African Union Expels Mali, Warns of Sanctions
Following the first coup 9 months ago, the AU did the same. With the second one coming not even a year later, it has gone ahead with the same action. The first coup in 2020 led to an expulsion that only ended when the country set up a civilian-led transitional government. But in this most recent coup, that same government has been overthrown, leading to this most recent expulsion. The AU warned that if a civilian government didn’t return, the nation would face sanctions. Similarly, ECOWAS, the West African economic bloc, has suspended Mali’s membership, calling for a transitional government to prepare for free elections in February.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-afr ... type=share
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-afr ... type=share
Assassination Attempt on Ugandan Ex-Army Chief
In Kampala, Uganda, four men on motorcycles fired at the vehicle of ex-army chief General Katumba Wamala, injuring him and killing his daughter and driver. President Yoweri Museveni (who was been in power for 3-4 decades) condemned the attack, calling the gunmen “pigs”. Referring to his daughter, a saddened Wamala said “I have survived, we have lost Brenda... The bad guys have done it, but God has given me a second chance.”
Uganda has seen a series of unsolved killings of lawmakers, police officers, the country’s top prosecutor, and many Muslim religious figures, most committed the same way as this latest attempted assassination: gunmen on motorcycles.
Source:
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/artic ... pokeswoman
Uganda has seen a series of unsolved killings of lawmakers, police officers, the country’s top prosecutor, and many Muslim religious figures, most committed the same way as this latest attempted assassination: gunmen on motorcycles.
Source:
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/artic ... pokeswoman
Chad Accuses CAR of Killing 6 Troops
The two countries, both bordering each other, have seen their fair share of unrest. However, Chad, fresh out of a major power shift, is accusing the Central African Republic of killing six Chadian troops, which it says amounts to war crimes. The attack occurred near the village of Mbere. The CAR regularly accuses Chad of sponsoring rebel groups in the country, though which groups, they have never named.
“The Central African armed forces attacked the outpost of Sourou in Chad on Sunday morning … killed a Chad soldier, injured five and kidnapped five others who were then executed in Mbang on the Central African Republic side,” says Chad’s Foreign Minister Cherif Mahamat Zene. He continued “The war crime is extremely serious and this deadly attack, which was pre-meditated, planned and operated from inside Chad – for reasons known only by the Central African government – will not go unpunished”.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/3 ... s-soldiers
“The Central African armed forces attacked the outpost of Sourou in Chad on Sunday morning … killed a Chad soldier, injured five and kidnapped five others who were then executed in Mbang on the Central African Republic side,” says Chad’s Foreign Minister Cherif Mahamat Zene. He continued “The war crime is extremely serious and this deadly attack, which was pre-meditated, planned and operated from inside Chad – for reasons known only by the Central African government – will not go unpunished”.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/3 ... s-soldiers
Boko Haram Leader (Probably) Dead (This Time)
Abubakar Shekau was born in a small village along the Nigeria-Niger border between 1965 and 1975. In 2002, he met Muhammad Yusuf, leader of the group that would eventually become Boko Haram. Following Yusuf’s killing in police custody in 2009, Shekau took the group underground, soon resurfacing the group, now thoroughly militant and attacking schools, villages, the police, and government buildings. He later pledged allegiance to DAESH (ISIS), but even they were like “Abubakar, could you maybe chill?” and tried to replace him. It failed, and the groups severed ties. At least 10,000 of the group’s fighters don’t actually believe in the group’s philosophy or interpretation of the Islamic faith: rather, they’re boys and men forced to fight for them at gunpoint. The group, now known for carrying attacks out in Chad, Cameroon and Niger in addition to Nigeria, also is notorious for the 2014 kidnapping of the Chibok girls. Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP), a branch of DAESH, has the same goals as Boko Haram but is markedly much less violent, though make no mistake, it’s still a terrorist group.
Between 2009 and 2016, Shekau had been pronounced dead 5 times by the Nigerian government, each time only to be seen in a new video chewing a siwak/miswak with a gun in hand, mocking the government forces, so either he’s secretly a cat, he has Davud Khan-like jinn powers, or the government is just really bad at killing him.
However, this time the government (and international news outlets) are very sure he’s dead this time. Unfortunately, neither we nor the government get the satisfaction of knowing Shekau was killed by government forces and radicalism in the region is crumbling. Why? Shekau was killed by fellow terrorists. It is believed he detonated himself to avoid being captured by ISWAP when they closed in on his location. Most likely, a multitude of Boko Haram fighters will flock to ISWAP, which means ISIS has more control in Africa, a rising concern, and Iran will have more of an excuse to keep funding Nigeria Shiā groups, already angry at the government for its imprisonment of Nigerian Shiā leader Ibrahim El-Zakzaky.
Source:
https://www.economist.com/middle-east-a ... to-be-dead
Between 2009 and 2016, Shekau had been pronounced dead 5 times by the Nigerian government, each time only to be seen in a new video chewing a siwak/miswak with a gun in hand, mocking the government forces, so either he’s secretly a cat, he has Davud Khan-like jinn powers, or the government is just really bad at killing him.
However, this time the government (and international news outlets) are very sure he’s dead this time. Unfortunately, neither we nor the government get the satisfaction of knowing Shekau was killed by government forces and radicalism in the region is crumbling. Why? Shekau was killed by fellow terrorists. It is believed he detonated himself to avoid being captured by ISWAP when they closed in on his location. Most likely, a multitude of Boko Haram fighters will flock to ISWAP, which means ISIS has more control in Africa, a rising concern, and Iran will have more of an excuse to keep funding Nigeria Shiā groups, already angry at the government for its imprisonment of Nigerian Shiā leader Ibrahim El-Zakzaky.
Source:
https://www.economist.com/middle-east-a ... to-be-dead
Well, folks? What do you think is the future of Africa? How many more coups will it be forced to endure? Will it’s governments be able to combat the rise of terrorism and separatism? Or has it been doomed since the moment Portuguese sailors landed on the continent’s shores?
Personally, I can’t say I can predict exactly what will go down. But I can say this: terrorists will be a pain in the jaki for Africa for years or even decades to come.
