Africa

Nine years after the “Anglophone Crisis” in October 2016, violence has engulfed the northwestern and southwestern regions of Cameroon. The current crisis stage began with demonstrations by lawyers and teachers protesting against the marginalisation of the Anglophone education systems and the judiciary. It has since progressed into several stages, with several factional leaders devastating the regions.

At least eight drown in Red Sea as smugglers force migrants overboard

Survivors of a people-smuggling operation in the Red Sea have described being forced off their boat far from the coast of Djibouti and left to swim for their lives.

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces said Wednesday its fighters seized a strategic zone on the border with Egypt and Libya, as the regular army announced its withdrawal from the region.

The announcements came a day after the army accused forces loyal to eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar of launching a cross-border attack alongside the RSF, the first allegation of direct Libyan involvement in the Sudanese war.

The Muslim Brotherhood is a transnational Islamist movement dedicated to the remaking of society and government according to the dictates of Islamic law, or sharia. Founded in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna, an Egyptian schoolteacher who famously asserted that “Islam is the solution,” the Brotherhood quickly became influential among Egypt’s poor by providing educational and health services alongside a steady diet of Islamist teachings. By the middle of the 20th century, it had established branches and affiliates across the Arab world. While not formally functioning as either a political party or an international organization, the Brotherhood has shaped Muslim communities across the Islamic world and beyond by matching its rigid Islamist ideology with tactical flexibility. In some contexts, it engages in violence and terrorism. In others, it participates in the political process, even competing in elections, although its dedication to democratic government remains suspect.

The Russia-backed Wagner Group said Friday it is leaving Mali after more than three and a half years of fighting Islamic extremists and insurgents in the country.

Despite Wagner’s announcement, Russia will continue to have a mercenary presence in the West African country. The Africa Corps, Russia’s state-controlled paramilitary force, said on its Telegram channel Friday that Wagner’s departure would not introduce any changes and the Russian contingent will remain in Mali.

Rappelons les faits : entre 1956 et 1962, en Algérie, la France a expérimenté, autorisé puis utilisé des armes chimiques pour capturer ou tuer les soldats de l’Armée de libération nationale (ALN) abrités dans des grottes, des casemates ou des silos à grains. Elle a aussi, systématiquement, traité par ces moyens chimiques les grottes trop vastes pour être détruites afin d’empêcher leur réutilisation. Plus de soixante ans plus tard, certaines de ces cachettes restent extrêmement dangereuses pour qui s’y aventurerait.

The Wagner Group is a recent iteration of Russia’s historical use of proxy forces abroad. In 2013, the Syrian government contracted Slavonic Corps, a front organization and sub-contractor for the Russian private security company Moran Security Group to secure selected oilfields in eastern Syria. Although its first and only mission was considered both a test and a failure, the concept of Slavonic Corps gave rise to the Wagner Group, which emerged soon after. The leadership of Wagner Group included Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dimitry Utkin; Prigozhin was a successful convict-turned-businessman with close ties to President Putin while Utkin was a former member of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) and commander of a Spetsnaz unit. The unique and timely characteristics of these leaders, as well as Wagner’s direct ties to the Russian state, were key to the organization’s success. Operating mostly in the grey zone, the Wagner Group fulfilled Russian strategic objectives and sought to secure funding by both licit and illicit means. Russian offerings to state leaders via Wagner Group ranged from single issue solutions to “regime survival packages” in exchange for resource extraction, business enterprise contracts, and other forms of payment.