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.
Subcommittee Hearing: The Ongoing Struggle Against Boko Haram
World Cup 2014 bomb threat: Nigerian state bans all public viewings as Brazil tournament starts over Boko Haram security fears
Nigerian media chase politics in Boko Haram coverage
U.N. committee set to sanction Boko Haram leader, splinter group
Conversation about the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit
Gunfire erupts for second day on Rwanda, Congo border
Decriminalize drugs in West Africa to avoid failures of past: report
Morocco’s King Slow to Deliver on Pro-Democracy Vows
Protest culture in Morocco: Vibrant
UN: Car Bomb in N. Mali Kills Peacekeepers
Mali PM warns of Islamist threat within Tuareg rebels
Sexual violence in war: Rape survivor speaks at summit
Sectarian clashes kill 21 in Central African Republic
CAR: 1 000s call for rearming of ragtag army
Another deal, but South Sudan far from peace
Sudan’s Silent Suffering Is Getting Worse
Alaa Abdel-Fattah, Icon Of Egypt’s 2011 Revolt, Sentenced To 15 Years For Protesting
Is al-Shabaab Resurgent or Weakening? A Tale of Two Narratives
Tanzania to train 1,000 Somali soldiers amid concerns over terrorism backlash
African, Western countries create intelligence unit
Resilience vs. Vulnerability in African Drylands
U.S. upgrading satellite communications for Africom to counter Al Qaida
CJTF-HOA Welcomes New 449th AEG Commander
Today’s News
Subcommittee Hearing: The Ongoing Struggle Against Boko Haram (video)
House Committee on Foreign Affairs – Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations
J. Peter Pham, Ph.D. Director Africa Center Atlantic Council .
Mr. Emmanuel Ogebe Manager Justice for Jos Project Jubilee Campaign USA
Mr. Anslem John-Miller Representative to the U.S. Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People
The Honorable Robin Renee Sanders Chief Executive Officer FEEEDS Advocacy Initiative (Former United States Ambassador to Nigeria)
World Cup 2014 bomb threat: Nigerian state bans all public viewings as Brazil tournament starts over Boko Haram security fears
Officials in a Nigerian state have been forced to ban all planned public viewings of matches from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil over fears of militant bomb attacks, it has been reported. For many in the north-eastern state of Adamawa, the screenings at large open-air venues were the only way they would have been able to watch the tournament. Placed in a group with Iran, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Argentina, Nigeria’s Super Eagles are strong favourites to progress through to the knock-out rounds and emerge as one of Africa’s star-performing teams. But the threat of terrorist attacks from the extremist group Boko Haram means that thousands in the turbulent region will be denied the chance to witness their team’s performance live. The Independent
Nigerian media chase politics in Boko Haram coverage
A year ago, the daily editorial conference at Nigeria’s Guardian newspaper might have paused to consider where on the inside pages to place a story about the latest Boko Haram attack. These days there is no need to think. Major raids by the Islamist insurgents go front and centre in the paper – and then further, generating comment pieces looking at every angle through the prism of Nigerian politics. As with the global press, coverage has increased as attacks have increased in recent months. “It is breaking news all the time,” said Martins Oloja, the tabloid’s editor. “We know that before we go to bed there will almost definitely be a strike.” Reuters
U.N. committee set to sanction Boko Haram leader, splinter group
The U.N. Security Council is set to sanction Abubakar Shekau, leader of Nigeria’s Boko Haram, and its faction Ansaru, the first individual and entity to be designated by the world body since the Islamist militant group was blacklisted last month. Russia has delayed the process by placing a technical hold on the designations, but diplomats say it is simply to give Moscow more time to complete its review of the proposal made by Nigeria to the Security Council al Qaeda sanctions committee. “We would expect those listings to be approved and they would be sanctioned perhaps by the end of the week or early next week,” said a senior council diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. Reuters
Conversation about the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit (video)
As momentum builds for the historic U.S. -Africa Leaders Summit to be held in Washington on August 5-6, we are pleased to co-host this exchange between the Africa advocacy community and administration officials: Linda Thomas-Greenfield Assistant Secretary of State for Africa. Gayle Smith Senior Director for Development and Democracy, White House National Security Council. Grant T. Harris Senior Director for African Affairs, White House National Security Council. Earl Gast Assistant Administrator, USAID Bureau for Africa. National Endowment for Democracy
Gunfire erupts for second day on Rwanda, Congo border
Gunfire broke out on Thursday for a second day on the border between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, a Congolese official said, after months of relative calm in the volatile region. Congolese and Rwandan officials each accused the other’s armies of mounting cross-border raids on Wednesday that prompted heavy fire between the two forces. Reports suggested the gunfire on Thursday morning was short-lived. U.N.-backed Congolese troops crushed an uprising last year in eastern Congo, a mineral-rich area plagued by years of war. “There were some shots fired but very few. It has already finished,” Congo’s North Kivu governor, Julien Paluku, said. Reuters
Decriminalize drugs in West Africa to avoid failures of past: report
Governments in West Africa should decriminalize drug use and treat the issue as a health problem, because a “war on drugs” will fail in the region as it has elsewhere, a new report by regional experts said on Thursday. The West Africa Commission on Drugs report says a time of fewer civil wars, booming economies and increased democracy risks being spoiled by the “destructive new threat” of drug trafficking. “Drug users need help, not punishment,” said the report, written by independent experts working for the commission, which is led by ex-U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan. “We abhor the traffickers and their accomplices, who must face the full force of the law. But the law should not be applied disproportionately to the poor, the uneducated and the vulnerable, while the powerful and well-connected slip through the enforcement net,” the report said. Reuters
Morocco’s King Slow to Deliver on Pro-Democracy Vows
A few weeks shy of his 15th anniversary as Morocco’s ruler, King Mohammed VI was spotted on the streets of Tunisia in jeans and a T-shirt while on an official visit, living up to the King of Cool nickname given to him by the foreign news media. Back in the kingdom, however, tensions have been rising. Pro-democracy activists and journalists have faced increasing repression, as the government tries to tame an opposition emboldened by the 2011 Arab revolutions. One journalist, Ali Anouzla, is risking up to 20 years in jail on charges of promoting terrorism for reporting on a video that is thought to have been made by a militant group, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. The video attacked the monarchy and called for jihad in Morocco. Another journalist, Mustapha Hassnaoui, is serving a four-year sentence for what the government said were his connections with jihadists in Syria. Mr. Hassnaoui started a hunger strike in late May to protest his detention. The New York Times
Protest culture in Morocco: Vibrant
WHEN a magistrate in the Moroccan town of Midelt was unsatisfied with the work of a mechanic, he had the unhappy man hauled to his office so he could order him to kiss his shoes. He probably thought he’d get away with it. But the casual humiliation in February enraged the townspeople so much that thousands turned out to protest. Two weeks later, the magistrate was suspended. Since 2011, Morocco has developed a thriving protest culture. Sit-ins and demonstrations are common, and not only in the big cities. There are up to 50 gatherings a day, according to people who have seen statistics kept by the government, though the number is down from its peak in 2011. Gripes range from unemployment and the environment to workers’ rights. The Economist
UN: Car Bomb in N. Mali Kills Peacekeepers
A suicide attack at a U.N. camp in northern Mali killed four peacekeepers on Wednesday, the country’s peacekeeping mission said, raising concerns of worsening security as government officials warn about the possible return of Islamic extremists to the region. A vehicle exploded at the entrance of the camp in the northern town of Aguelhoc, in the Kidal region, at 3:30 p.m., according to a U.N. statement issued Wednesday evening. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the car bomb attack “in the strongest terms” and extends condolences to the families of the four Chadian soldiers who were killed and the government of Chad, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. AP
Mali PM warns of Islamist threat within Tuareg rebels
The international community is under-estimating the threat posed by Islamist fighters sheltering in areas of Mali’s far north controlled by Tuareg separatist rebels Prime Minister Moussa Mara said. When Mara travelled to the Tuareg stronghold of Kidal last month, clashes broke out between rebel groups there and troops. Mali’s army launched an operation to seize Kidal but was defeated by the rebels, who seized more towns. The fighting threatened to wreck fragile peace negotiations and plunge the country back into war. Mara told Reuters in an interview the armed groups who seized Kidal last month had jihadist elements within them which posed a threat to the peace of the region. DefenceWeb
Sexual violence in war: Rape survivor speaks at summit
A woman kidnapped as a nine-year-old by Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels has testified at a summit on ending sexual violence in war. Esther Atim, now 20, described being captured by rebels in Uganda and being subjected to rape and forced labour. Actress and UN special envoy Angelina Jolie and UK Foreign Secretary William Hague, who are co-hosting the London event, were among those present. The summit is the result of an intense two-year campaign to raise awareness. BBC
Sectarian clashes kill 21 in Central African Republic
Violence in Central African Republic pitting Muslim fighters against Christian civilians has killed 21 people so far this week, including two who were publicly executed in front of a courthouse, witnesses said Wednesday. The latest clashes erupted after villagers in Liwa, located 10 kilometers outside of the central town of Bambari, killed two Muslim men on a motorcycle on Monday, residents said. In response, fighters descended on both Liwa and Bambari, throwing grenades and burning more than 100 houses, said Bambari resident Nono Azoundja. After taking four people hostage, the fighters quickly executed two of them in front of the Bambari courthouse, which Seleka leaders have been using as a headquarters, Azoundja said. French and African forces had arrived in Liwa to restore calm and conduct an investigation, he said. AP on Stars and Stripes
CAR: 1 000s call for rearming of ragtag army
Since thousands of foreign troops have struggled in vain for more than a year to quell sectarian violence in the Central African Republic, growing numbers of people want the notoriously ragtag army rearmed. The idea is anathema to the international community, but it is backed by transitional President Catherine Samba-Panza amid growing hostility towards the foreign military presence in the impoverished country of 4.6 million people. African and French peacekeepers are authorised to use force to disarm brutal rival militias, but have so far failed to turn a tide of violence and atrocities that has claimed thousands of lives and caused a quarter of the population, mainly Muslims, to flee their homes. News 24
Another deal, but South Sudan far from peace
South Sudan’s warring leaders have agreed to another deal aimed at ending six months of civil war but even if this one holds, analysts expect violence to get worse before the situation can improve. After several failed deals, many are sceptical that either President Salva Kiir or his arch-rival Riek Machar really want a negotiated end to the conflict, and instead believe a military victory is still possible. “This agreement was signed under great pressure, including from the region, but it will only stick if both Kiir and Machar perceive it to be in their best interests,” said James Copnall, author of a recent book on South Sudan, “A Poisonous Thorn in our Hearts”. Times Live
Sudan’s Silent Suffering Is Getting Worse By George Clooney and John Prendergast
Under the cover of darkness, in a world whose attention is diverted by more camera-accessible crises in Ukraine, Syria, and the Central African Republic (CAR), the Sudan government has revived and intensified its genocidal strategy in the main war zones of Sudan. No media is allowed. The few aid organizations still permitted to operate there are under strict agreement to do so quietly. And the United Nations mission in Darfur has recently been implicated in a broad institutional cover-up of both the scale of devastation, and of the Sudan government’s direct role in creating the crisis. Sudan may be the world’s most murderous conflict. But the suffering of its people has been obscured, redacted, made silent. VICE
Alaa Abdel-Fattah, Icon Of Egypt’s 2011 Revolt, Sentenced To 15 Years For Protesting
An Egyptian court on Wednesday convicted a prominent activist from the 2011 uprising of organizing an unauthorized protest and assaulting a policeman, sentencing him to 15 years in prison, in the latest blow to liberal activists at a time of rapidly eroding freedoms. The sentence against Alaa Abdel-Fattah is the toughest against any of the secular activists behind the 18-day uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak’s 29-year reign. It is also the first conviction of a prominent activist since former army chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi took office as president on Sunday. In the 11 months since el-Sissi ousted the country’s first freely elected president, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi, authorities have launched a massive crackdown on Islamists, detaining at least 16,000 and killing hundreds. Secular activists opposed to what they see as the revival of Mubarak’s police state have also been detained. The Huffington Post
Is al-Shabaab Resurgent or Weakening? A Tale of Two Narratives
The militant group Harakat al-Shabaab Mujahideen (al-Shabaab) has once again made international news headlines, this time with two deadly attacks carried out on May 24 on the Somali Parliament building in Mogadishu and La Chaumiere restaurant in Djibouti. News reports suggested over a dozen people were killed, including the attackers in each incident. These attacks have prompted renewed scrutiny of al-Shabaab’s current status, its strategy, and its principal tactics and procedures, and two narratives have emerged. One describes a resurgent al-Shabaab that is now unified, transnational, and is readily able to exploit weaknesses in the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and Somali Federal authorities. The other narrative suggests al-Shabaab’s fortunes are at an all-time low, its reinvention was forced by necessity, and its levels of popular support in Somalia are diminishing daily. Al-Shabaab is thus currently fighting to survive and has become more desperate. International Peace Institute
Tanzania to train 1,000 Somali soldiers amid concerns over terrorism backlash
Tanzania has agreed to train Somali soldiers as part of its efforts to support peace and security in Somalia, but some Tanzanian officials have expressed concern that further involvement in Somali affairs could invite terrorist attacks from al-Shabaab. The agreement to train 1,000 Somali soldiers first came about in 2012, when Tanzania accepted a request by former Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, which was then revived by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud this year. Sabahi
African, Western countries create intelligence unit
External Intelligence Response Unit has been created by five African and three Western countries as a result of a summit on terrorism held in May, the coordinator of Nigeria’s National Information Centre said Wednesday. A press statement issued by the coordinator, Mike Omeri, described the move as a major achievement in the fight against rebel groups in West Africa. Countries participating in the unit will share information on security, mainly terrorism-related matters. Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Britain, France and the United States comprise the unit, Omeri said. The National Information Centre was created to coordinate the flow of information on the Islamist group Boko Haram, which has killed thousands of people in Nigeria, informs DPA. Voice of Russia
Resilience vs. Vulnerability in African Drylands
It’s 38°C (99°F) in Ouagadougou, the capitol city of Burkina Faso, today—and it’s been this hot all week. The end of the warm season is near, but in places like Ouaga (pronounced WAH-ga, as its better known), temperatures stay high year-round. These are the African drylands: hot, arid, and vulnerable. Over 40 percent of the African continent is classified as drylands, and it is home to over 325 million people. For millennia, the people of these regions have adapted to conditions of permanent water scarcity, erratic precipitation patterns, and the constant threat of drought. But while urban centers like Cairo and Johannesburg have managed to thrive under these harsh conditions, others have remained mired in low productivity and widespread poverty. The World Bank has been partnering with a team of regional and international agencies to prepare a major study on policies, programs, and projects to reduce the vulnerability and enhance the resilience of populations living in drylands regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. The World Bank
U.S. upgrading satellite communications for Africom to counter Al Qaida
The U.S. military’s Africa Command is supervising a project to improve communications for allies in North Africa and Sahel. 4419574466_dcf1eca028_bThe contract represents an effort to enhance U.S. military operations amid the Al Qaida threat in North Africa. Africom has access to the only U.S. military base on the continent, located in Djibouti. The Defense Department awarded an $8.2 million contract to SES Government Solutions for transponders to support satellite communications from Africom. “Work will be performed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany and the western portion of Africa, and is expected to be complete by Aug. 5, 2019,” the Pentagon said. World Tribune
CJTF-HOA Welcomes New 449th AEG Commander
Personnel from Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa and Camp Lemonnier welcomed U.S. Air Force Col. Jeremey Turner as he assumed command of the 449th Expeditionary Group at a change of command ceremony, June 10, 2014, at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti. The ceremony began with the arrival of the official party, playing of the U.S. and Djibouti national anthems, and an invocation by U.S. Navy Chaplain Lieutenant Joshua Okwori. The mission of the Air Expeditionary Group is to provide a range of air capabilities to CJTF-HOA forces as well as provide air expertise for Air Forces Africa. U.S. Air Force Col. Joseph D. McFall, 435th Air Ground Operations Wing (EUCOM) and 435th Air Expeditionary Wing (AFRICOM) commander presided over the ceremony. CJTF-HOA