Three Burkina Faso soldiers died and 11 militants were killed during an attack on the troops Wednesday, the army said, amid worsening insecurity that has sparked anti-government protests.

The attack took place against an army detachment in Thiou in the Yatenga Region, the army said in a statement Thursday.

“Eleven terrorists were neutralized. However, three soldiers fell during combat and dozens were wounded,” it said.

The attack by suspected Islamist militants was the latest of three since November 14 that have killed more than 60 security forces and more than a dozen civilians, sparking nationwide anger and protests, with calls for President Roch Marc Kabore to resign.

Opponents urged people to stage fresh protests Saturday against the government’s inability to contain a four-year insurgency by militants linked to al-Qaida and Islamic State that has killed thousands and displaced upward of a million people.

Ouagadougou’s mayor issued a statement Wednesday saying no protests had been authorized and asking police to take necessary measures to stop illegal demonstrations.

The education ministry said schools would be shut nationwide on Friday and Saturday for the safety of students and teachers, given the calls for protests.

The U.N. special representative for West Africa and the Sahel said Thursday that the situation in Burkina Faso was concerning, particularly in a region that has seen three military takeovers since the start of the year.

“I appeal to the wisdom of civil society and other actors to prevent a country like Burkina … from falling into a crisis like what is happening elsewhere,” Mahamat Saleh Annadif told a news conference.

Some of the anger in Burkina Faso last week was directed against former colonial power France, which has deployed thousands of soldiers in the West Africa Sahel region to combat the militants.

Hundreds of people in the city of Kaya massed over the weekend to block a convoy of French logistics and armored vehicles on its way to neighboring Niger. The convoy has still not been able to leave Burkina Faso.
…

Ethiopia’s government has asked the United States to stop spreading what it considers falsehoods against the country, the state minister of communication Kebede Dessisa said Thursday, after the State Department issued an alert about potential “terrorist attacks.” 

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government and rebellious forces from the Tigray region in the north have been fighting for more than a year, in a conflict that has killed thousands and displaced millions in Africa’s second most populous nation. 

This week, the Irish government said Ethiopia had expelled four of six Irish diplomats from the country because of Ireland’s stance on the conflict. Spokespeople for the Ethiopian government also have warned against unnamed external threats and repeatedly criticized Western governments for what they say is inaccurate coverage of the war. 

Kebede, the state minister of communication, was quoted by state broadcaster EBC as telling a news conference the U.S. government should refrain from disseminating “shameful fake news and defamation regarding Ethiopia.” 

He referred to a statement Wednesday on Twitter by the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa that urged its citizens to maintain a high level of vigilance due to “the ongoing possibility of terrorist attacks in Ethiopia.” 

Earlier this month, tens of thousands of Ethiopians lied in the capital to support the government, where they denounced the United States for alleged interference in Ethiopia’s internal affairs. Washington has urged its citizens to leave Ethiopia immediately while the security situation still permits. 

On Thursday, dozens of protesters took their anger to the U.S. Embassy in the city, where they displayed banners reading “Interference is Undemocratic” and “Truth Wins.” 

Asked for comment, a U.S. Embassy official said the safety of U.S. citizens abroad is one of the highest priorities of the State Department, adding: “We continue to urge U.S. citizens in Ethiopia to depart now using commercially available flight options.” 

Tigrayan forces and their allies have threatened to march on the capital Addis Ababa. They also have been fighting fiercely to try to cut a transport corridor linking landlocked Ethiopia with the region’s main port Djibouti. 

On Tuesday, U.S. Special Envoy Jeffrey Feltman warned of an “alarming” increase in military operations and said both Abiy and the Tigrayan forces seem to believe they are on the cusp of military victory.
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At least eight people were killed and 17 were wounded Thursday in a suicide car bombing targeting a security convoy near a school in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu. 

“A deafening, huge blast sent plumes of smoke into the sky, shocked us and forced us to run and duck behind walls,” said one eyewitness who spoke to VOA’s Somali Service on condition of anonymity. “I came out and saw the dead bodies of at least 8 people and more than 10 others wounded.” 

Mogadishu police spokesperson Abdifatah Aden Hassan said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber targeting a security convoy.

“A suicide bomber driving an explosives-laden SUV car drove alongside a convoy providing security to the United Nations and detonated. Police counted the dead bodies of eight people, and 17 others were injured,” Hassan told reporters.

It was not immediately clear if any U.N. personnel or foreign nationals were among those killed or injured in blast and U.N. officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

The blast occurred on the road between Mogadishu’s busy strategic KM4 Junction and the Tarabunka area in the Hodan district of the capital.

According to multiple eyewitnesses, the blast destroyed small businesses, a restaurant, and part of nearby Mucassar primary and secondary school. 

“The blast occurred as more than a thousand students were in classes. Seventeen people injured in the school … [including] 13 students, a teacher and three school drivers,” Yusuf Hussein Abdi, one of the school administrators, told VOA Somali.

“Gunfire around the scene followed the blast, causing panic and shock in the school and forced our students to run for their lives,” he added.

A statement released by pro-al-Shabab media, including Andalus radio, the Islamist group’s mouthpiece, claimed responsibility for the attack and said an African Union convoy escorting western officials was the target.

Thursday’s blast comes four days after a suicide bomber in Mogadishu killed a prominent Somali journalist with state-run media, Abdiaziz Mohamud Guled, better known as Afrika.

It also comes amid corruption allegations and charges of marred elections in seats of the Lower House of federal parliament.

Somalia’s Acting National Intelligence and Security Agency boss Yasin Abdullahi Farey was elected to parliament Thursday in the central Somali state of Galmudug.

Meanwhile, the Heritage Institute for Policy Studies, a Mogadishu-based independent think tank, has warned that electoral corruption might lead to political instability in Somalia.

“If the politicians’ gerrymandering of the indirect electoral process continues unchecked, Somalia’s state-building project might unravel,” a new report released by the group Thursday has warned.

The Islamist terrorist group al-Shabab has been fighting Somalia’s central government for years, seeking to take power and impose its strict interpretation of Islam’s Sharia law.

The group frequently carries out violent attacks in Somalia and elsewhere in its war against the Somalia military and the African Union-mandated forces that help protect the government.

Seynab Abukar and Jamal Osman contributed to this report.
…

A blast near a school in Somalia’s capital Thursday killed at least eight people and wounded 17 others.

The al-Shabab extremist group claimed responsibility for the attack in Mogadishu, which came days after one that killed a prominent Somali journalist.

An al-Shabab statement said a convoy was the target of Thursday’s bombing, which took place during the morning rush hour.

Some information for this report came from the Associated Press, AFP and Reuters. 
…

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Wednesday reportedly joined the front line where government forces are battling rebels from the Tigray region, prompting U.S.-led international calls for a diplomatic solution and an immediate cease-fire to the conflict.

The fighting in the north of Africa’s second-most populous country has killed thousands of people and forced hundreds of thousands into faminelike conditions.

Foreign governments have told their citizens to leave amid the escalating war and fears the Tigrayan rebels could march on the capital, Addis Ababa.

Abiy, winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, “is now leading the counter-offensive” and “has been giving leadership from the battlefield as of yesterday,” Fana Broadcasting Corporate reported.

It was not clear where Abiy, a former radio operator in the military who rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel, had deployed.

State media did not broadcast images of him in the field, and officials have not responded to requests for details about his whereabouts.

Addressing reports of Abiy at the front, the U.S. State Department late Wednesday warned “there is no military solution” to Ethiopia’s civil war.

“We urge all parties to refrain from inflammatory and bellicose rhetoric, to use restraint, respect human rights, allow humanitarian access, and protect civilians,” a State Department spokesperson said.

A day earlier Washington’s special envoy for the Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Feltman, said that “nascent progress” risked being “outpaced by the military escalation by the two sides.”

Other foreign envoys also have been frantically pushing for a cease-fire, though there have been few signs a breakthrough is coming.

On Wednesday, U.N. chief Antonio Guterres called for a swift end to the fighting, comments made while on a visit to Colombia to mark the fifth anniversary of a peace deal between the government and former FARC rebels.

“The peace process in Colombia inspires me to make an urgent appeal today to the protagonists of the conflict in Ethiopia for an unconditional and immediate cease-fire to save the country,” he said.

The war erupted in November 2020 when Abiy sent troops into Tigray to topple its ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

He said the move was in response to TPLF attacks on federal army camps and promised a swift victory, but by late June the rebels had retaken most of Tigray, including its capital Mekele.

Since then, the TPLF has pushed into neighboring Amhara and Afar regions, and this week it claimed to have seized a town 220 kilometers from Addis Ababa.

Abiy’s announcement Monday that he would deploy to the front “has inspired many to … join the survival campaign,” Fana said Wednesday.

Hundreds of new recruits took part in a ceremony held in their honor Wednesday in the capital’s Kolfe district.

As officials corraled sheep and oxen into trucks bound for the north, the recruits broke into patriotic songs and chants.

“When a leader leaves his chair … and his throne it is to rescue his country,” Tesfaye Sherefa, a 42-year-old driver, told AFP.

Feyisa Lilesa, a distance runner and 2016 Olympic silver medalist, told state media the rebels’ advance presented “a great opportunity” to defend the nation.

The marathon runner gained political prominence by raising and crossing his arms as he finished the marathon at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, a gesture of solidarity with fellow ethnic Oromos killed while protesting abuses committed during nearly three decades of TPLF rule.

Even as it rallies citizens to fight, Abiy’s government insists the TPLF’s gains have been overstated, criticizing what it describes as sensationalist media coverage and alarmist security advisories from Western embassies.

The war has triggered a humanitarian crisis, with accounts of massacres and mass rapes, and on Wednesday the United Nations expressed worry over reports of large-scale displacement from western Tigray, where the U.S. has previously warned of ethnic cleansing.

“Tigray zonal authorities report of 8,000 new arrivals, potentially up to 20,000,” the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said, adding that it could not immediately corroborate the figures.

Several witnesses have told AFP of mass roundups of Tigrayan civilians in western Tigray in recent days.

Amhara forces occupied the fiercely contested area a year ago, with Amhara officials accusing the TPLF of illegally annexing it three decades earlier.

As Amhara civilians have poured in over the past year, Tigrayans have fled in the tens of thousands, either west into Sudan or east, deeper into Tigray. 
…

The U.N. Security Council threatened sanctions Wednesday against spoilers in Libya’s presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for December 24.

“The Security Council recalls that individuals or entities who threaten the peace, stability or security of Libya or obstruct or undermine the successful completion of its political transition, including by obstructing or undermining the elections, may be designated for its sanctions,” the 15-nation council said in a presidential statement.

The council also called on all Libyan stakeholders to respect the results of the vote and to work together “in the spirit of unity and compromise” afterward for a peaceful transfer of power.

Additionally, members issued a united call for countries to respect the arms embargo imposed against Libya and for all foreign fighters and mercenaries to immediately leave the country. Instability, fighting and foreign interference have proliferated in Libya since the ouster and killing of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

Libya is to hold elections in exactly one month — 70 years to the day since the country declared independence in 1951. The head of the High National Election Commission, or HNEC, said Tuesday that 98 people had registered by the deadline to run for president, a list that includes a son of Gadhafi and the commander of an eastern-based militia that tried to seize the capital, Tripoli, in 2019, as well as two female hopefuls.

On Wednesday, it was reported that Gadhafi, who is wanted on war crimes charges by the International Criminal Court at The Hague, was among 25 candidates whose bids have been rejected by the HNEC.

More than 2,000 hopefuls have registered so far to run for parliamentary seats, including 276 women. That registration is open until December 7.

Earlier this month, the HNEC began distributing voter cards to the more than 2.8 million registered voters, with more than 64% of eligible voters having received them so far.

The HNEC has confirmed the first round of voting in both polls will be December 24, with a second round 50 days later, to accommodate counting and tabulating the results, as well as possible electoral challenges and appeals. The final results of both elections will be announced simultaneously.

Envoy abruptly resigns

It was also announced Tuesday the U.N.’s top diplomat for Libya, Jan Kubis, is stepping down. Kubis addressed his abrupt departure after less than a year in the post, in what was likely his final briefing to the council, via a video call from Tripoli.

He said he favors splitting the role of special envoy and head of the U.N. Support Mission in Libya, UNSMIL, into two jobs with the head of UNSMIL being located in Tripoli. This is something that had been discussed earlier but not acted on.

“In order to create conditions for this on 17 November 2021, I tendered my resignation,” he told the council. “In the resignation letter, I also confirmed my readiness to continue as the special envoy for a transitional period to ensure business continuity provided that it is a feasible option.”

However, he said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres accepted his resignation in a letter, effective December 10 before the elections.

“We will continue to work with him while we’re seeking a successor,” U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said of Kubis when asked about the secretary-general’s choice of date for his departure.

The previous envoy, Ghassan Salame, left the post in March 2020 citing stress on his health, and it took more than a year to find his successor. Now the secretary-general has set himself the Herculean task of finding a new envoy who is agreeable to both of the Libyan parties and the Security Council in less than three weeks.

In his parting briefing, Kubis said the political climate in the country remains “heavily polarized,” including tensions over the existing legal framework for the elections and the eligibility of some candidates.

“Libya continues to be at a delicate and fragile juncture on its path to unity and stability through the ballot boxes,” Kubis said. “While risks associated with the ongoing political polarization around the elections are evident and present, not holding the elections could gravely deteriorate the situation in the country and could lead to further division and conflict.”

Some information for this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse. 
…

With a yearlong conflict taking an increasing toll in northern Ethiopia, the U.N. World Food Program, Human Rights Watch and other organizations are intensifying their appeals for combatants to halt abuses and permit the delivery of emergency aid to millions of at-risk civilians.

Meanwhile, people displaced by fighting in the eastern Amhara region say that beyond the immediate violence of war, they also are battling hunger and unmet critical medical needs.

Residents interviewed by VOA’s Horn of Africa Service at a refugee camp in the Amhara regional capital of Bahir Dar spoke this week of frequent deaths and funerals for individuals who died in recent weeks from hunger or a lack of medicine.

The Amhara region lies just south of the Tigray region, where Ethiopian federal forces and their allies began fighting in November 2020 to put down a rebellion by the once politically dominant Tigray People’s Liberation Front and its fighters. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and has spread to neighboring regions, including Amhara and Afar.

Zelalem Lijalem, commissioner of coordination for the Amhara regional disaster prevention and food security program, said roughly a third of the region’s more than 21 million residents need emergency humanitarian assistance. Zelelem said at a Monday press conference in Bahir Dar that the needy included 2.1 million internally displaced people and another 5 million in areas still controlled by the TPLF.

Fighting has “closed the main corridors into Tigray and Amhara [regions], substantially cutting access,” WFP spokesperson Tomson Phiri said at a news briefing Tuesday in Geneva. Despite that, he said, the organization has delivered food and nutritional aid to 2.6 million people in Tigray, 220,000 in Amhara and another 124,000 in Afar.

Responding Wednesday to written questions from VOA, another WFP spokesperson, Kyle Wilkinson, said about 1.7 million people have been displaced in the Amhara region, according to government estimates, and 3.7 million people in the region “are in urgent need of food assistance.”

Phiri said his agency has begun a two-week “major food assistance operation to serve more than 450,000 people” in the northern Ethiopian towns of Kombolcha and Dessie.

“For WFP to scale up the delivery of food assistance to save 3.7 million lives in northern Ethiopia, all parties must cooperate to facilitate movement of supplies across battle lines and allow access to affected populations, wherever and whenever needed,” Phiri said.

He also said the agency faces a $546 million shortfall for its efforts throughout Ethiopia “to save and change the lives of 12 million people over the next six months.”

Evidence of looting

The availability of relief supplies has been hampered by looting and destruction. Phiri said the WFP last week was able to access humanitarian warehouses in Kombolcha, in the Amhara region, only to find “damaged equipment, vandalized storage units and substantial amounts of food looted from the facilities. The loss of this food means fewer people in need can be reached by WFP and its partners.”

He did not indicate when the vandalism took place or who might be responsible.

The U.S. Agency for International Development’s mission chief in Ethiopia, Sean Jones, said in a late-August interview with Ethiopian state TV that TPLF fighters were culpable for looting and destroying humanitarian goods in at least some Amhara locations.

TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda denied his organization was culpable, saying in a September 1 tweet that “while we cannot vouch for every unacceptable behavior of off-grid fighters in such matters, we have evidence that such looting is mainly orchestrated by local individuals & groups.” He called for an independent investigation.

Fighting, TPLF attacks and a federal government blockade on Tigray imposed in June have deterred aid. But, as The Associated Press reported, a joint investigation by the U.N. Human Rights Council and the government-appointed Ethiopian Human Rights Commission “could not confirm deliberate or willful denial of humanitarian assistance to the civilian population in Tigray or the use of starvation as a weapon of war.”

‘Investigative mechanism’ sought

On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch cited the joint investigation, saying in a statement that the UNHRC should “urgently establish an independent international investigative mechanism” to document abuses, “to ensure accountability and to prevent impunity.”

Human Rights Watch said its own research “found serious violations and abuses of international human rights and humanitarian law” on a range of fronts, including “obstruction of humanitarian assistance, leaving millions at risk of famine and disease.”

In mid-November, Martin Griffiths, the U.N. humanitarian chief, announced $40 million in new humanitarian aid for Ethiopia. The funding aims to provide aid and civilian protection in a country beset by conflict and drought.​

This report originated in VOA’s Horn of Africa Service.
…

Libya’s election commission said on Wednesday that Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, the son of the former ruler and a major candidate in December’s planned presidential election, was ineligible to run, compounding the turmoil surrounding the vote.

Gadhafi was one of 25 candidates that it disqualified in an initial decision pending an appeals process that will ultimately be decided by the judiciary. Some 98 Libyans registered as candidates.

Disputes over the election rules, including the legal basis of the vote and who should be eligible to stand, threaten to derail an internationally backed peace process aimed at ending a decade of factional chaos.

The military prosecutor in Tripoli had urged the commission to rule out Gadhafi after his conviction in absentia on war crimes charges in 2015 for his part in fighting the revolution that toppled his father Muammar Gadhafi in 2011. He has denied wrongdoing.

Some of the other candidates initially approved by the commission had also been accused of possible violations by political rivals.

Interim prime minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah vowed not to run for president as a condition of taking on his present role, and did not stand down from it three months before the vote as is required by a contested election law.

Another prominent candidate, eastern commander Khalifa Haftar, is said to have U.S. nationality, which could also rule him out. Many people in western Libya also accuse him of war crimes committed during his 2019-20 assault on Tripoli.

Haftar denies warcrimes and says he is not a U.S. citizen. Dbeibah has described as “flawed” the election rules issued in September by the parliament speaker Aguila Saleh, who is also a candidate.

U.N. Libya envoy Jan Kubis, who is stepping down from his post, told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday that Libya’s judiciary would make the final decision on the rules and on whether candidates were eligible.
…

Somalia has declared a state of humanitarian emergency as drought ravages 80 percent of the country, leaving more than two million people short of food and water.

Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble, who declared the emergency, appealed for an urgent response.

He said, “I am calling upon all Somalis, including the business community, religious leaders, members of the diaspora community and international partners, to take part in aiding those affected by the famine.”

The situation is very dire and there is a need for an immediate response, the prime minister added.

Badia Moalim Osman is among thousands of Somali pastoralists who lost their livestock in the escalating drought.

She was displaced to Dhobley town in the Lower Jubba region, one of most affected areas. 

She said they lost herds of cattle to the drought and were only left with two cows that also succumbed to the famine.

U.N. agencies in the country say their efforts to reach those affected are limited by a lack of funding and access due to conflict in some areas.

Cindy Isaac is the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs deputy head in Mogadishu.

“The humanitarian partners and authorities in Somalia are really trying to scale up the responses mainly through water tracking, repairing boreholes and delivering food and health assistance to address the extraordinary critical water and food needs however the efforts have been significantly hampered due to the ongoing inadequate funding and access constraints in the areas affected by the conflict,” she said.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization warns food insecurity is projected to worsen significantly through May 2022, with many households experiencing widening food consumption gaps and erosion of their coping capacity if expected rains fail again.
…

In Zimbabwe, a former boxing champion is using his skills to teach the next generation and hopefully help keep impoverished young people away from drugs and crime. Columbus Mavhunga reports from Harare.
…

Economists say China’s model of investment in Africa is gaining public support, despite the debt burden it imposes on many countries. According to economic experts and the locals, the United States’ multibillion dollar investments in Africa are less visible and make less of an impact on people’s daily lives.

Catheren Kiura’s electronic business is one of thousands in Kenya that distributes products both from China and Western countries. Kiura says her Chinese products are moving the fastest.

“There is first quality, second quality to fifth quality. So, it depends on what the customer is asking for because we sell something that the customer wants. If it’s a bulb for 30 shillings, I have it, if it’s a bulb for 50 shillings,” Kiura told VOA.

Electronics is a target area of investment by Chinese companies in Africa. Locals say such investments are impacting their daily lives directly.

Joseph Kamau, a resident in Nairobi, said, “A lot of products we see in the shops are from China. Government projects we hear are also being run by Chinese. So even though America is investing, we haven’t seen them on the ground.” He added, “We hear that America has done this and that but we haven’t seen them at the grassroots.” 

Economists like Wahoro Ndoho say the model of investment by foreign countries is key in the competition for influence across Africa.

“China has followed its money in the countries it invested in, unlike other lenders it has followed its projects with engineers, sometimes even to the extreme of having their own workers. What that has resulted in is a visible impact,” he expressed to VOA.

During his three-nation tour of Africa last week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said his country is investing in the continent without imposing unsustainable levels of debt.

Wahoro told VOA that distinction is an important one. 

“If you look at the overall picture of debt stock, and by this I mean other debt beyond commercial loan, China has been mainly for commercial debt, the West is still ahead in terms of actual dollar on the ground and also because if you include the institutions owned by IMF, the totality of that bilateral, multilateral institutions, you see it’s still the West space.” 

In a bid to strengthen relations with Africa, the White House has announced it will host an African leaders’ summit in 2022. 

 
…

A top U.S. diplomat said Tuesday he was worried that military developments in Ethiopia were overtaking efforts to stop escalation of the country’s bloody yearlong conflict.

Addressing reporters after his return from a trip to Ethiopia, U.S. Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman said he and other diplomats were trying to achieve a de-escalation and cease-fire between the Ethiopian federal government and forces led by the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front. TPLF says those forces are Tigray Defense Forces (TDF). The federal government says TPLF is a designated terrorist group. 

Feltman said that the talks had made progress but acknowledged that both sides remained poised for more clashes.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced on social media Monday that he would go to the battlefront to lead his forces in person, and he called on citizens to join him.

Meanwhile, the TPLF-led forces, who have been pushing south toward the capital, Addis Ababa, were reported Monday to have occupied a town about 220 kilometers away from the city.

On Tuesday, Feltman urged both sides to pull back from the brink of intensified war.

“After more than a year of fighting and hundreds of thousands of casualties and people displaced by fighting, it should be clear that there is no military solution,” he said.

Feltman said Tigrayan leaders had told him their top priority was to break “the de facto humanitarian siege that the government of Ethiopia has imposed on Tigray since July.” 

He said Abiy wanted rebel forces to pull back to Tigray and leave the lands they occupied in the Amhara and Afar regions.

“The basic point is that these two objectives are not mutually exclusive. With political will, one can achieve both,” he said. “Unfortunately, each side is trying to achieve its goal by military force, and each side seems to believe that it’s on the cusp of winning.” 

Feltman said the U.S. was not taking sides in the conflict, but he added that the U.S. was against a military advance by Tigrayan forces on the capital.

“I want to make it clear we are absolutely opposed to the to the TDF threatening Addis by cutting off the road to Djibouti or threatening Addis by actually entering,” he said. 
…

Discarded tires can be an eyesore – or a resource. In Senegal, a group of business students started a company that is giving old tires a second life. Allison Lékogo Fernandes reports from Dakar. Videographer: Mbaye Ndir, Producers: Mbaye Ndir/Marcus Harton
…

Nigeria’s Minister of Information dismissed a leaked report Tuesday blaming security forces for the deaths of protesters last year in Lagos state. The report from a nine-member panel of inquiry said Nigerian soldiers and police shot at protesters demanding an end to police brutality, killing at least 11 unarmed people.

Information Minister Lai Mohamed described the contents of the leaked report Tuesday as “fake news” during a press briefing in Abuja.

The minister said the report was inconsistent, ridden with discrepancies and that the panel’s submission was influenced by accounts of the incident on social media.

“It is simply incredible that a judicial panel set up to investigate an incident has submitted a report laden with the same allegations it was set up to investigate in the first place,” Mohamed said.

The nine-member Lagos panel was constituted in October 2020 to look into claims of police brutality and investigate the killings at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos.

Protesters had gathered there to call for the breakup of the notorious SARS unit of the Nigerian police.

The panel found Nigerian military and police officers shot and killed at least 11 protesters at Lekki and injured dozens of others.

Civil rights groups and activists in the “End SARS” movement already are pushing back against the minister’s statement. Ariyo Dare is co-founder of the Nigeria Liberty Center.

“He has lost touch with Nigerians and the reality of time. Everything that is being done against the End SARS report from Lagos is politically motivated. It will give the Lagos state government an opportunity to delete some part of the report and water down the recommendations,” said Dare.

Last week, the Lagos state governor set up a four-man committee to review the panel’s report within two weeks and then adopt their recommendations.

But activists say they cannot trust authorities to do the right thing. Obianuju Iloanya is one of the End SARS protest leaders.

“They will try to hide this report. We were even lucky that someone had access to take pictures and share on social media for us to even know some of the things that were contained in the report. But I assure you they’ll try to hide it,” said Iloanya.

What will happen next is not known, but rights groups and End SARS activists say they will not rest until they get justice for victims of the Lekki shooting.
…

An internet and mobile phone disruption that began in Burkina Faso on Saturday continued into Monday, causing a widespread communication blackout, confusion and frustration.

People in the country report the 3G mobile network, which much of the West African country relies on, is not working. However, fixed line and wireless services, or WiFi, have not been disrupted, a diplomat based in the capital city Ouagadougou told VOA.

“Nothing has officially been communicated on the reason for cutting the 3G from what I have seen,” said the diplomat, who wasn’t authorized to speak to the media. 

However, the shutdown began the same day a group of demonstrators blocked a French military convoy attempting to travel through the city of Kaya. The convoy of about 60 vehicles and 100 soldiers, headed from Ivory Coast to Niger and Mali, was forced to turn back to the capital of Ouagadougou due to the protest, according to official sources who spoke to VOA’s Bambara Service.

In an attempt to disperse the crowd, Burkinabe security forces used tear gas and French troops fired warning shots into the air. Several protesters said they were injured during the event, although VOA cannot independently verify what caused the injuries.

NetBlocks, an organization tracking global connectivity, confirmed the continued internet outage Monday and said the type of disruption “cannot be worked around with the use of circumvention software or VPNs.” 

It added that the disruption stifles the flow of information and prevents news coverage of critical events in the country. 

Access Now, another advocacy group, condemned the disruption, calling on authorities to restore internet connection. “While details are still emerging, one thing is certain: this is a blatant attack on human rights,” the group tweeted Monday. “#InternetShutdowns are never acceptable.” 

Anger is growing in Burkina Faso over extremist violence that has killed thousands and displaced more than 1 million people, according to the United Nations. 

Some of the protesters in Kaya are also angry at French military involvement in the conflict, due to accusations, advanced by misinformation online, that the French are arming the militant groups. 

VOA’s Bambara Service chief, Bagassi Koura, contributed to this report.
…

Investigators in Somalia have concluded that the country’s National Intelligence and Security Agency was not responsible for the presumed death of one of its officers. The committee said there was no evidence the agency was involved in the June disappearance of 24-year-old Ikram Tahlil Farah. Tahlil’s parents have rejected the committee’s findings and blame the spy agency, which blames the death on the al-Shabab terrorist group.

General Abdullahi Bulle Kamey, the chief prosecutor of the Armed Forces Court, said his team’s investigation found no sign that Somalia’s chief intelligence agency was responsible for disappearance and presumed death of the officer. 

He said the investigators tasked have found no evidence whatsoever to link the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) officials to the missing female spy Ikran Tahlil Farah. He also asked that anyone with information in the case present it to the authorities. 

The mother of the missing cyber security intelligence official, Qali Mohamed Guhad, dismissed the committee’s findings. 

She said that they were very astonished with the verdict and her family was not expecting such result. They do not accept the outcome at all, she added. 

Ismail Dahir is a security analyst and former deputy director of Somalia’s spy agency. He alleges that NISA officials — including its acting director — hold sway over the lower house of parliament. 

He said acquitting the suspects without the submitting the process to the court is unlawful and will damage the credibility of the ongoing electoral process, adding that the family of the slain spy might resort to seeking alternative means to take justice into their own hands. 

Farah was an officer for NISA’s cyber security unit. She was last seen June 26 near the agency’s headquarters in Mogadishu. 

To date, no one has found her body, but NISA declared her dead in September. 

In an earlier report, the spy agency blamed the death of their officer on the militant group al-Shabab. But the group has strongly denied any involvement. 
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A Kenyan ride-hailing company has introduced electric bicycle rentals for the first time in the capital, where air pollution and motor vehicle traffic are problems. Lenny Ruvaga reports from Nairobi.
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Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has been reinstated in a deal with the military, following weeks of unrest sparked by a coup. Despite the military promising to release all political prisoners, protesters have vowed to continue demonstrating for democracy.

Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok got his power back to continue with the country’s political transition. He had been kept under house arrest since October 25 when the military overthrew his government and arrested some politicians.

Sulaima Al Khalifa, a human rights activist in Sudan, said the current deal did not change the situation on the ground.

“We did not expect it. It was a surprise and shock. We fear there is a lot of pressure happening, Hamdok is under pressure because it’s not even logical and what he has done is not even logical according to the serious event that has happened. Because the violation of the rights of the people is still ongoing. Since 25th we don’t have a state,” she said.

On Sunday, a teenager was shot dead during a protest in the city of Omdurman according to a pro-democracy Sudanese doctors group. The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors said 41 people have died so far since the coup.

Jonas Horner, a senior analyst on Sudan affairs at the International Crisis Group, said the prime minister will hold less power after Sunday’s political deal in Khartoum.

“Hamdok appears to have been returned to power under some duress. He has made of the calculation he would rather be inside the process that now appears to be solidly controlled by the military, by the coup-makers from October 25 rather than being outside. The military had relied on bringing Hamdok back in that had been their key strategic approach. Hamdok does bring the military government a level of credibility,” said Horner.

Some people in Sudan see Hamdok as a political hero for standing up to the military before and after the coup.

Horner predicts that sentiment will change drastically in the streets and Hamdok will find himself in a difficult political position.

“He will find himself far less popular with the street and he will find himself very low in this power that he will need to turn this back around in the direction of constituencies on the streets that he really should be pushing for. The relationship between the military and the street will only get worse. The military has shown its cards, it’s clearly not seeking to deliver on the transition that people had called for during Sudan’s revolution in 2018-2019,” said Horner. 

In December 2018, Sudanese took to the streets demanding good governance and respect for the rule of law. The street protest eventually drove former president Omar al-Bashir out of power after 30 years in office.
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Tunisian authorities said Sunday they had intercepted more than 200 migrants trying to reach the Italian coast, in nine separate operations.

“In the context of the fight against irregular immigration, units from the northern, southern and central regions managed to thwart nine (sea crossing) attempts” overnight Saturday to Sunday, national guard spokesman Houssem Eddine Jebabli said.

The interceptions took place both at sea and on the coast, assisting 223 migrants from different African countries, including 111 Tunisians, the national guard said.

Late last month, Tunisia’s coast guard said it had thwarted six departure attempts and rescued 125 Europe-bound migrants, 112 of them from sub-Saharan Africa.

Earlier in October, four Tunisians migrants died and 19 others went missing after their boat capsized off the country’s east coast.

More than 58,800 migrants have managed to reach Italy since the start of the year, most of them by sea, according to the U.N. refugee agency.

More than 1,300 have died or gone missing while trying to make the Mediterranean crossing, particularly to reach Italy, Spain and Greece.

Tunisia is a key departure point for would-be migrants hoping to attempt the dangerous sea crossing to Europe.

The Italian island of Lampedusa is located just 140 kilometers (less than 90 miles) from Tunisia’s east coast.

According to the FTDES rights group, the Tunisian coast guard intercepted some 19,500 people attempting to cross the Mediterranean in the first nine months of this year.

It said the trend had accelerated since the establishment in June of a direct line of communication between Rome and Tunis to coordinate efforts against illegal immigration and share information.

Since Tunisia’s 2011 revolution, political instability and socio-economic crisis have worsened unemployment, which stands at 18% nationally but at more than 40 percent among young people.

According to FTDES, the coast guard had intercepted 42,000 people between 2011 and 2020.
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A few days after Tunisia’s president froze parliament and took on sweeping powers in July, a dozen men in unmarked vehicles and civilian clothes barged into politician Yassine Ayari’s family home overnight and took him away in his pajamas.

“These men weren’t wearing uniforms and they didn’t have a warrant,” Ayari told The Associated Press. “It was violent. My 4-year-old son still has nightmares about it.” 

A 40-year-old computer engineer-turned-corruption fighter, Ayari will stand trial again in a military court on Monday, accused of insulting the presidency and defaming the army. It is the latest in a series of trials that shine a light on Tunisia’s use of military courts to push through convictions against civilians. Rights groups say the practice has accelerated since President Kais Saied’s seizure of power in July and warn that its use further threatens hard-won freedoms amid Tunisia’s democratic backsliding. 

The charges Ayari faces relate to Facebook posts in which he criticized Saied, calling him a “pharaoh” and his measures a “military coup.” Ayari intends to remain silent in court to protest the whole judicial process, according to his lawyer, Malek Ben Amor. 

Amnesty International is warning of an “alarming increase” in Tunisian military courts targeting civilians. In the past three months, it says, 10 civilians have been investigated or prosecuted by military tribunals, while four civilians are facing trial for criticizing the president.

That’s especially worrying because Tunisia was long considered the only democratic success story to emerge from the Arab Spring uprisings a decade ago and was long seen as a model for the region. 

Most countries in the Middle East are now ruled by authoritarian governments, where military courts — ostensibly tasked with targeting threats to stability — are a tool for crushing dissent. Jordan and Egypt are among countries with a military court system, while Israel has established a separate military court system for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

An independent member of parliament, Ayari is known for criticizing Tunisia’s army and government and for his corruption investigations. One led to the resignation of former Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh in 2020 after Ayari published documents proving the leader had a conflict of interest. 

Ayari says he has been tried by a military tribunal nine times, leading to three sentences.

“There is no law in military courts, no independence,” he said.

He is among the Tunisian legislators whose employment status was suspended after Saied dismissed the government and froze parliament on July 25.

“I have to figure out how I’m going to pay my bills. Now I’m asking my wife for 10 dinars ($3.50) to even go out and buy a pack of cigarettes,” Ayari said. 

The Tunisian president’s surprise measures followed nationwide anti-government protests and rising frustrations with the North African nation’s political elite, who are widely perceived as corrupt and inefficient in the face of Tunisia’s growing coronavirus crisis and its economic and political woes. 

Saied also revoked the immunity of lawmakers like Ayari, who was swiftly arrested. He was jailed in July for a 2018 charge of defaming the army in a Facebook post and sentenced to two months in prison.

Habib Bourguiba, Tunisia’s leader after independence from French rule, established a military justice code that gave military courts the right to try civilians for crimes that included insulting “the flag or the army.” Efforts to reform the military justice code since the 2011 revolution have stalled. 

“Military courts are still under the undue control of the executive branch, as the president of the republic has exclusive control over the appointment of judges and prosecutors in these courts,” read a recent Amnesty report.

Saied’s critics say the army has become a political tool since July, noting that troops secured parliament when the government was dismissed, drawing comparisons with Egypt’s military coup in 2013. Tunisia’s army enjoys a high level of popularity and has traditionally played an apolitical role in the nation’s affairs.

The president ordered the army to take charge of the nation’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign, using their “image of strength and efficiency” to bolster his standing, political analyst Sharan Grewal said.

Saied is also “trying to get quick wins by using the military courts, which are in theory more reliable in the prosecution of certain members of parliament,” he said. 

In September, Saied partially suspended the country’s 2014 constitution, giving himself the power to rule by decree. Saied has also taken aim at the country’s judiciary, whose ranks he claims are filled with corrupt judges who must “be cleansed.” Observers have called Tunisia’s political crisis a step back in the country’s democratic transition. 

During his recent sentence, Ayari says he was filmed with video cameras in his cell and denied access to correspondence. Despite acute stomach ulcers, guards gave him cold food — contrary to medical advice. In protest, Ayari went on a two-week hunger strike. 

Representatives of Tunisia’s National Body for the Prevention of Torture shared a report with the AP that corroborates some of Ayari’s claims, including rights violations and evidence of “humiliating and degrading” treatment that posed a risk to his health.

The Ministry of Justice didn’t respond to the AP’s requests for comment. 

Ayari is now preparing for a possible new stint behind bars.

“I’m trying to eat as much as possible and sleep, because those two things are difficult to do in prison,” Ayari says. “This whole thing is not easy for my children. It is bad for their education: How are they supposed to tell the difference between right and wrong, justice and injustice, when they see their father get taken to prison?”
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Up to 200 protesters in Burkina Faso gathered on the outskirts of the capital, Ouagadougou, Sunday, aiming to block a French military convoy that has been trying to reach neighboring Niger from the nearby city of Kaya. French forces are in the region as part of a fight against Islamist militants. Many Burkinabe, however, are upset with France’s role and have directed their anger at French forces.

From Thursday through Saturday of last week, protesters in Kaya, 97 kilometers north of the capital, staged a blockade of the convoy.

An official from the French Defense Ministry told VOA on Sunday that the convoy was routine and the 32nd of its kind heading to Niamey, Niger, with supplies for troops.

Demonstrators said they believed the convoy was carrying weapons to arm terrorist groups which have spread throughout Burkina Faso, killing thousands of civilians and security forces over the last six years. Security has deteriorated rapidly in recent months, but there is no evidence to support the protesters’ claim.

Saturday night, it was reported the convoy had left Kaya after protesters there forced it out, but it was not clear if it was headed to Ouagadougou. 

Cell phone internet access has also been shut down since 10 p.m. local time Saturday, according to NetBlocks.org, a watchdog group that monitors internet shutdowns. This may indicate a government attempt to suppress further street protests. 

Nonetheless, protesters had arranged wooden pallets and tires on the road leading from Kaya to the capital and were flying a Burkinabe flag. The atmosphere was tense with protesters demanding to know if journalists were working for French media outlets. 

One protester, who refused to give his name, spoke to VOA. 

He said, “We are ready to burn any French material passing by. We do not need France in this country anymore. That’s our will.”

Another wanted to know where the jihadists’ weapons come from.  

“From where do the jihadists get their weapons? It’s from the French. That’s why we have blocked the convoy in Kaya. They shot at us yesterday and three people were injured. We were there yesterday, and today we are back again to block the convoy.”

Meanwhile, the Reuters news agency reports France has asked Burkinabe President Roch Kabore to intervene to resolve the situation involving the convoy. According to Reuters, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told French television “manipulators” were behind the anti-French sentiment, but that he hoped for a solution.

On Saturday, Burkinabe security forces in Kaya used tear gas to disperse crowds gathered near a fenced compound where the convoy had been parked. French defense officials say French troops fired warning shots into the air when protesters tried to cut the fence. The French defense official says there is no way that French troops shot and injured three people and that the incident will not be investigated.Joe Penney, a co-founder of Sahelian.com, a news website focused on the Sahel region, says that it is not exactly uncommon for soldiers to shoot in the air to disperse a crowd, but added that very rarely does that end up with so many people injured.

“The fact that people were shot in the leg also raises questions for me and for me there should be a formal investigation,” Penney said.

There were no security forces at the protest earlier Sunday morning, but a Burkinabe government official told VOA that efforts were underway to reopen the roads. The spokesperson, however, did not address the issues surrounding internet access.

“Regarding the internet, I do not know if it is a question of technical problems or not,” the spokesperson said.

By Sunday evening, police had dispersed protesters with tear gas and traffic was beginning to move freely on the road again.
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Gunmen killed a police officer and kidnapped five Chinese nationals working at a gold mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s conflict-plagued east on Sunday, military sources said.

Regional army spokesman Major Dieudonne Kasereka said that “at around 2 am, the camp of the Chinese group was attacked by armed bandits” in the village of Mukera in Fizi territory of South Kivu province.

“There were 14 in total, five were taken away by the attackers to an unknown destination,” he said, adding that the other nine were safely evacuated.

Colonel David Epanga, head of the armed forces in Fizi, said one policeman was killed and another was wounded in the attack.

The five abducted Chinese workers were employees of a company that has been operating a gold mine in the area for four to five months, Fizi civil society head Lusambya Wanumbe said.

“The company had difficulties starting its activities because of protests by the population which accused it of not respecting the rules,” Wanumbe said.

In August, South Kivu authorities suspended the work of half a dozen Chinese-financed companies, after residents accused them of mining for gold without permission and wrecking the environment.

Elsewhere in the Central African country’s troubled east, the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN) said that suspected rebels linked to the M23 movement killed a guard in Virunga National Park on Saturday night.

The ICCN said the attack was “carried out by around a hundred heavily armed individuals” near the village of Bukima, in the Mikeno area.

“The presumed perpetrators are former M23 members gathered on the Rwandan and Ugandan borders, who are seeking to establish bases on the territory of the Virunga National Park,” the ICCN said in a statement on Sunday.

The M23 is one of more than 120 armed groups which roam eastern Democratic Republic of Congo — a legacy of regional wars more than two decades ago.

It is a Congolese Tutsi group that was largely defeated in 2013 after launching a rebellion.

The militants were accused of attacking army positions close to the park and the Ugandan border on November 8, which the group’s leadership denied.

The Virunga National Park, a UNESCO listed world heritage site, is home to endangered mountain gorillas — particularly in the Mikeno area.
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken encouraged Tunisia’s leader to make reforms to respond to Tunisians’ hopes for “democratic progress,” the U.S. State Department said on Sunday, nearly four months after President Kais Saied seized political power. 

Saied said last week he was working non-stop on a timetable for reforms to defuse growing criticism at home and abroad since he dismissed the cabinet, suspended parliament and took personal power in July. 

Last week, thousands of Tunisians protested near parliament in the capital, demanding he reinstate the assembly, while major foreign donors whose financial assistance is needed to unlock an International Monetary Fund rescue package for the economy have urged him to return to a normal constitutional order. 

“The Secretary encouraged a transparent and inclusive reform process to address Tunisia’s significant political, economic, and social challenges and to respond to the Tunisian people’s aspirations for continued democratic progress”, the State Department said in a statement about a call between Blinken and Saied. 

It added that Blinken and Saied discussed recent developments in Tunisia, including the formation of the new government and steps to alleviate the economic situation. 

A Tunisia presidency statement said earlier that the United States would offer support to Tunisia once it has announced dates for political reform. 

Saied seized nearly all powers in July in a move his critics called a coup, a decade after the Arab Spring’s first and only successful pro-democracy uprising, before installing a new prime minister and announcing he would rule by decree. 

Saied has defended his takeover as the only way to end governmental paralysis after years of political squabbling and economic stagnation, and he has promised to uphold rights and freedoms won in the 2011 revolution. 
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Hundreds of Sudanese anti-coup demonstrators rallied Saturday to denounce a deadly crackdown that doctors say has left 40 people dead since last month’s military takeover. Mass protests are planned for Sunday. 

The United States and the African Union condemned the deadly crackdown on protesters and called on Sudan’s leaders to refrain from the “excessive use of force.” 

Sudan’s top general Abdel-Fattah Burhan on October 25 declared a state of emergency, ousted the government and detained the civilian leadership. 

The military takeover upended a two-year transition to civilian rule, drew international condemnation and punitive measures, and provoked large protests. 

Demonstrations on Wednesday were the deadliest so far, with a toll of 16 killed after a teenager who had been shot died, doctors said. 

The independent Sudan Doctors Committee said the 16-year-old had been shot “by live rounds to the head and the leg.”

Hundreds of protesters rallied against the military in North Khartoum, putting up barricades and setting tires on fire, an AFP correspondent said. Other protesters took to the streets in east and south Khartoum, according to witnesses. 

They chanted “no, no to military rule” and called for “civilian rule.” 

During the unrest in North Khartoum, a police station was set on fire, the correspondent said. 

Pro-democracy activists made calls on social media for mass anti-coup protests with a “million-strong march” to take place on Sunday. 

Police station ablaze 

Security forces and protesters traded blame for the torching of the police station.

Police spokesman Idris Soliman accused an unidentified “group of people” of setting it on fire. 

But North Khartoum’s resistance committee claimed the police were responsible. 

“Police forces withdrew from the station … and after, members of the police carried out acts of sabotage,” it said in a statement. 

“We accuse clearly and explicitly the military establishment for causing this chaos,” added the committee, part of the informal groups that emerged during 2018-2019 protests that ousted president Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. 

Most of those killed on Wednesday were in North Khartoum, which lies across the Nile River from the capital, doctors said.

On Saturday, Sudanese authorities said an investigation into the killings would be launched. 

Dozens mourned 

Dozens of protesters also rallied Saturday to mourn the latest deaths, demanding a transition to civilian rule. 

Protesters also took to the streets of Khartoum’s twin-city Omdurman to denounce the killings, chanting “down with the (ruling) council of treachery and betrayal.” 

Police officials deny using any live ammunition and insist they have used “minimum force” to disperse the protests. They have recorded only one death, among demonstrators in North Khartoum. 

On Friday, police forces sporadically fired tear gas until late at night to disperse demonstrators who had rallied in North Khartoum, witnesses said. 

The Sudanese Professionals Association, an umbrella of unions that were instrumental in the months-long demonstrations that led to Bashir’s ouster, said security forces have also “stormed homes and mosques,” 

An AFP correspondent said police forces also frisked passers-by and checked identification.

‘Abuses and violations’ 

The U.S. and African Union denounced the deadly crackdown. 

“We call for those responsible for human rights abuses and violations, including the excessive use of force against peaceful protesters, to be held accountable,” U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said. 

“In advance of upcoming protests, we call on Sudanese authorities to use restraint and allow peaceful demonstrations.” 

The African Union, which suspended Sudan after the coup, condemned “in the strongest terms” Wednesday’s violence. 

AU Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat called on Sudan’s authorities “to restore constitutional order and the democratic transition” in line with a 2019 power-sharing deal between the military and the now-deposed civilian figures. 

The Committee to Protect Journalists called for the release of reporters detained Wednesday while covering anti-coup protests, including Ali Farsab. 

“Sudanese security forces’ shooting and beating of journalist Ali Farsab make a mockery of the coup government’s alleged commitment to a democratic transitional phase in the country,” said the CPJ’s Sherif Mansour. 

Sudan has a long history of military coups, with rare interludes of democratic rule since independence in 1956. 

Burhan insists the military’s move “was not a coup” but a step “to rectify the transition” as factional infighting and splits deepened between civilians and the military under the now-deposed government. 

He has since announced a new ruling council in which he kept his position as head, along with a powerful paramilitary commander, three senior military figures, three ex-rebel leaders and one civilian. 

But the other four civilian members were replaced with lesser known figures. 
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