Please note: The following news items are presented here for informational purposes. The views expressed within them are those of the authors and/or individuals quoted, not those of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, the National Defense University, or the Department of Defense.
Marines Deploy to Italy in Response to Threats in Africa
How Nigeria’s Stupidly Brutal Cops Botch the Hunt for Boko Haram
Analysis: Boko Haram – there will be no strangers at the Nigerian bargaining table
Hagel: U.S. Drones Searching For Kidnapped Nigerian Schoolgirls
‘Scores’ of Boko Haram killed after villagers launch vigilante ambush
Nigeria soldiers ‘fire at army commander in Maiduguri’
UN mission in South Sudan reports heavy deployment of troops
South Sudan: Kith, Kin and Peace Agreements
How to restore normalcy in South Sudan
Ghana feels caught up in South Sudan’s UN arms scandal
Hundreds more migrants found in Sudan desert
North and West Africa Seek to Jumpstart Regional Counterterrorism Cooperation
French defence minister visits Nouakchott
Egypt: Tourism languishes amid fears of unrest, instability
Foreign Office warns British tourists to leave Mombasa over terrorist threat
22 dead, 3 000 displaced in Madagascar cattle wars
Malawi: Elections ‘Too Close to Call’, Says Opinion Poll
5 South African Infantry Battalion Deploys to DRC
African Partners, U.S. Work to Combat Wildlife Trafficking
Ivory poaching funds most war and terrorism in Africa
Australian warship in large drug bust off Somalia
Sudan woman faces death for apostasy
Eritrea: ‘The sheer numbers of people fleeing tell the story’
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Marines Deploy to Italy in Response to Threats in Africa
The Defense Department has moved nearly 200 Marines to a U.S. base in southern Italy to be able to respond to what a Pentagon spokesman described as a deteriorating security situation in North Africa. Army Col. Steve Warren told reporters today the Marines arrived at Naval Air Station Sigonella yesterday at the request of the State Department, with orders to protect American embassies and U.S. personnel across the region and beyond, if needed. “We’ve forward positioned them to Sigonella, where they’ll be able to respond more quickly to any crisis in North Africa,” Warren said. He did not say where in particular the threat was coming from, but instead called the move a prudent reaction to general unrest in the region. U.S. Department of Defense
How Nigeria’s Stupidly Brutal Cops Botch the Hunt for Boko Haram
Not doing enough to combat Boko Haram? If anything President Goodluck Jonathan and the Nigerian government have been asking their brutal security forces to do too much. Allegations of indiscriminate mass arrests, bloody raids on northern villages and the systematic torture of incarcerated suspects mean communities that have most to fear from the rebel militia are more scared of the lawless government forces.Justine Ijeomah, a human rights lawyer and himself a victim of Nigerian police brutality, told The Daily Beast that corruption, torture and extra-judicial killings had completely alienated great swathes of the population who may otherwise have assisted in the hunt for Boko Haram’s leaders and kidnap victims. The widespread hostility of local people makes it far more difficult for the authorities to track the militia. The Daily Beast
Analysis: Boko Haram – there will be no strangers at the Nigerian bargaining table
In what has become its preferred means of communication with the outside world, Nigerian-based Islamist extremist group Boko Haram released another video on 12 May detailing for the time first dozens of schoolgirls which the sect had kidnapped from the town of Chibok on 15 April. In the 17-minute long video, in excess of 100 girls can be seen reciting verses out of the Holy Quran, all clad in full-bodied veils which have become symbolic of the modesty expected from women within the Islamic faith. Daily Maverick
Hagel: U.S. Drones Searching For Kidnapped Nigerian Schoolgirls
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said Wednesday that the U.S. is using surveillance drones to try to locate more than 270 kidnapped schoolgirls in Nigeria. “We are now providing unmanned reconnaissance intelligence over Nigeria and we’ll continue to do that,” Hagel told reporters in Saudi Arabia at a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council. : “The American drones will be flying over Nigeria along with a piloted U.S. reconnaissance plane as part of an effort that also includes more than two dozen specialists sent by Washington to aid the Nigerian government in the search.” NPR
‘Scores’ of Boko Haram killed after villagers launch vigilante ambush
Villagers in an area of Nigeria where Boko Haram operates have killed and detained scores of the extremist Islamic militants behind the kidnapping of more than 270 schoolgirls. Residents in northern states have been forming vigilante groups to resist the militants who have held the girls captive since last month. In Kalabalge, a village 155 miles from the Borno state capital of Maiduguri, residents said they were taking matters into their own hands because the military was not doing enough to stem Boko Haram attacks. The Independent
Nigeria soldiers ‘fire at army commander in Maiduguri’
Soldiers in Nigeria have opened fire on their commander in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri, witnesses say. Maj-Gen Ahmed Mohammed escaped unhurt after soldiers shot at his car at the Maimalari barracks, the sources said. The soldiers blamed him for the killing of their colleagues in an ambush by suspected Boko Haram militants. Meanwhile, Nigeria’s president has ruled out freeing Boko Haram prisoners in exchange for the release of more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls. BBC
UN mission in South Sudan reports heavy deployment of troops
The UN mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) reported heavy deployments of government and pro- government forces in the country’s northern Unity state, a UN spokesperson said on Wednesday. UNMISS reported that despite shooting Wednesday morning in the state capital of Bentiu and Rubkona, which forced a closure of airport for several hours, the situation has otherwise remained calm, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at a daily briefing at the UN headquarters in New York. The mission also reported heavy deployments of government and pro-government forces in both areas, said Dujarric, who added that currently more than 23,000 civilians are being protected at the UN site in Bentiu. Xinhua
South Sudan: Kith, Kin and Peace Agreements
An important, as yet unanswered, question casts a heavy shadow over the Friday signing of an agreement in Addis Ababa to stop hostilities within South Sudan. Were the two men who signed the agreement — President Salva Kiir Mayendit and rebel leader Riek Machar Teny — given assurances that they will not be held responsible for the past five months of carnage? The January 23rd Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, which promised an end to the fighting, came and went, entirely ignored by both parties. In the weeks that followed the signing, several of the South’s major towns — Bor, Malakal and Bentiu — were the scenes of gross human rights abuses and mass murder. The towns were looted and sacked until there was nothing left to carry away. Friday’s IGAD-negotiated agreement states that the signatories agree to twelve points. The first is that they “recognize that there is no military solution to the crisis in South Sudan, and that a sustainable peace can be achieved only through inclusive political dialogue.” African Arguments
How to restore normalcy in South Sudan
Three years ago, the world applauded as the Republic of South Sudan was born, ending many years of struggle for independence from Khartoum. The world opened up its arms to welcome a country founded by the people of South Sudan regardless of age, tribe, ethnicity, religion or occupation. It was a delight to observe as the citizens of South Sudan raise their national flag and sing their National Anthem as a symbol of their newfound sovereign status. Africa Review
Ghana feels caught up in South Sudan’s UN arms scandal
The boxes were labeled as carrying construction material, yet they contained arms. While Ghana claims that they were headed for Ghanaian forces supporting the UN peacekeeping mission, South Sudan suspected the UN of arming the rebels. DW spoke to Ghana’s Defense Minister, Mark Woyongo, who has now sent a delegation to South Sudan to negotiate a release of the weapons. Deutsche Welle
Hundreds more migrants found in Sudan desert
Sudanese authorities have found 305 more illegal migrants headed to Libya, state-linked media said on Wednesday, about two weeks after at least 10 died and hundreds were rescued. “They were on their way to Libya in three trucks, “west of the northern Sudanese town of Dongola, reported the Sudanese Media Centre (SMC), which is close to the security apparatus. The group included 45 Sudanese but SMC did not give the nationality of others. Sudanese authorities said 10 illegal migrants died in late April when traffickers abandoned their group in the scorching desert on the Sudanese-Libyan border. AFP on Yahoo News
North and West Africa Seek to Jumpstart Regional Counterterrorism Cooperation
Over the course of the past year, there has been a cascade of African-led initiatives to increase security cooperation in the Sahel and Maghreb regions. While such initiatives are a function of the enduring imperative for states there to develop a more robust regional response to counter nonstate transnational threats, such as al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and other violent extremist organizations, Sahel and Maghreb states may yet struggle to let go of some of the baggage that had impeded previous regional cooperation efforts. World Politics Review
French defence minister visits Nouakchott
French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian visited Nouakchott on Monday (May 12th) for the last stop of his West African trip. Le Drian and Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz discussed the terrorist threat in the region. “Mauritania has its rightful place in France’s operations in the Sahel,” the visiting minister said. France “decided to reorganise its operations in this part of Africa in order to be able to tackle terrorism”, he noted. Forces will be based in Gao, N’Djamena, Niamey and Ouagadougou, according to the French minister. Magharebia
Egypt: Tourism languishes amid fears of unrest, instability
Egypt has gotten more bad news on the tourism front, announcing a decline of nearly one-third in the number of foreign visitors in the month of March from the year before. The tourist industry, which makes up 11% of Egypt’s gross domestic product, has been struggling to get back to anything approaching the revenues generated prior to the 2011 uprising against dictator Hosni Mubarak. La Times
Foreign Office warns British tourists to leave Mombasa over terrorist threat
Kenya has reacted furiously after the Foreign Office warned British tourists to immediately leave one the country’s most important resorts because of the threat of terrorism. In an updated travel advisory the Foreign Office said all British tourists and residents currently in and around Mombasa should get out. The FCO said they estimated that around 5,500 Britons currently in the area would be affected and no one else should travel to the area until further notice. A spokesman said that the warning had been “intelligence-led” but would not say if they were aware of a specific terrorism threat. So far America has not followed suit in warning its nationals to leave Mombasa. The Independent
22 dead, 3 000 displaced in Madagascar cattle wars
Twenty-two people have been killed and hundreds of houses destroyed in violence sparked by cattle rustling in the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar, a government agency said on Wednesday. About 275 homes were razed and 3 000 people forced to flee during a week of unrest in the south of the country, the National Bureau for Risk and Disaster Management said. The violence was linked to widespread theft of prized zebu humped cattle, which sparked clashes between gangs of cattle thieves, known as “dahalos,” villagers and the army. News 24
Malawi: Elections ‘Too Close to Call’, Says Opinion Poll
President Joyce Banda was not the front-running candidate in the run-up to this month’s elections in Malawi, but the race was too close to call, according to a public opinion survey conducted six to eight weeks before next week’s polls. The survey, conducted by the African public opinion survey project, Afrobarometer, found that in the period March 23 to April 7. allAfrica
5 South African Infantry Battalion Deploys to DRC
Today [May 14] the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) will hold a parade for SANDF members who will be deploying to the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as a Republic of South African Contingent to the Force Intervention Brigade (FIB). A parade of this gravity will take place at the Department of DefenceMobilization Centre in Bloemfontein, at 10h00. 5 South African Infantry Battalion will commence with its deployment to DRC on Friday 16 May 2014 to relieve the currently deployed 6 South African Infantry Battalion (6 SAI), in Goma. This deployment is also for a twelve-month period. The SANDF is confident that this Battalion will achieve the same results as the current deployment in the DRC. African Defense
African Partners, U.S. Work to Combat Wildlife Trafficking
A delegation of leaders from 13 African nations met May 9 with U.S. Department of Justice officials to discuss strategies to combat illegal trafficking in wildlife. The African delegation included wildlife conservation officials, environmental officials and nongovernmental organization leaders and met with acting Assistant Attorney General Robert G. Dreher, trial attorneys and environmental crimes prosecutors from the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. The visitors are participating in the State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program on wildlife conservation, anti-poaching and anti-trafficking. Participants learned about U.S. efforts to combat illegal wildlife trafficking and discussed ways to enhance international collaboration to fight the trade, the Justice Department said on its website. State.gov
Ivory poaching funds most war and terrorism in Africa
At the headquarters of the Mara Elephant Project, Marc Goss contemplates a jumble of squiggly lines superimposed on a Google Earth map. Each line represents the recent movements of a GPS-collared elephant in the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Generally, the animals move too slowly to notice. Occasionally, however, Goss sees what he calls “a streak” – when one of the lines suddenly lurches forward. It means the animal is being chased by poachers. If the streak stops cold, Goss surmises that another elephant has just been killed. An unsustainable four elephants are killed in Africa every hour for the ivory in their tusks. But while impoverished locals are enlisted to pull the triggers, it is highly organised transnational crime syndicates and militias that run the poaching and reap the lion’s share of the profits, fuelling terrorism and increasingly war. The New Scientist
Australian warship in large drug bust off Somalia
An Australian warship has seized heroin with an estimated street value of Aus$132 million (US$123 million) off the coast of Somalia, the defence department said Thursday. The 449 kilogramme (990 pound) haul was found on a dhow, a type of sailing vessel, intercepted by HMAS Darwin while patrolling the Indian Ocean some 40 nautical miles off Somalia’s east coast. The ship’s commander Terry Morrison said the seizure “removed a major source of funding for terrorist and criminal networks which included Al-Qaeda, the Taliban and Al-Shabaab”. AFP on Yahoo News
Sudan woman faces death for apostasy
A Sudanese court has sentenced a woman to hang for apostasy after she left Islam and married a Christian man. “We gave you three days to recant but you insist on not returning to Islam. I sentence you to be hanged to death,” the judge told the woman, AFP reports. Western embassies and rights groups had urged Sudan to respect the right of the pregnant woman to choose her religion. Local media report the sentence would not be carried out for two years after she has given birth. Sudan has a majority Muslim population, which is governed by Islamic law. The judge also sentenced her to 100 lashes after convicting her of adultery – because her marriage to a Christian man was not valid under Islamic law. BBC
Eritrea: ‘The sheer numbers of people fleeing tell the story’
Outside of Eritrea itself, there are very few people that know the country as well as Dan Connell, a journalist, an academic, and now a visiting scholar at Boston University’s African Studies Center. As a foreign correspondent for the Washington Post, he spent months in the trenches with the Eritrean freedom fighters. Post-independence he worked closely with the new government, before becoming one of its fiercest critics – his outspokenness earning him permanent Persona Non Grata status. He’s now one of the world’s leading experts on Eritrean politics, having published seven books on the subject. The Daily Maverick caught up with him at the University of Pretoria. He’s here to highlight one of the many under-reported consequences of Eritrea’s decline: the vast exodus of young Eritreans into surrounding countries, looking for a better life but often falling into the clutches of human traffickers. Daily Maverick
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