharing arrangement. 

“We came out today to get those people out. We don’t want them running our country,” said Mazin, a protester living in Khartoum, referring to the military. 

Hamdok’s return and resignation did not matter, he said, adding, “We are going to continue regardless.”
…

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday named career diplomat David Satterfield as the new special envoy to the troubled Horn of Africa. 

Satterfield, 67, who has experience in the Persian Gulf states, Lebanon and Iraq, most recently has served as ambassador to Turkey. He is replacing Jeffrey Feltman, another veteran diplomat, who had held the Horn of Africa posting, covering the countries of Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea and Ethiopia, since last April.

In making the appointment, Blinken said, “Ambassador Satterfield’s decades of diplomatic experience and work amidst some of the world’s most challenging conflicts will be instrumental in our continued effort to promote a peaceful and prosperous Horn of Africa and to advance U.S. interests in this strategic region.” 

The top U.S. diplomat said Feltman, 63, would continue to work at the State Department in an advisory capacity on African affairs. 

In assessing his tenure in the Horn of Africa in November, Feltman pleaded for an end to the “violence, humanitarian catastrophe and atrocities in northern Ethiopia,” in the Tigray, Amhara and Afar regions.

The Ethiopian government has been at war with Tigray’s ruling TPLF party since November 2020. 

“But we are also deeply concerned with violence and tensions elsewhere in Ethiopia,” Feltman said. “If not addressed through dialogue and consensus, these problems can contribute to the deterioration of the integrity of the state.” 

Last month, the State Department also expressed concern about Somalia’s delayed elections and what it called “the procedural irregularities that have undermined the credibility” of those polls.
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China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has announced that Beijing will soon appoint a special envoy for the Horn of Africa.  Wang’s announcement during a visit to Kenya on Thursday comes as the U.S. envoy to the Horn heads to Ethiopia, which has been struggling with over a year of war.  The region has also seen setbacks from a coup in Sudan and an election stand-off in Somalia. 

The visiting Chinese top diplomat said his country will appoint a special envoy to lead the peace process in the Horn of Africa.

Speaking in the coastal Kenyan city of Mombasa, Wang said his country will support the people of the Horn of Africa in finding peace.

He said it was important to have a consultation on equal footing and to put the destiny of this region firmly in its own people’s hands.  He suggested countries in the region might convene a conference on the peace of the Horn of Africa. He added that in order to discuss this matter in depth, to share political consensus and to coordinate actions, China will appoint a special envoy to provide the necessary support for this process.

The plan to appoint a special envoy for a war-torn region is seen as part of China’s ambitious plan to play a role in the region’s politics and security.

The announcement comes as U.S. special envoy for the region Jeffrey Feltman is expected to visit Ethiopia in a renewed effort to end that country’s conflict.

China is among the countries suspected of supplying military hardware to the Ethiopian government, including drones.

Nasong’o Muliro, an international relations lecturer at the Technical University in Kenya, said China is turning from economic issues to military matters.

“Special representatives are not purely for trade. They do a lot of peace and security matters… But once China starts flexing its military power and having bases, then we may go to proxy wars,” Muliro said.

The U.S. Department of Defense, in its annual report to Congress on China’s military activities, said Beijing wants to establish military bases in Kenya and Tanzania, a claim denied by China.

Ethiopia is facing political instability after the government launched an offensive against rebels in the Tigray region in November 2020. The conflict has led to millions of people being displaced and tens of thousands dead. The 14-month-old war threatens to split the country.

Kenya’s Foreign Minister Raychelle Omamo said Wang and Kenyan officials also discussed trade issues during the foreign minister’s two-day visit. 

“We signed an MOU (memorandum of understanding) and the establishment of a working group will look into the issues of tariff and non-tariff barriers to Kenya-China trade and to fast-track and increase exports from Kenya to China. Both sides also concluded and signed two protocols to facilitate bilateral trade, particularly in the export of avocados and aquatic products from Kenya to China,” Omamo said.

The Chinese delegation visited the Kipevu oil terminal in Mombasa, which cost $400 million to build.

Chinese money accounts for 67% of Kenya’s external debt, and many Kenyans fear the country may lose control of key facilities like the Mombasa port if Kenya fails to repay the loans.
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Nigerian police say gunmen have killed two local workers at a hydroelectric dam project in Niger state and abducted three Chinese workers.

Police said in a statement Thursday that the incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon. 

They say heavily armed gunmen opened fire in broad daylight on Chinese expatriates and local staff working on a hydro-electric transmission project near Gussase village in central Niger state.  

Niger State police spokesperson Wasiu Abiodun said the police tactical team immediately responded to the attack, exchanged fire with gangs and rescued four other Chinese nationals and two local workers in the process.

The local workers later died in the hospital of gunshot wounds, authorities said.

Commissioner of police in Niger state Monday Bala says authorities are working to rescue the three Chinese abductees.

“We have since mobilized officers and men, our intelligence team, they’ll all be deployed so that we can rescue the victims,” said Bala. “We are collaborating with all the stakeholders or the communities to give us vital information, that is, intelligence, as to their movement so that we can nip it in the bud earlier on.”

The Chinese Embassy in Nigeria has not commented on the incident, but expatriates are often victims of armed attacks like this in a bid to squeeze huge ransoms from their companies.

Last year, Niger state witnessed increased attacks by criminal gangs or bandits, including an attack on an Islamic seminary where many young students were kidnapped.

In response to mounting pressure, Nigerian authorities recently designated criminal gangs as terrorist organizations.
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As cases of gender-based violence have increased in Tanzania during the pandemic, some women are learning ways to fight back — including using their fists. Charles Kombe in Dar es Salaam explains.

Camera: Rajabu Hassan Produced by: Rob Raffaele
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Doctors in Ethiopia’s Tigray say shortages of medical equipment and drugs due to the government’s monthslong blockade on the region are causing patients to die of preventable causes.

Doctors at Ayder Referral Hospital in Mekelle, the region’s largest, also cite shortages of intravenous fluids and oxygen. They said in a statement Tuesday that the supply shortages have made surgery and essential procedures “almost impossible” for the past six months.

“As a result, children who needed shunt surgeries are left to die, those with treatable cancers are denied their rights and those with fractures are forced to wait while being immobilized,” they said.

According to Reuters, the hospital’s doctors identified 117 deaths and dozens of complications, such as infections, amputations and kidney failure, that were connected to shortages of essential medicine and equipment.

A senior doctor said that 80% to 90% of Tigray’s hospitals and clinics were not functioning.

Doctors attribute the dire situation to what the U.N. and U.S. have described as a de facto government blockade on the region.

The northern Tigray region has been wracked by war since November 2020, following months of rising tensions between the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the region’s ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

Thousands of deaths

Fighting between the central government and Tigrayan forces has resulted in the deaths of thousands and forced millions of civilians from their homes.

Since the onset of fighting, concern about humanitarian access to the region and its supplies of medical resources and equipment has increased.

Access to the region continued during the first eight months of conflict, when it was under government control. However, once the government withdrew in June, access drastically declined, according to reports from the U.N. humanitarian agency, OCHA.

A report from the agency said no trucks carrying humanitarian aid had been able to enter the region since December 14. As a result, the situation in Tigray continues to worsen, with over 90% of the population, or 5.2 million people, in need of humanitarian assistance, according to OCHA.

While three main routes exist into the region, bridges along two of them were blown up during the Ethiopian military’s withdrawal, according to OCHA reports.

Reuters said convoys using the remaining land route through the Afar region have dealt with long security checks and bureaucratic delays that can last weeks. OCHA has also said authorities often do not allow fuel and medication to pass through.

Despite the situation, the Ethiopian government has repeatedly denied responsibility. Government spokesman Legesse Tulu on Monday again stated that the government has not imposed a blockade on Tigray, according to Reuters.

“What is happening in Tigray currently is the sole responsibility of TPLF,” he said.

Trading accusations

Legesse accused the TPLF of looting equipment and medicine from over a dozen hospitals and 100 health centers when its forces invaded the Amhara and Afar regions, which neighbor Tigray, last year before being pushed back in December.

The TPLF, however, has rejected such claims and points to the government for the region’s shortages in humanitarian supplies.

Without fresh supplies and medicine, hospitals will continue to struggle, a situation made more serious considering the famine-like conditions across Tigray.

Reuters reported that the percentage of children under 5 admitted to Ayder Referral Hospital with severe malnutrition nearly doubled to over 41% in October. However, doctors are not properly equipped to treat those patients because of shortages in therapeutic food and other critical supplies.

One year ago, about 82% of essential drugs were available at the hospital, compared with 17.5% at the end of 2021, according to hospital documents obtained by Reuters.

News of the situation in Tigray comes as U.S. Horn of Africa envoy Jeffrey Feltman is scheduled to visit Ethiopia on Thursday to meet with senior government officials to discuss peace talks, according to Reuters.

The U.S. has repeatedly called for both an end to the conflict and the human rights abuses and violations that have been committed since its start. It has also advocated increased humanitarian access to the country’s affected regions.

Feltman’s visit to Addis Ababa is the country’s latest attempt to facilitate a resolution to one of Africa’s bloodiest conflicts.

Some information for this article came from Reuters and AFP.
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Nigeria’s government on Wednesday labeled heavily armed gangs blamed for mass kidnappings as terrorists in a bid to deter violence in the country’s northwest.

So-called criminal bandit gangs have long plagued Nigeria’s northwest and north-central states, raiding villages to loot and kidnap for ransom, but violence has become more widespread.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s government, battling jihadists in the northeast for more than a decade, had been under pressure to do more to halt attacks from the criminal gangs.

In the official gazette published on Wednesday, the federal government labeled activities of Yan Bindiga and Yan Ta’adda — references in the Hausa language to bandit gunmen — “as acts of terrorism and illegality.”

It referred to criminal gangs who carry out mass kidnappings of schoolchildren, abduction for ransom, cattle rustling and destruction of property, among other crimes.

The definition will mean tougher sanctions under Nigeria’s Terrorism Prevention Act for suspected bandit gunmen, their informants and supporters, such as those caught supplying them with fuel and food.

Nigerian daily newspapers often carry stories about bandit raids on villages and communities, where they steal cattle, kidnap families and terrorize residents.

Security forces have announced a crackdown, including air raids and a telecom shutdown in parts of the country’s northwest, as part of an attempt to flush criminal gangs from their forest hideouts.

On Tuesday, police announced they had rescued nearly 100 kidnap victims in two raids on bandit camps in northwestern Zamfara state.

Last year, bandit gangs made international headlines with a series of high-profile attacks on schools and colleges to kidnap scores of pupils for ransom. Some of those students are still being held.

Nigeria’s bandit violence has its roots in clashes between nomadic cattle herders and sedentary farmers over land and resources. But tit-for-tat attacks have over the years spiraled into broader conflict and criminality.
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Cameroon has deployed troops and armored cars to towns that will be hosting matches of the Africa Football Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament in its troubled Southwest region. Cameroon is hosting the continent’s top soccer tournament beginning Sunday, but the region’s anglophone separatists have threatened to disrupt the games.

Residents of Cameroon’s Southwest region towns of Buea and Limbe say in the past two weeks there has been a noticeable increase in troops and military trucks on the streets.

The troubled Southwest region is one area of Cameroon that will be hosting Africa’s top soccer championship, the Africa Football Cup of Nations (AFCON).

21-year-old University of Bueau student Fabrice Tobi says security in the city is becoming watertight.

He spoke to VOA Wednesday via a messaging application.

“I was surprised with the amount{number} of armored cars and the troops entering Buea with the ones that were already there,” said Tobi. “It is very difficult to leave from one area to the other in the city of Buea without meeting military or security men. In markets and even in student residential areas, they are everywhere. They do the controls. It is very difficult for you to leave your house without being checked or controlled.”

Cameroon’s military confirmed that troops have been deployed to Buea and Limbe to protect football players, officials, and fans for the tournament.  A spokesman declined to comment on the number of troops and armored vehicles deployed.

The southwestern towns will host group matches for teams from Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, and Tunisia.

Anglophone separatists fighting in Cameroon’s west to break away from the majority French-speaking nation have vowed to disrupt the games.

Tapang Ivo is spokesperson for the separatist group Ambazonia Defense Forces (ADF).

He says the ADF has warned the Confederation of African Football that AFCON matches should not take place in the towns, as the group is still fighting there with government troops.

“We vowed to fight the Cameroon military anywhere they are present in the entire territory of Ambazonia, whether it’s during the AFCON games that we have banned or after, we will continue to fight them tooth and nail,” said Tapang. “So we are avoiding a situation where visitors will be caught in crossfire. So, we are advising that AFCON must not be held in Ambazonia for the security concerns of visitors. They shouldn’t be present where there is a war going on.”

Within the past two months Buea has reported at least six attacks by separatist fighters.

The rebels took responsibility for November and December bombings at the University of Buea and the town’s Great Soppo Market that wounded at least 14 people.

The governor of Cameroon’s Southwest region, Bernard Okalia Bilai, says civilians should report any rebel suspects hiding in their community.

“We will continue to sensitize the population, particularly towards vigilance. You know what happened in the Great Soppo market,” said Bilai. “It is the population themselves who seized the bag and called gendarmes to come and destroy it. That is the behavior, the action, we are expecting from the population.”

Bilai says residents and visitors should not be afraid of the separatists’ threats.

He says the separatists made similar threats when Limbe and Buea hosted matches of the African Nations Championship a year ago without incident.
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In Mali, a coalition of political parties has rejected the military government’s plan for a five-year transition before elections. Mali has been under pressure from West African governments to hold elections since a May military coup d’etat, the second in less than a year. 

Mali’s military leaders recently released a new timetable for the transition period to regional bloc ECOWAS, proposing a five-year plan that calls for the next presidential elections to be held in 2026.

The transition was originally projected to last 18 months, after a military junta headed by current President Assimi Goita first took power in a coup that ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in August of 2020. 

Elections were previously scheduled for this February. 

A coalition of major political parties in Mali released a letter rejecting the five-year plan, having also boycotted four days of national meetings, which they say were only held so that the government could propose a longer transition.

The spokesperson for the coalition, Amadou Koita, says that the grouping is calling on current military leaders to respect the transition charter.

He says the main goal of a transition is the end of the transition. It’s to work for a return to constitutional order.

“Those who want to be in power should be candidates and submit to the will of the people. We are a democracy, we are in a country where we have rights, we are a republic. Let’s respect the law,” he said. 

One of the reasons given for the extension was the security situation, which has steadily declined for a decade. 

Doussouba Konaté, who works for the Mali office of Accountability Lab, a transnational group that promotes good governance, says there is some truth to the claim that elections cannot be held due to insecurity.

“The insecurity argument is an argument that is really, really heavy,” she said. “It’s an argument that is really going to play a part in this, because we’re talking about democracy. What does democracy mean? Democracy means inclusivity, and taking into consideration all of the Malian population. We know very well that because of insecurity, there is a big part of the Malian population who won’t be able to be taken into consideration in the next elections.” 

Konaté says that though many people oppose a longer period of military rule, some citizens support a longer transition because they appreciate seeing a Malian president who can confront the international community.

But Mali’s relationship with the international community, whether with its ECOWAS neighbors in ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, or with European countries, remains complicated. 

France recently pulled out of all but one of Mali’s northern military bases, a decision French President Emmanuel Macron called a reorganization of its anti-insurgent Operation Barkhane forces, and which came after months of anti-French protests in Bamako.

ECOWAS has threatened further sanctions on Mali if the military government cannot abide by a February election deadline.

Nana Akufo-Addo, the current president of ECOWAS, is due to visit Mali Wednesday to discuss the transition timetable. An ECOWAS summit on Mali is scheduled for this Sunday in Accra.
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U.S. Horn of Africa envoy Jeffrey Feltman will visit Ethiopia Thursday for meetings with senior government officials to discuss peace talks, a senior State Department official said, in Washington’s latest push to bring an end to the conflict. 

The yearlong war between Ethiopia’s government and the leadership of the northern Tigray region, among Africa’s bloodiest conflicts, has killed thousands of civilians and displaced millions. 

Washington repeatedly has called for an end to hostilities and a negotiated resolution to the conflict, an end to human rights abuses and violations, and for unhindered humanitarian access. 

“Feltman will be in Addis on January 6 for meetings with senior government officials to discuss peace talks,” the official said on Feltman’s upcoming visit to Addis Ababa. 

Tigrayan forces fighting the central government last month withdrew from neighboring regions in Ethiopia’s north, a step toward a possible cease-fire after major territorial gains by the Ethiopian military. 

Last week, State Department spokesman Ned Price said the withdrawal, and the Ethiopian government stating it did not intend to pursue those forces into Tigray, offers an opportunity for parties to come to the negotiating table. 

But airstrikes in Tigray have continued, reportedly killing dozens of civilians, and no aid convoys have been able to enter since mid-December, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a December 30 report. 

Washington has increased pressure to try to bring an end to the fighting, with Feltman traveling to the region several times in a diplomatic push. 

The United States cut Ethiopia Saturday from access to a duty-free trade program, following through on President Joe Biden’s threat in November to do so over alleged human rights violations in the Tigray region. 

In November, the United States imposed sanctions on the Eritrean military and other Eritrea-based individuals and entities, as Washington warned it was prepared to take action against other parties to the conflict. 

 
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Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi and his wife Isaura Nyusi have gone into isolation after testing positive for coronavirus.

According to a presidential media statement, President Nyusi and his wife are not showing any symptoms but have gone into isolation as a precaution.  

Mozambique’s Minister of Health Armindo Tiago said on state Radio Mozambique late Monday that the positive diagnosis was confirmed after a rapid test for the new coronavirus.

He says his excellency the president of the republic and his wife decided to carry out a test for SARS-CoV-2 for precautionary reasons.  It was a rapid test, says Tiago, and the rapid test was positive.  Due to it being a rapid test, he says, they will carry out a PCR test for confirmation.  

Tiago did not reveal the where the country’s first family are isolating but said they would be watched by a team of doctors.

In a media statement, President Nyusi renewed his appeal for compliance with COVID measures to prevent and combat the pandemic.

He urged all citizens over 18 years of age to get vaccinated.  

Mozambique has seen a surge in coronavirus infections in recent weeks with daily confirmed infections averaging 3,000, the highest figure during the pandemic. 

Mozambique’s official death toll from the virus stands at over 2,000 people from nearly 200,000 reported infections.
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After massive financial losses in the tourism industry in 2020, the Egyptian government threw extravagant made-for-TV events into 2021 to attract new international visitors. But a rising swell of critics say the glamor did little to bring more desperately needed jobs and revenue to the people who work in the industry. For VOA, Hamada Elrasam has this photo story. Captions by Elle Kurancid.
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