Africa

The Horn of Africa, a region once described by Jeffrey Lefebvre as one of the world’s most “highly penetrated regional subsystems”, is on the brink of a dangerous turn as the several actors intensify their displays of power in Somalia. Turkey, Egypt, Ethiopia, the UAE, and other regional powers are taking sides in what is fast becoming Africa’s Lebanon—a fractured country where multiple national factions and entities pursue conflicting political agendas, inviting foreign actors to further their own influence and advance their political positions. The most prominent player in this new escalation is Egypt, which has begun to channel military experts and weaponry into Somalia to gain much needed leverage with Ethiopia in relation to the Nile water conflict.

The month of May saw a significant increase in social media output from both the Islamic State as well as JNIM–as was expected given the continuous rise of online activities of both groups in recent months. The number of statements published during the month of May reached their highest point since reporting began in December 2022. 151 statements were released by the Islamic State’s branches and JNIM, al-Qaeda’s representative in the Sahel.

As the humanitarian crisis in Sudan intensifies, sexual violence is used to terrorise women & girls, international solidarity is needed, writes Nina Masore.

With the conflict in Sudan now in its second year, the nation is mired in a devastating humanitarian crisis. Compounding the suffering is the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war to punish specific communities and allied militias, and to subjugate, terrorise, and break women and girls. The UN and local human rights groups have recorded numerous incidents of rape, gang rape, and sexual slavery. Many of the victims are children.

ECOWAS should use its special summit on regional integration in 2025 to reconsider its approach to managing coups.

Recurrent coups since 2020 and the decision by Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger to withdraw from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) reveal the region’s deep governance and democracy challenges.

The number of African refugees, internally displaced persons, and asylum seekers grew by 14 percent over the past year—to more than 45 million people.

The recent militant Islamist attack in Bamako is part of a broader push by violent extremist groups into southern Mali and reflective of the deteriorating security in Mali under military rule.

How can reporters learn from new tools about specific causes of methane leaks in conflict-affected areas? We have examined some of the recent conflict hotspots across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) — namely Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Libya — to identify what the major sources of methane release are in the region, as well as to better understand how conflicts around the world could damage existing infrastructure and governance and lead to more emissions.

Having slipped undetected into Mali’s capital weeks ago, the jihadis struck just before dawn prayers. They killed dozens of students at an elite police training academy, stormed Bamako’s airport and set the presidential jet on fire.