DRULAP

M23 rebels take DR Congo-Uganda border town

Goma, DRC — Rebels from the M23 movement captured a border town in eastern DR Congo without a fight Sunday, local sources said, the same day a cease-fire between DR Congo and neighboring Rwanda was meant to come into force.

Ishasha, on the border with Uganda, was the latest town to fall to the majority-ethnic Tutsi movement backed by Rwanda.

M23 has seized large swathes of territory in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu province since it launched an offensive at the end of 2021.

“Ishasha has passed without resistance under M23 control,” civil society leader Romy Sawasawa told AFP.

Congolese police officers had crossed into Uganda to flee the “numerous and well-equipped” rebels.

Gad Rugaju, Uganda’s deputy of security in the district, confirmed that about 90 Congolese police officers had crossed into their country.

He said the officers would undergo “evaluation and they will probably be expelled after consultations.”

M23 called a meeting where they told townspeople to go about their business as usual and called on pro-government militias to join them and for the police to return, resident Yasini Mambo said.

They also told ethnic Hutu Rwandan rebels of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) to “go back home to Rwanda,” Mambo added.

Ishasha lies on the southern shores of Lake Edward around 200 kilometers (124 miles) northeast of Goma, North Kivu’s provincial capital.

Its capture comes a day after the fall of the nearby large town of Nyamilima, which locals say the M23 rebels also took without resistance.

Questioned by AFP, a Congolese security source confirmed the capture of Ishasha.

“It’s a non-event. Nobody was there” during the offensive, the source said, adding that “the cease-fire stories are a farce.”

For 30 years, the DR Congo’s mineral-rich east has suffered from the ravages of fighting between local and foreign armed groups, dating back to the regional wars of the 1990s.
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Activists address reality of unsafe abortions in Kenya

Abortion is restricted in Kenya, but in Kilifi County on the southern coast many women and girls with unplanned pregnancies say they have no choice but to undergo dangerous abortions without the intervention of a nurse or doctor. Local activists say the practice is contributing to high maternal mortality in the region. Halima Gongo reports.
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Uganda’s breastmilk community saves babies’ lives

A community of breastfeeding women in Uganda is helping mothers who are struggling not to just feed their newborn babies, but to keep them alive. Halima Athumani and Mukasa Francis report from Uganda’s capital Kampala.
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Nigerian leader calls for end to hardship protests

Abuja — Nigeria’s leader called Sunday for an end to mass protests over economic hardship, saying the rallies have turned violent and blaming “a few with a political agenda” for driving them.

The protests, which began Thursday, have been accompanied by reports of looting and vandalism, as well as accusations that security forces have used excessive force. Amnesty International has reported the deaths of nine protesters in clashes with police, while another four were killed by a bomb. The Nigerian police denied the Amnesty report.

“I have heard you loud and clear,” President Bola Tinubu said in his first public remarks on the demonstrations. “I understand the pain and frustration that drive these protests, and I want to assure you that our government is committed to listening and addressing the concerns of our citizens.”

But, he said, “a few with a clear political agenda to tear this nation apart” would be resisted by security forces.

The protests reflect frustration with the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation and accusations of misgovernment and corruption in Africa’s most populous country, a top oil producer where public officials’ huge earnings contrast with high poverty and hunger levels.

Tinubu’s aides have said the protests are politically motivated. His election last year was disputed by the opposition, after he won with 37% of the vote, the smallest margin of any Nigerian president ever. The election also recorded the lowest turnout since 1999, when the country returned to democracy.

The protesters have also been inspired by other young people in Kenya who held rallies last month to oppose a planned tax hike.

The Nigerian leader said that his government “will not stand idly” and allow the looting reported in the past days to continue.

“Under the circumstances, I hereby enjoin protesters and the organizers to suspend any further protest and create room for dialogue,” he said.

The military has also threatened to intervene to quell violence.

Tinubu defended the audacious reforms that were supposed to save the government money and shore up dwindling foreign investment, but whose immediate impact has added to hardships.

The reforms, including the suspension of decades-old gas subsidies and currency devaluation, have had a knock-on effect on the price of just about everything else because they’ve been poorly implemented, analysts say.

“The economy is recovering; please, don’t shut out its oxygen,” Tinubu said.

In a region that has witnessed rampant military coups off the back of popular discontent with democratically elected governments, the Nigerian leader warned the protests could also threaten the country’s democracy.

“Forward ever, backward never!” he said.
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As mpox cases surge in Africa, few treatments and vaccines available

BANGUI, Central African Republic — African health officials said mpox cases have spiked by 160% so far this year, warning the risk of further spread is high given the lack of effective treatments or vaccines on the continent.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report released Wednesday that mpox, also known as monkeypox, has now been detected in 10 African countries this year including Congo, which has more than 96% of all cases and deaths.

Officials said nearly 70% of cases in Congo are in children younger than 15, who also accounted for 85% of deaths.

There have been an estimated 14,250 cases so far this year, nearly as many as all of last year. Compared to the first seven months of 2023, the Africa CDC said cases are up 160% and deaths are up 19%, to 456.

Burundi and Rwanda both reported the virus for the first time this week.

New outbreaks were also declared this week in Kenya and Central African Republic, with cases extending to its densely populated capital, Bangui.

“We are very concerned about the cases of monkeypox, which is ravaging (the capital region),” the Central African Republic’s public health minister, Pierre Somsé, said Monday.

On Wednesday, Kenya’s Health Ministry said it found mpox in a passenger traveling from Uganda to Rwanda at a border crossing in southern Kenya. In a statement, the ministry said that a single mpox case was enough to warrant an outbreak declaration.

The Africa CDC said the mpox death rate this year, at about 3%, “has been much higher on the African continent compared to the rest of the world.” During the global mpox emergency in 2022, fewer than 1% of people infected with the virus died.

Earlier this year, scientists reported the emergence of a new form of the deadlier version of mpox, which can kill up 10% of people, in a Congolese mining town that they feared might spread more easily among people. Mpox spreads via close contact with infected people, including via sex.

An analysis of patients hospitalized from October to January in eastern Congo suggested that recent genetic mutations in the virus were the result of the ongoing spread in people.

Unlike in previous mpox outbreaks, where lesions were mostly seen on the chest, hands and feet, the new form of mpox causes milder symptoms and lesions mostly on the genitals, making it harder to spot.

The medical charity Doctors Without Borders called the expanding mpox outbreak “worrying,” noting the disease had also been seen in camps for displaced people in Congo’s North Kivu region, which shares a border with Rwanda.

“There is a real risk of explosion, given the huge population movements in and out,” said Dr. Louis Massing, the group’s medical director for Congo.

Mpox outbreaks in the West have mostly been shut down with the help of vaccines and treatments, but barely any have been available in African countries including Congo.

“We can only plead … for vaccines to arrive in the country and as quickly as possible so that we can protect the populations in the areas most affected,” Massing said in a statement.

In May, WHO said that despite the ongoing outbreak in Africa and the potential for the disease to spread internationally, not a single donor dollar had been invested in containing mpox.

Earlier this week, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations announced it was starting a study in Congo and other African countries next month to see if giving people an mpox shot after they had been exposed to the disease could help prevent severe illness and death.
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Al-Qaida affiliate says it has 2 Russian hostages in Niger, shows video

DAKAR, Senegal — Two men claiming to be Russian nationals and saying they were taken captive in Niger by militants linked to al-Qaida appeared in a video published on a media platform affiliated to the extremist group.

The video, which appeared on the az-Zallaqa platform Friday night, showed two men who said they were seized by the militants while working in Baga in northeastern Niger.

The men, seated side by side and dressed in traditional local clothing, spoke into the camera. One identified himself as Yury, saying he is a geologist and was working for a Russian company when he was arrested by JNIM, the al-Qaida affiliated group in the region. The other man said his name, which was harder to make out, and said he’d been in Niger for a month.

The AP cannot independently verify the video or the date it was filmed. The men, who spoke in English, did not say when they had been detained.

A security source in Niger, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the pair were taken about a week ago while visiting gold mines.

This is the first known sighting of the men. If their account is confirmed, they would be the first Russians in the Sahel believed to be kidnapped by jihadis despite a strong and growing Russian presence across the region.

Russia has capitalized on the deteriorating relations between the West and coup-affected Sahel nations in West Africa to send fighters to the region and assert its influence. Wagner, Russia’s shadowy mercenary group, has been active in the Sahel — the vast expanse south of the Sahara Desert — as the mercenaries profit from seized mineral riches in exchange for their security services.

In recent months Niger has pulled away from its Western partners, notably France and the United States, turning instead to Russia for security. In April, Russian military trainers arrived in Niger to reinforce the country’s air defenses.

The video comes days after al-Qaida claimed and an attack that dealt Wagner its deadliest blow in recent years, when it ambushed and killed at least 50 fighters in Mali. At least two Russians were taken captive by rebels, who were also involved in the attack.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to AP’s request for comment about the hostages.

The abductions are a significant hit to Wagner’s efforts in Niger, said Wassim Nasr, a Sahel specialist and senior research fellow at the Soufan Center, a security think tank, who first reported the Russians had been taken. The fact that al-Qaida used the word “captives” and not hostages, in the video, points to a potential desire for a prisoner swap with jihadis being held by military regimes in the Sahel, he said.

Nasr said the hostages were taken on July 19 during a battle between jihadis and Niger’s military in Baga.

He said this based on a photograph sent to him by JNIM in the aftermath of the attack and showing the men’s faces, which he identified as the Russian captives in the video.

The jihadis also confirmed to him the date the men were taken and their nationalities.

The Russians are the only known foreign non-African hostages currently believed to be held by jihadi groups in the Sahel, he said.

Jihadi groups have been abducting hostages for ransom to fund their operations and expand their presence. At least 25 foreigners and untold numbers of locals have been kidnapped in the Sahel since 2015, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.

French journalist Olivier Dubois was released last year after being kidnapped from northern Mali in April 2021 and the last known Western hostages were three Italians freed in February, after being kidnapped by jihadis from Mali in 2022.
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Nigerian police teargas protesters, arrest dozens

ABUJA, NIGERIA — Nigeria’s police on Saturday arrested dozens of protesters and fired teargas to disperse those trying to march to government offices in the capital, Abuja, on a third day of demonstrations over a cost-of-living crisis.

In northern Kano state, at least one person was shot in the neck and rushed to a hospital, witnesses said.

At least 13 people were killed on Thursday when protests turned violent, Amnesty International said, blaming police for using live rounds.

Police said on Saturday that in three days of protests, seven people died, but they denied responsibility. Nearly 700 people were arrested during the protests and nine officers injured, police added in a statement.

Police have sought to confine protesters to the outskirts of major cities to avoid disruptions to business and traffic.

On Saturday, demonstrators gathered at a major stadium in Abuja, but police used teargas to disperse them when they attempted to march on a major road into the center of the city.

“Many Nigerians are feeling the same pains, so I believe they will come out and protest. I will be here ‘til midnight,” said protester Julius Chidiebere before police fired teargas.

Dozens of protesters were arrested and driven away in police vans, Reuters journalists said.

Police and the army intensified patrols in Kano State, where some protesters attempted to break into a police station near the neighborhoods of Kurna and Rijiyar Lemo.

In the commercial hub of Lagos, more than 1,000 protesters gathered peacefully to denounce economic hardship worsened by President Bola Tinubu’s reforms that started last year with the removal of a popular fuel subsidy and the devaluation of the currency, which sent inflation soaring.
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At least 32 killed in militant attack on Mogadishu beach

WASHINGTON — At least 32 people were killed and 63 others were injured after al-Shabab militants attacked a crowded beachfront area in Mogadishu, Somalia, Friday night, according to a Somali police spokesperson, Major Abdifatah Aden Hassan.

The attack started around 10 p.m. local time with an explosion by a suicide bomber at the crowded beach as beachgoers were on a late weekend night out.

Purported video clips published by local media sites showed many people lying on the beach, some seemingly dead, others badly injured.

After the first explosion went off, three al-Shabaab gunmen stormed a beachfront dining and entertainment building.

In addition to the civilians killed, all three attackers were shot and killed by security forces, police said. A fourth militant blew himself up, the report added.

The Somali government immediately deployed security forces to engage the attackers, witnesses said. Security forces told state media they ended the siege nearly four hours after the attack.

Mogadishu hospitals appealed for blood donations to assist those injured in the attack.

Al-Shabaab, through its official radio, claimed responsibility for the attack and for sending suicide attackers.

Al-Shabab has attacked Lido Beach restaurants and hotels multiple times over the years because it is a favorite spot for families, young people and returning diaspora members to socialize.
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France shifts Western Sahara stance, seeking closer ties with Morocco

RABAT, Morocco — France has thrown its support behind Morocco’s autonomy plan for the disputed Western Sahara, shifting a decades-old position and adding itself to a growing list of countries to align with Morocco as a United Nations-mediated peace process remains stalled.

In a letter to King Mohammed VI, France’s President Emmanuel Macron called the plan that Morocco proposed in 2007 to offer the region limited autonomy under its sovereignty the “only basis” to solve the conflict. The shift deals a blow to the pro-independence Polisario Front, which has for decades claimed to be the legitimate representative of the indigenous Sahrawi people.

“The present and future of Western Sahara fall within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty,” Macron wrote in a letter made public on Tuesday. “France intends to act consistently with this position at both national and international level.”

Macron’s move is unlikely to change the key tenets of the territorial dispute but could deepen France ties with Morocco, which has long blamed it for drawing the colonial borders it sees as the root of the conflict. France signaled earlier this year that it was open to investing in Moroccan projects in the disputed territory.

The move could strain diplomatic relations in North Africa, further alienating both France and Morocco from Algeria, which supports the Polisario Front’s claims and allows it to operate as a self-declared government in exile from refugee camps within its borders.

It follows similar shifts from the United States, Israel, Spain and a growing list of African nations that have established consulates in the territory.

In a statement, Moroccan King Mohammed VI’s Royal Cabinet called France’s shift “a significant development.” A high-ranking Moroccan official who spoke on the condition of anonymity noted France’s role as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and called it “a game-changer” amid an international shift toward Morocco’s position.

The move was preemptively rebuked by both Algeria and the Polisario Front in the days leading up to the publication of letter, which Algeria said it was made aware of by France in the days prior.

The Polisario’s Mohamed Sidati accused France of acting at odds with international law and backing Moroccan expansionism as its influence wanes throughout Africa.

“Whatever hardships Morocco tries to impose on us with the support of France, the Sahrawi people will continue to stubbornly defend their rights until they obtain the definitive departure of the Moroccan aggressor from their territory and general recognition of the legitimacy of their struggle for self-determination and independence,” Sidati, the Foreign Minister of the self-declared Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, said in a statement on Monday.

Algeria called Morocco and France “colonial powers, new and old” and announced it would withdraw its ambassador from Paris.

“The French decision is clearly the result of a dubious political calculation, a morally questionable judgement and legal interpretations that are neither supported nor justified,” Algeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement last week.

Western Sahara is roughly the size of Colorado, encompassing a stretch of desert rich in phosphates and sitting along an Atlantic coastline rich in fish. Morocco annexed the former Spanish colony in 1975, sparking a regional conflict and putting it at odds with the pro-independence Polisario Front over the region that the United Nations considers a “non-self-governing territory.”

Morocco quickly moved to occupy the majority of the land, fighting off guerilla warfare from the Polisario until the U.N. brokered a 1991 cease-fire and established a peacekeeping mission to monitor the truce and help prepare a referendum on the territory’s future. Disagreements over who is eligible to vote prevented the referendum from taking place.

Morocco has long sought political recognition of its claim from its other nations, while the Polisario has prioritized fighting legal battles to assert the people of the region’s right to self-determination.

Sporadic violence has ensued since the Polisario renewed armed conflict in 2020, ending a 29-year truce. Morocco has since embarked on expansive economic development efforts, constructing ports, highways and hotels.
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Violent protests over high cost of living rock Nigeria

Abuja, Nigeria — Thousands of people continue to march the streets in Nigeria calling for a reversal of government reforms. Last year, authorities scrapped fuel subsidies and devalued the country’s currency in a bid to fix the economy. The measures sent the cost of living, especially food prices, soaring. On Friday, police fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators who say they’re not backing down.

The nationwide protests called Ten Days of Rage were held in many Nigerian cities on Thursday and Friday despite clashes with security.

“We deserve our benefits, we have mineral resources, we have natural resources, nature blessed the people,” said Wisdom Chimuanya, an Abuja protester. “We need a government that will serve the people and not lord over the people. Mr. President should meet the people’s demands, enough is enough.”

President Bola Tinubu announced the end of the fuel subsidy during his inauguration in May. Soon afterward he removed the rate cap on the national currency, the naira.

Authorities also increased electricity tariffs by more than 200%.

Protesters say these policies have made everyday living unaffordable.

Tensions escalated around Abuja on Friday as protesters pushed back against the government order not to march in the streets. Many protesters were injured and say police were firing live rounds.

The police said it only used tear gas to disperse the protesters.

Benneth Igweh, police commissioner of the Federal Capital Territory, which includes Abuja, said a court order was issued to prevent disruptions of normal activities around the city.

Local media reported 13 people have been killed across the country.

Authorities in northeast Borno and northwest Kano state imposed curfews Friday to control the violence.

“Until the government answers us, we’re not going to leave the streets,” said Chikaobi Emmanuel, a protester in Abuja. “The government is trying to disperse the protesters, but we’re not relenting. We’re peaceful protesters, why would the government order their security operatives to start shooting tear gas?”

Last month, Nigerian lawmakers pledged to donate half of their salaries to citizens for six months, and authorities relaxed taxes on certain food imports, including wheat, to lower prices.

On Monday, Nigeria signed a new minimum wage into law. But protesters say these measures are not enough and vow to occupy the streets until fuel prices return to normal.
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Ethiopia PM says talks underway with armed groups; one group denies any discussion

ADDIS ABABA, ethiopia — Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said that negotiations are in progress with armed militias in the Amhara region to peacefully resolve the ongoing conflict there.

Speaking at a meeting with financial leaders in Addis Ababa on Friday, the prime minister said the federal government has been making efforts to reach out to the rebels but hinted that a lack of unity among the armed groups could be an obstacle.

“I haven’t revealed this so far but to let you know today, it has been a while since we started talks with armed groups operating in the Amhara region,” he said in Amharic, speaking to participants of the meeting. “The problem so far is that there is no centralized group. When we reach an understanding with one group we don’t agree with the other.”

The prime minister said efforts have been made to make the groups come together to “create enabling conditions for talks.”

“But we have started talks with some of the groups; there are groups that have started continuous talks with the government,” he said.

The prime minister did not identify which armed groups were involved in the talks and when the talks started. The format of the talks is also not yet clear.

Group denies it’s talking to government

A spokesperson for one of the Fano armed groups fighting in the Amhara region denies talks with the government. Fano is an ethnic Amhara militia without a formal structure and there are several groups operating in different parts of the Amhara region.

Simeneh Mulatu, head of the foreign and diaspora affairs department for the Fano militias in Gojjam, told VOA that there have not been any talks or negotiations they started with the government.

Leaders of other Fano factions operating in the region could not be reached for comment.

Official unaware of reports of talks

Despite the prime minister’s remarks, an official with the Amhara region’s peace council set up in June also appears to be unaware of the reports of talks with the armed militias.

Eyachew Teshale told VOA that they are not aware of any formal peace talks that are going on between the government and the Fano armed group.

Fighting between federal government forces and Fano broke out a year ago after reports emerged that the government was planning to disarm the regional paramilitary forces to integrate them into other security structures, including the federal army.

In November last year, the Ethiopian government held talks with the other rebel group fighting in the Oromiya region, the Oromo Liberation Army. The two sides failed to narrow their differences during the two rounds of talks that took place in Tanzania.

This story originated in the Horn of Africa’s Amharic Service.
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Human rights defenders condemn arrest, alleged torture of activists in Zimbabwe

Harare, Zimbabwe — Human rights defenders — including a United Nations special rapporteur — are condemning the arrests and alleged torture of Zimbabweans who called for the release of opposition activists arrested in late June.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government says it’s not going to take chances that protests could disrupt a Southern African Development Community summit later this month.

Four human rights activists — Vusumuzi Moyo, Namatai Kwekweza, Samuel Gwenzi and Robson Chere — arrived at the so-called Rotten Row Magistrates court in Harare Friday with members of the police.

The four walked into court hours after Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights released photos showing bruises, welts and blood on their bodies.

Douglas Coltart is with the organization, which is representing the four.

“The horrific human rights abuses that we have seen over the past few days are not just crimes under Zimbabwean law which they are, but they also crimes under international law,” said Coltart. “And I think it is very important for Zimbabwean authorities who are involved with giving orders for these atrocities to be perpetrated or those who are carrying them out to understand that while they may think that they will always be impunity, they will come a time where there will be accountability for these abuses.”

On Friday, the four were charged with disorderly conduct for protesting the detention of 79 opposition supporters who have been in custody since June on charges of holding an illegal gathering.

Speaking to VOA Friday, Mary Lawlor, a U.N. special rapporteur on human rights defenders, said she was disappointed by the arrests and apparent torture of the four activists by Zimbabwean authorities.

“From what I understand, they were taken off a flight, held incommunicado for a number of hours before being charged with disorderly conduct as a result of their participation in a peaceful protest calling for the release of opposition political figures,” said Lawlor. “I unreservedly call for the immediate release of all four detained activists and an investigation into the allegations of maltreatment to which they were subjected to while in custody.”

Late Thursday, Home Affairs Minister Kazembe Kazembe, flanked by Police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga and several high-ranking police officers, said the government is aware of attempts to disrupt the smooth flow of the SADC summit that Zimbabwe is hosting in about two weeks.

He said the government would not allow illegal gatherings ahead of the summit.

“It is clear that the organizers seek to provoke a heavy-handed response from government which they assume would attract global attention and put Zimbabwe on the spotlight. We have been through such episodes before and are prepared for same,” said Kazembe.

“The attempts of rendering the country ungovernable will be met with befitting responses,” he said. “Let those seeking to create an atmosphere of despondency among peace-loving citizens, let them be warned that such antics will not be tolerated. Fellow Zimbabweans, we assure you all to deal with those bent on lawlessness.”

On Friday, the four arrested activists submitted an application for bail and applied for discharge, saying they had been tortured after they were taken off their flight earlier this week.
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Kenya on alert after case of mpox confirmed

Nairobi — The Kenyan Health Ministry has dispatched health care workers to Taita-Taveta County, where a case of mpox was detected Wednesday.

Authorities say the person who tested positive for the virus traveled through the county along the Kenyan-Tanzanian border.

Kenya Health Ministry Principal Secretary Mary Muthoni said health officials were deployed in an effort to prevent the virus from spreading.

“We are doing what we are calling contact tracing and more surveillance. We have enhanced surveillance but even in itself by the virtue that our teams were able to detect this it shows you how much enhancement we have done at the border,” Muthoni said. “Our port health officers at all 32 points of entry are well trained and we are able to monitor any kind of outbreak that may be at the border level.”

Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is endemic to forested areas of East, Central, and West Africa.

Virus symptoms include high fever, skin rash, headache, swollen lymph nodes, and general body aches. The virus can spread through direct contact with a sick person and also through respiratory droplets.

According to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 1,450 people have died of mpox across 15 African countries since the start of 2022.

In the past seven months, 14,250 mpox cases and 456 deaths have been recorded.

Taita-Taveta County resident Haji Mohamed Mwakio told VOA he is concerned for himself and his community because he has not seen any measures being taken advising the community to practice healthy living.

Taita-Taveta County is home to more than 340,000 people. Muthoni of the Ministry of Health said medical officials are following up on the patient and the people he met.

“We have been able to isolate this patient after testing,” Muthoni said. “We are yet to confirm how many people he was with, so we have deployed our health teams to Taita-Taveta for the response.”

Health officials are concerned about an outbreak of the virus across several countries.

According to the Associated Press, Burundi, Central African Republic, and Rwanda reported mpox cases for the first time this week.

Mwakio said the countries need to work together to manage the spread of the virus by taking precautions and control measures at border points. He also said governments should help the communities understand the situation and how they can protect themselves.

On Sunday, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, an organization that develops vaccines against emerging infectious diseases, announced plans to give an mpox vaccine to those who have been exposed to the virus to see if it can protect them from the illness.
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Nigeria’s nationwide protests turn violent; hundreds arrested

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UN climate crisis chief in Africa to assess drought effects

The United Nations’ climate crisis coordinator and a top World Food Program official are in southern Africa, assessing a drought-driven humanitarian crisis blamed on the El Niño weather phenomenon and climate change. Columbus Mavhunga joined them in some of Zimbabwe’s most affected places, where water sources are drying up.
Camera: Columbus Mavhunga
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Mali separatists say they killed dozens of Wagner, government fighters

Dakar, Senegal — Separatist rebels in northern Mali said Thursday that they killed dozens of fighters from the Russian mercenary group Wagner and government troops near the Algerian border at the end of July.

The Tuareg-led separatists said Thursday they killed 84 Wagner fighters and 47 Malian soldiers in three days of intense fighting that began on July 25 at a military camp at Tinzaouaten.

About 30 other troops or fighters, either “dead or seriously injured,” were airlifted to Kidal, a key northern city, the Strategic Framework for the Defense of the People of Azawad (CSP-DPA) alliance said.

It said there were also some charred bodies inside armored vehicles and transport trucks.

Azawad is the generic name for all Tuareg Berber areas, particularly in the northern half of Mali and northern and western Niger. The separatists are fighting for an independent homeland.

The separatist alliance said it had taken seven Wagner and Malian government fighters hostage and that it had lost nine men in the fighting.

The al-Qaida-linked group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM) also claimed its fighters had attacked a Malian army convoy and allies from Wagner south of Tinzaouaten.

AFP could not corroborate the figures from independent sources. The army and the Wagner group had admitted heavy losses in the region.

Analysts said these were the heaviest losses suffered so far by Wagner in Africa.

The group spearheaded some of the Kremlin’s longest and bloodiest military campaigns in Ukraine until a short-lived rebellion against the Russian government. It is now active in Africa.

The CSP-DPA said it had seized five armored vehicles, five pickups and several arms.

The Wagner Group said the rebels gained the upper hand thanks to a sandstorm, which analysts say would have negated the air support superiority of the Malian forces and their allies.

The separatists on Thursday claimed more than 50 civilians of Nigerien, Sudanese and Chadian origin had been killed in revenge drone attacks by neighboring Burkina Faso.

The separatists warned Burkina Faso against getting involved “in fighting that does not concern it.”

The Malian army on Tuesday said it, along with Burkina Faso, had staged air attacks in the Tinzaouaten region following the fighting.

Mali has admitted it suffered a “large number” of deaths during fighting in the north last week.

The West African nation’s military leaders who seized power in a 2020 coup have made it a priority to retake all of the country from separatists and jihadi forces linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State terror group.

Under Colonel Assimi Goita, the junta broke off its traditional alliance with former colonial ruler France and has turned toward Russia.

After an eight-year lull, hostilities between Mali and the separatists resumed in August 2023. The army’s offensive culminated in the storming of the northern pro-independence stronghold of Kidal in November.

Its capture was widely hailed across Mali as a symbolic success.

But the rebels refused to lay down their arms. Instead, they scattered across the mountainous desert region, with Malian forces in pursuit.

Near Tinzaouaten, the two sides engaged in three days of intense fighting at the end of July on a scale not seen for months.
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Wagner’s Mali fiasco exposes discord among Russian military bloggers

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Report confirms famine conditions in parts of Sudan’s Darfur

United Nations — A United Nations-backed food security report concluded Thursday that more than a year of war in Sudan has pushed parts of North Darfur into famine, including a displaced persons camp that houses more than a half-million people.

“According to the report, catastrophic hunger conditions are projected for the first time in the history of the IPC survey in Sudan, and 14 areas have been declared ‘at risk of famine’ in the coming months,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters about the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the global monitor for food insecurity.

The IPC does not declare famine but provides the evidence for an official declaration to be made.

The IPC says famine conditions are prevalent in North Darfur, including at the Zamzam displacement camp, which is about 12 kilometers (7 miles) south of the regional capital, El Fasher, and are likely to persist through the end of October.

The U.N. says intensified fighting in El Fasher has displaced about 320,000 people since mid-April, with about 150,000 to 200,000 of them believed to have moved to Zamzam camp since mid-May. It says the camp population has expanded to over half a million in just a few weeks.

Fighting between rival generals leading the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces for the past 15 months has severely hindered humanitarian access, exacerbating the hunger crisis.

In addition to the areas facing famine, the U.N. warns that half the country’s population — about 25.6 million people — are at crisis levels or worse of food insecurity.

Dujarric said the World Food Program is rapidly increasing its emergency response and trying to find new ways to reach millions of people across Sudan, especially in hard-to-reach areas.

“Our colleagues at WFP are telling us that we are in a race against time to stop famine in its tracks,” Dujarric said. “But there is an urgent need for a massive increase in funding to ramp up assistance at the scale required to avert famine.”

The United Nations has appealed for $2.7 billion this year for Sudan but has received about a third of that — $870 million.

“We and our partners warn that if the war doesn’t stop, more and more people are being pushed into catastrophic levels of hunger,” Dujarric said.

Nongovernmental organization Mercy Corps said the IPC famine report is “merely the tip of the iceberg.”

“We can only imagine the extent of starvation and deprivation in other regions where we lack similar data, particularly in the 14 areas identified in the latest IPC report, including Greater Darfur, the Kordofan areas, and Khartoum State,” Barrett Alexander, Mercy Corps’ director of programs for Sudan, said in a statement.

He said a recent assessment by his team in Central and South Darfur found that 9 out of 10 children, particularly those under age 5, are suffering from life-threatening malnutrition.

On Monday, the U.N. Security Council expressed its concern about the humanitarian situation, urging the international community to increase assistance.

On July 18, the United States announced an additional $203 million in humanitarian assistance to support those affected by the conflict both inside Sudan and those who have fled to neighboring countries.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the IPC report confirms what was known already — that people have been and continue to die in Sudan from starvation.

“Families who fled horrific violence have been going hungry for months,” she said in a statement. “Children have been eating dirt and leaves, and every day, babies have been starving to death.”

She urged the warring parties to attend the cease-fire talks in Switzerland on August 14, which the United States is mediating, and Switzerland and Saudi Arabia are co-hosting.
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