JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA — Researchers warn that type 2 diabetes could affect millions more people in the coming decades after a study published this month revealed the disease is rising far faster among people in sub-Saharan Africa than previously thought.
Take 51-year-old security guard Sibusiso Sithole, for example. Being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes came as a shock, he said, because he walked six miles to and from work every day and never thought his weight was a problem.
Then his wife noticed changes in his health.
Since his diagnosis 13 years ago, Sithole has been on a rigorous treatment for diabetes and high blood pressure.
“I have to take six … medications every day,” he said.
Diabetes is a condition in which the body struggles to turn food into energy due to insufficient insulin. Without insulin, sugar stays in the blood instead of entering cells, leading to high blood-sugar levels. Long-term complications include heart disease, kidney failure, blindness and amputations.
The International Diabetes Federation estimated in 2021 that 24 million adults in sub-Saharan Africa were living with the condition. Researchers had projected that by 2045, about 6% of sub-Saharan Africans — over 50 million — would have diabetes.
The new study, published this month in the medical journal The Lancet, suggested the actual percentage could be nearly double that.
By tracking more than 10,000 participants in South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and Burkina Faso over seven years, researchers found that poor eating habits, lack of health care access, obesity and physical inactivity are key drivers of diabetes in Africa.
Dr. Raylton Chikwati, a study co-author from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, said another risk factor is living in or moving to the outskirts of cities, or “peri-urban areas.”
“Access to health care, you know, in the rural areas is a bit less than in the urban areas,” Chikwati said, adding that increased use of processed foods in the peri-urban areas was a problem.
Palwende Boua, a research associate at the Clinical Research Unit of Nanoro in Burkina Faso, said long-term studies are rare in Africa but essential to understanding diseases.
“Being able to have a repeated measure and following up [with] the same people … is providing much more information and much valuable information,” Boua said, “rather than having to see people once and trying to understand a phenomenon.”
Boua is preparing a policy brief for Burkina Faso’s government to assist in the fight against diabetes.
For Sithole, managing his diabetes has been a long journey. But with treatment and lifestyle changes, he has regained control over his health.
“What I can tell people is that they must go and check — check the way they eat — because that time I was having too much weight in my body,” he said. “I was wearing size 40 that time. Now I’m wearing size 34.”
Experts stressed that Africans should get their blood-sugar level tested and seek treatment when diabetes is diagnosed.
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A High Court judge in Zimbabwe on Wednesday adjourned the case of a journalist arrested over his interviews with a war veteran-turned-politician who criticized the country’s president.
Blessed Mhlanga, a journalist with NewsDay and Heart and Soul Television, has been in custody since Feb. 24 over accusations of incitement.
Lawyers for the journalist had requested that he be bailed out, but at a hearing in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, Justice Gibson Mandaza requested more time to examine the case.
Chris Mhike, who represents Mhlanga, told VOA he was waiting for the High Court to announce when the case would resume.
Mhike said it would be “improper” to go into the arguments because the case was active but said the judge “indicated that it was necessary for him to consider the issues that are at stake.”
Speaking ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, Mhike said the arrest of Mhlanga sent a chilling message.
The arrest is related to his interviews with war veteran and politician Blessed Geza in November and January, in which Geza said that he would mobilize public protests to push President Emmerson Mnangagwa out of office, citing economic issues and what he called the president’s failure to govern.
On Friday, Geza was expelled from the Zanu PF party for what the party described as violating regulations in public comments about the president.
Mhike said he believed his client’s arrest served as a warning to others to refrain from discussing political topics, such as whether Mnangagwa should seek a third term. Zimbabwean presidents serve five-year terms, which are renewable once.
Mhlanga’s arrest “has had a chilling effect on the practice of journalism, as is always the case when journalists are either harassed, or put through the legal process, really for activities that are directly linked to their work,” Mhike told VOA.
It is “worrisome to many in the journalistic fraternity,” he added. “This has been the impact, and this has been my client’s position: that he is being tormented purely on grounds of him carrying out his work as a journalist.”
Mhlanga, who faces two charges relating to “transmitting of data messages inciting violence or damage to property,” denies the charges against him.
Mhike said his client’s arrest also could be unconstitutional. Zimbabwe’s Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of expression, which includes freedom to seek, receive and communicate ideas and other information, and entitles citizens to freedom of the press.
Farai Marapira, the Zanu PF information director, said he expected courts to preside fairly over the case.
“I believe people should allow the court process to pursue this matter as it is designed to find out what are the material facts of the matter, and I’m sure the courts will deal fairly with this issue,” Marapira said.
Marapira also said Mhlanga’s arrest was not a reflection of the state of press freedom in the country.
“People write about Zanu PF every day — people write positively, people write negatively, some even write and insult Zanu PF,” he said.
Marapira then rhetorically asked aloud: “Who is dead? No one is dead. So, what are they fearing for their lives from? Where is the example? Where are the examples of killed journalists? So, like I said, this is all overexcitement.”
The media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said that conditions for journalists have improved since the end of longtime leader Robert Mugabe’s rule. But, it noted in its press freedom index, media have faced greater persecution since the 2023 election.
In the past two years, journalists have been blocked or harassed while covering events and briefly detained and assaulted, media groups said.
Mhlanga himself has had a previous brush with the law. In 2022, he and his colleague Chengeto Chidi were arrested for taking photos of the police during the arrest of an opposition lawmaker.
In his latest case, international and local media rights organizations have condemned Mhlanga’s arrest and urged the Zimbabwean government to drop all charges against him.
Tobias Mudzingwa contributed to this report.
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WASHINGTON — Security forces in Somalia say they killed all six attackers who laid siege to a hotel in the central town of Beledweyne and later killed at least 50 al-Shabab militants in airstrikes.
Speaking to reporters, Beledweyne District Commissioner Omar Osman Alasow confirmed that the hotel siege ended early Wednesday.
“Our security forces successfully got rid of six militants who attacked a hotel where traditional elders and security officials were meeting,” he said.
Al-Shabab, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, claimed responsibility for the hotel attack on Tuesday.
Alasow said the government soldiers backed by African Union troops worked through the night to rescue elders, military officers and civilians trapped inside the hotel.
“During 18 hours of siege, our brave soldiers shot dead two militants, and four of them desperately blew themselves up when they realized that they could not escape,” he said. “Seven other people, including government security officials and two prominent traditional elders, were killed.”
Since August 2022, when Somalian President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud called for a “total war” against al-Shabab, Beledweyne, a town near Somalia’s border with Ethiopia in Hirshabelle state, about 300 kilometers north of Mogadishu, has been the center of a local community mobilization against al-Shabab.
The city has suffered more terrorist attacks than any other in Somalia except Mogadishu. Since 2009, hundreds of people have been killed in suicide attacks and car bombs on hotels, restaurants and government bases. The single biggest attack, in 2009, killed at least 25 people and injured 60 others.
Airstrikes kill 50 militants
Hours after ending this week’s hotel siege, Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency, or NISA, said the country’s security forces killed dozens of al-Shabab members elsewhere in Hirshabelle.
“Coordinated airstrikes by the Somali army and international partners in the Middle Shabelle region have killed at least 50 al-Shabab militants, including senior leader in charge of the coordination of the group’s combat vehicles,” the NISA statement said.
NISA said the airstrikes targeted the Damasha and Shabeelow areas and killed Mansoor Tima-Weeyne, a senior al-Shabab leader who masterminded the preparation and use of combat vehicles for terrorist attacks.
In a separate statement, the Somali Military Command said, “The operation was a significant blow to the group’s combat capabilities and part of ongoing efforts to weaken terrorism in the region.”
Media outlets closed
On another counterterrorism front, NISA said Wednesday that it closed 12 media outlets and websites linked to the Khawarij, a derogatory term referring to al-Shabab that loosely translates as “those who deviate from the Islamic faith.”
This latest announcement followed another crackdown on over 30 al-Shabab-related websites.
“The operation targeted platforms spreading extremist ideologies, inciting violence, and disseminating false information. During the operation the government seized critical data and identified individuals involved,” said a statement posted by the government’s National News Agency.

This story originated in VOA’s Somali Service.
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WASHINGTON — Gunmen stormed a hotel in the Somali city of Beledweyne on Tuesday, leaving at least five people dead and triggering an ongoing siege, according to witnesses and a Somali lawmaker.
In an interview with VOA Somali, federal lawmaker Dahir Amin Jesow said local elders and government officials were meeting at the Qahira Hotel in central Somalia.
“They attacked the hotel at dawn this morning, with an explosion and then gunmen stormed it. At least five people including two well-respected elders were killed, and five others were injured,” Jesow said.
A VOA reporter in the town said at least six people have been confirmed dead, while the siege continues.
The reporter said Somali security forces backed by Djiboutian soldiers, who are part of the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somaila, AUSSOM, and units of Ethiopian soldiers could be seen surrounding the hotel.
Local media reports say the death toll may be higher — up to 10 fatalities, including five al-Shabab militants, who were involved in the assault, and government soldiers.
Plumes of smoke from the explosions could be seen throughout the town, and an eyewitness said there has been ongoing gunfire.
“We can still hear sporadic gunfire from the hotel as some militants are still resisting and fighting with the security forces,” said Mohamed Qoone, a resident who witnessed the attack.
Video circulating on social media shows parts of the Qahira Hotel reduced to rubble.
The Islamist militant group al-Shabab immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. In a statement, the group said it had killed more than 10 people.
The group frequently conducts bombings and gun assaults in Somalia, aiming to topple the government and impose its strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.
This attack follows an operation conducted by Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) just hours earlier, which resulted in the deaths of 16 al-Shabab militants, including key leaders and fighters.
According to NISA, “The operation dealt a significant blow to al-Shabab, eliminating key members of the group. In addition to the fatalities, the operation also led to the destruction of combat vehicles used by the militants.”
Somali government soldiers, supported by local clan militias and the U.S. military, are conducting operations against al-Shabab in central Somalia, focusing on the Middle Shabelle and Hiran regions.
VOA’s Sahra Abdi Ahmed contributed to this report.
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SINGAPORE — Only seven countries met World Health Organization air quality standards last year, data showed on Tuesday, as researchers warned that the war on smog would only get harder after the United States shut down its global monitoring efforts.

Chad and Bangladesh were the world’s most polluted countries in 2024, with average smog levels more than 15 times higher than WHO guidelines, according to figures compiled by Swiss air quality monitoring firm IQAir.

Only Australia, New Zealand, the Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Estonia and Iceland made the grade, IQAir said.

Significant data gaps, especially in Asia and Africa, cloud the worldwide picture, and many developing countries have relied on air quality sensors mounted on U.S. embassy and consulate buildings to track their smog levels.

However, the State Department has recently ended the scheme, citing budget constraints, with more than 17 years of data removed last week from the U.S. government’s official air quality monitoring site, airnow.gov, including readings collected in Chad.

“Most countries have a few other data sources, but it’s going to impact Africa significantly, because often times these are the only sources of publicly available real-time air quality monitoring data,” said Christi Chester-Schroeder, IQAir’s air quality science manager.

Data concerns meant Chad was excluded from IQAir’s 2023 list, but it was also ranked the most polluted country in 2022, plagued by Sahara dust as well as uncontrolled crop burning.

Average concentrations of small, hazardous airborne particles known as PM2.5 hit 91.8 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/cu m) last year in the country, slightly higher than 2022.

The WHO recommends levels of no more than 5 mg/cu m, a standard met by only 17% of cities last year.

India, fifth in the smog rankings behind Chad, Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, saw average PM2.5 fall 7% on the year to 50.6 mg/cu m.

But it accounted for 12 of the top 20 most polluted cities, with Byrnihat, in a heavily industrialized part of the country’s northeast, in first place, registering an average PM2.5 level of 128 mg/cu m.

Climate change is playing an increasing role in driving up pollution, Chester-Schroeder warned, with higher temperatures causing fiercer and lengthier forest fires that swept through parts of Southeast Asia and South America.

Christa Hasenkopf, director of the Clean Air Program at the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute (EPIC), said at least 34 countries will lose access to reliable pollution data after the U.S. program was closed.

The State Department scheme improved air quality in the cities where the monitors were placed, boosting life expectancy and even reducing hazard allowances for U.S. diplomats, meaning that it paid for itself, Hasenkopf said.

“(It) is a giant blow to air quality efforts worldwide,” she said.
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NAIROBI — A British charity for the disabled, citing World Bank data, says the world could gain trillions annually in Gross Domestic Product if women were employed at the same rate as men. Failure to close gender employment gaps reduces a country’s economic growth by 20% on average, according to the data.

In many countries, women face multiple challenges when seeking employment or starting a business. Gender discrimination alone can drive women into poverty, but the risk increases if paired with disabilities.

In recognition of International Women’s Day, Sightsavers International, a British nongovernmental agency that aims to prevent avoidable blindness and ensure equality for the visually impaired, cited the World Bank’s figures showing that global GDP would increase from $106 trillion to $127 trillion if women were employed at the same rate as men. 

Michelle Madau, a 41-year-old beautician from Zimbabwe, is living with osteogenesis imperfecta, a brittle-bone disease. Despite her disorder, she helps people like her learn how to run a business. 

“I am mentoring the upcoming beauticians who are disabled and I am availing myself, making sure I am there when needed, speaking to them, helping them build up their own businesses,” Madau said. “Of course, not all of them are in the beauty industry; whichever line of business I am familiar with, I am always there to assist them because I also want to see them win, just like I am winning right now.” 

Lydia Rosasi, 29, works at the office of the Kenyan government spokesperson, where she assists people living with blindness, deafness and other disabilities in accessing government communications. 

She says she bettered herself to stand out in the job market. 

“For me, one of the greatest pillars in terms of navigating this double bias has been education and skills development. This has been the crucial thing that has kept me afloat as I go through these challenges,” Rosasi said. “For example, in 2021, I joined the IT Bridger Academy and at that time the digital skills were gaining a lot of prominence in the job market. So it gave me confidence and the capabilities that opened my doors. And then I have found supportive mentors and leaders who have been very important.” 

Many African women struggle to get jobs, either because they were married off or became mothers at a young age, leaving them unable to finish their studies. Others encounter discrimination or sexual violence in their workplaces. 

Experts say empowering girls with education and allowing them to finish school is one way to reduce the gender employment gap. 

Lianna Jones works on economic empowerment at Sightsavers. She says closing the gender gap requires policy reforms and cultural change. 

“In terms of closing the gender gap in employment and entrepreneurship, this requires coordinated interventions at multiple levels,” Jones said. “At the policy level, we need to eliminate discriminatory laws and regulations that restrict women’s economic participation. Women with disabilities need specialized approaches that address both gender- and disability-related barriers simultaneously, and lastly, we need to challenge social norms to engage with community leaders, men, and boys.”   

According to Equal Measures 2030, a coalition of national, regional and global leaders from feminist networks, civil society and international development, women in at least 77 countries are prohibited from working in the same jobs or sectors as men. In Africa, only five countries have a full set of laws mandating workplace equality for women.
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NAIROBI, Kenya — The U.S. State Department on Sunday ordered nonemergency government personnel to leave South Sudan’s capital as tension escalates because of fighting in the north.

The travel advisory issued on Sunday stated that fighting was ongoing and that “weapons are readily available to the population.”

An armed group clashed with the country’s army on Tuesday, leading to the arrests of two government ministers and a deputy army chief allied to former rebel turned Vice President Riek Machar.

Machar’s home was surrounded by the army as his supporters said that the arrests were threatening the country’s peace agreement.

South Sudan descended into a civil war from 2013 to 2018, during which more than 400,000 people were killed. President Salva Kiir and Machar, his rival, signed a peace agreement in 2018 that is still in the process of implementation.

On Friday, an attack on a U.N helicopter that was on an evacuation mission in the north complicated the security situation and a U.N rights body said that it was “considered a war crime.”

The U.N Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan on Saturday said that the violence in the north and tension in Juba, the capital, was “threatening to derail” South Sudan’s peace agreement.

“We are witnessing an alarming regression that could erase years of hard-won progress. Rather than fueling division and conflict, leaders must urgently refocus on the peace process, uphold the human rights of South Sudanese citizens, and ensure a smooth transition to democracy,” said the chairperson, Yasmin Sooka.
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WASHINGTON — As the world commemorates International Women’s Day, the stories of courageous women like Zahra Mohamed Ahmad highlight their resilience amid ongoing conflict and struggles for equality. From advocating for human rights to supporting their communities, these women continue to shape the future of Somalia.

Somali human rights defender Zahra Mohamed Ahmad is one of an extraordinary group of women who made sacrifices for her country.

She fled from the country, following the 1991 collapse of the central government of Somalia.

Mama Zahra, as she is affectionately known, returned to Somalia in 2000 and has fought since then for “justice, equality, and Somali unity.”

Her biggest loss, she said, came when her only son was killed by unknown men who stopped him as he was walking along one of the streets of Mogadishu. Despite that tragedy, she and her colleagues at the organization she founded, the Somali Women Development Center (SWDC), continue to support the voiceless and marginalized.

In 2021, the U.S. State Department recognized her exceptional bravery in defending the rights of the most vulnerable and awarded her the International Women of Courage Award.

This year, Ahmed was among several Somali women who shared their feelings with VOA Somali to commemorate International Women’s Day.

“The gloomy ugly days that followed the ouster of the former Siad Barre regime, the days our children were dying for starvation and famine, the days mothers, children, and the old people dying on the streets fleeing from their homes, are still fresh in my memory,” Ahmed said. “And every year March 8 reminds many Somali women of the plight conditions they have gone through, in which many of them still live,” said Ahmad.

Duniyo Mohamed Ali, a Somali woman activist in Mogadishu, remembers the role of Somali women for the survival of family in a nation devastated by civil war.

“After the civil war broke out in 1991, the Somali women were the saviors of their families. They built schools and smaller clinics; mediated peace talks between clans; and became entrepreneurs to get bread on the tables of their families,” Ali said.

In the country’s northeastern state of Puntland, women turned their celebration for Women’s Day this year into campaigns of preparing food for Puntland security forces, who are at the front lines fighting with Islamic State terrorists.

The chairperson of the Bari Region Women’s Organization, Kafi Ali Jire, said they could not celebrate the day with music and events because of the ongoing Puntland war with ISIS.

“Many women are mourning for the deaths of their husbands in the battle; others are sad because their husbands were injured, and many others whose husbands, sons and brothers are on the front lines are worrying about the safety of their loved ones, so instead of celebrating with colored events, [annual celebrations of the day that used to be held with arts, food and politicians], we have decided to dedicate the day to support our brave soldiers,” said Jire.

In politics, as it has been the case for years, Somali women do not have much to celebrate this International Women’s Day because they are still struggling to reach a 30% quota set for women lawmakers in the country and other decision-making political offices.

“As of today, female candidates have secured only half the needed seats to reach the quota,” said Lul Mohamed Sheikh, a women’s rights activist in Mogadishu who has a doctorate. “Our dream was that each community with three or more seats should have allocated one seat for the women. It sadly did not happen.”

Sheikh said the social and cultural norms that prevented women from getting constitutionally allocated seats are still in place.

“Clan elders, who play a key role in selecting potential lawmakers, have been blocking women from seeking office,” she said.

“Other challenges include that the country’s leaders do not nominate a good number of women into the top political offices and lack of unity among women,” Sheikh added.

Out of the 275 seats for Somalia’s Lower House, clans have so far selected only 52 women.

As Somalia’s women continue to navigate the challenges posed by conflict and societal norms, their stories of resilience and determination serve as a powerful reminder of their essential role in shaping the nation’s future.

Humanitarian crisis

This year International Women’s Day comes as Somali women suffer from displacement caused by the ongoing war against al-Shabab and Islamic State in the country’s Northeast and Central regions.

Somalia, an aid-dependent nation that averted famine in 2022 through increased humanitarian assistance, is now witnessing a resurgence of food insecurity.

Currently, 3.4 million people are acutely food insecure, and this number is projected to rise to 4.4 million between April and June — nearly a quarter of the population, Somali officials and the United Nation’s humanitarian agencies said this week.

The World Food Program (WFP) estimates that approximately 1.7 million children under the age of five require immediate support, with 466,000 likely to be severely acutely malnourished and at risk of death this year.

“We have learned in Somalia from past experience that delays can be deadly, and we need resources to provide support to these very vulnerable groups,” said WFP spokesperson Jean-Martin Bauer from Rome.

He urged donors and partners to increase funding for the country of 19 million people as it faces this escalating crisis.

This story originated in the Somali Service.
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CAIRO — Nearly 100 people died of cholera in two weeks since the waterborne disease outbreak began in Sudan’s White Nile State, an international aid group said.

Doctors Without Borders — also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF — said Thursday that 2,700 people have contracted the disease since Feb. 20, including 92 people who died.

Of the cholera patients who died, 18 were children, including five no older than 5 and five others no older than 9, Marta Cazorla, MSF emergency coordinator for Sudan, told The Associated Press.

Sudan plunged into war nearly two years ago when tensions simmered between the Sudanese army and its rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces group, or RSF, with battles in Khartoum and elsewhere across the country.

RSF launched intense attacks last month in the White Nile State, killing hundreds of civilians, including infants. The Sudanese military announced at the time that it made advances there, cutting crucial supply routes to RSF.

During the RSF attacks in the state on Feb. 16, the group fired a projectile that hit the Rabak power plant, causing a mass power outage and triggering the latest wave of cholera, according to MSF. Subsequently, people in the area had to rely mainly on water obtained from donkey carts because water pumps were no longer operational.

“Attacks on critical infrastructure have long-term detrimental effects on the health of vulnerable communities,” Cazorla said.

The cholera outbreak in the state peaked between Feb. 20 and 24, when patients and their families rushed to Kosti Teaching Hospital, overwhelming the facility beyond its capacity, according to MSF. Most patients were severely dehydrated. MSF provided 25 tons of logistical items such as beds and tents to Kosti to help absorb more cholera patients.

Cazorla said that numbers in the cholera treatment center had been declining and were at low levels until this latest outbreak.

The White Nile State Health Ministry responded to the outbreak by providing the community access to clean water and banning the use of donkey carts to transport water. Health officials also administered a vaccination campaign when the outbreak began.

Sudan’s health ministry said Tuesday that there were 57,135 cholera cases, including 1,506 deaths, across 12 of the 18 states in Sudan. The cholera outbreak was officially declared on Aug. 12 by the health ministry after a new wave of cases was reported starting July 22.

The war in Sudan has killed at least 20,000 people, though the number is likely far higher. The war has driven more than 14 million people from their homes, pushed parts of the country into famine and caused disease outbreaks.
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ABUJA, NIGERIA — Nigeria and China said this week they will cooperate in efforts to crack down on the increasing number of Chinese nationals taking part in financial crimes in the African country.

The joint effort comes after Chinese Ambassador Yu Dunhai visited Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, or EFCC, in Abuja.

In a statement posted to the EFCC website Tuesday, Dunhai expressed regret over the rising trend of Chinese nationals engaged in financial crimes in Nigeria.

He assured Nigerian authorities that the Chinese government is ready to send delegates to work with local law enforcement agencies to address the issue.

At the same time, Dunhai urged authorities to protect the rights of Chinese citizens while investigations are conducted.

Since November, Nigerian authorities have arrested at least 400 Chinese nationals suspected of cybercrime, telecom fraud and illegal mining. Many of them are facing trial.

But Nigerian political analyst Chukwudi Odoeme warned that China’s influence over the process could undermine the rule of law.

“The collaboration looks good, but then the relationship between Nigeria and China is something that is suspicious in this particular arrangement,” Odoeme said. “The collaboration may be defeated in the sense that China will have undue influence, and it may even lead to political release of those persons instead of subjecting them through the criminal trial system in Nigeria.”

China is Nigeria’s largest trading partner by value, with trade totaling $5 billion in 2023.

In the first quarter of last year, Chinese companies provided 23% of Nigeria’s total imports.

Critics argue that Chinese nationals are exploiting trade routes and immigration loopholes to enter Nigeria illegally and engage in criminal activities.

Authorities say many of the arrested Chinese nationals were found to be living in Nigeria without proper documentation.

Public affairs analyst Jaye Gaskia raised concerns about the transparency of the collaboration.

“On what basis are you going into this collaboration? For what purpose?” he asked. “The conversations around trying to develop such collaborative strategies also need to be transparent, so that citizens will be able to interrogate the process to see whether national interest is going to be somehow undermined.

“We have to be careful, and we have to ensure who does the prosecution,” Gaskia said. “The best-case scenario is for the country not to cede its own sovereignty in terms of how this is going to happen.”

Nigeria’s debt to China exceeds $5 billion — more than the bilateral loans owed to all other countries combined.

Meanwhile, Nigeria is seeking China’s backing to join the grouping of the world’s 20 largest economies, the G20, and secure a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.

But political analyst Rotimi Olawale believes the debt should not influence how Nigeria handles criminal cases.

“I don’t think that the debt we owe China, $5 billion, will affect anything,” Olawale said. “That’s government-to-government relations. The most important thing is that the case should not be politicized. We must clearly define our rules and uphold our laws.”

Previously, Nigeria’s parliament called for the mass deportation of illegal Chinese migrants.
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WASHINGTON — One month ago, on the morning of Feb. 4, forces from Somalia’s Puntland region attacked Islamic State terror group fighters, who responded with drones, suicide attacks and infantry charges.

Regional officials said 15 soldiers were killed in the fighting near the village of Qurac. But hours later, the terrorist fighters were forced to vacate their positions, leaving behind at least 57 of their dead.

The following week, the Islamic State, also known as IS, ISIS or Daesh, carried out a major counterattack, sending multiple suicide bombers and a wave of fighters against Somali forces in the Togjaceel valley, in Puntland’s Cal Miskaad mountains. Regional officials say the gun battle resulted in some 100 fatalities — 28 soldiers and more than 70 militants.

But again, IS fighters had to retreat, and soon lost three bases to the Puntland forces.

The battles are part of a recent offensive against Islamic State fighters holed up in the mountains of semi-autonomous Puntland. Observers say the success, while most certainly welcome, came somewhat as a surprise.

Military commanders had expected that as they got closer to the area’s main IS strongholds of Shebaab, Dhaadaar and Dhasaan, that the terror group would fight hard and launch frequent counterattacks.

But that has not been the case.

The Puntland forces have been capturing caves and small villages one after the other, and they have routed IS from the strategic 40-kilometer-long Togjaceel Valley, from Turmasaale to Dhasaan.

Somali officials told VOA it appears that the IS fighters, rather than trying to hold their positions, have fled, breaking into three groups, all headed in different directions.

About 100 IS fighters, along with some family members, have sought to escape to Karinka Qandala, another mountainous area to the north of the group’s former stronghold in the Togjaceel Valley.

Two larger groups fled to Tog Miraale and Tog Curaar, to the west and northwest. The group that went northwest, according to officials, was hit by airstrikes in the vicinity of Miraale Village.

“Intelligence assessments indicate a high likelihood of attempts to establish new safe havens following their retreat,” according to Brigadier General Ahmed Abdullahi Sheikh, the former commander of Somalia’s U.S.-trained Danab forces.

“The offensive, though appearing conventional, has consistently involved guerilla tactics,” said Sheikh, who has been closely following the offensive in his home region.

“The Togjaceel Valley defeat will likely drive ISIS to intensify asymmetric warfare, launching an attempt on irregular campaign against Puntland.”

Sheikh said he believes Puntland’s counterterrorism force has the numbers and the resources to carry out a protracted conflict with IS.

The United Arab Emirates has been providing air support, including airstrikes against the militants. The United States also carried out two rounds of airstrikes targeting IS last month.

The U.S. strikes are thought to have killed 16 militants, including Ahmed Maeleninine, described by U.S. officials as a “recruiter, financier and external operations leader responsible for the deployment of jihadists into the United States and across Europe.”

The Pentagon declined comment when asked about the apparent IS retreat.

But a U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss an ongoing operation, indicated Washington is prepared to potentially lend additional help.

“The Department remains committed to supporting our partners in our shared efforts to disrupt, degrade and defeat terrorist organizations in the Horn of Africa,” the official told VOA.

Other observers said the “persistent” pressure by the Somali forces, along with help from the U.S. and UAE, appears to be paying off.

“Indications [are] that the Puntland forces are making real progress against ISIS in Somalia’s hideouts,” a former senior Western counterterrorism official told VOA, requesting anonymity to discuss the ongoing developments.

“The question is whether they [the Puntland forces] will be able to continue to hold the captured hideouts, or whether ISIS will be able to return in the coming weeks and months,” the official said.

If the Somali forces are able to hold the captured territory, though, the damage to the terror group could extend well beyond Somalia’s borders.

“Given the central role of the al-Karrar office in financing the wider ISIS network, there could be some knock-on impact,” said the former Western counterterrorism official.

Al-Karrar is one of nine regional Islamic State offices established to help sustain the terror group’s capabilities. Since 2022, the office has been a key cog in the terror group’s financial network, funneling money to affiliates in Afghanistan and elsewhere in Africa.

Concerns, however, remain.

Regional security analysts warn IS could regroup if Puntland’s counterterrorism forces are unable to maintain their pursuit.

“Their mobile special forces have been the pointed end of the spear,” said Samira Gaid, a Horn of Africa security analyst.

“For the moment, it appears that the Puntland forces are committed and well resourced,” she told VOA. “However, much will depend on the Puntland forces then securing and manning the territories it will liberate to ensure the group does not make a comeback.”

As for IS, the terror group is “attempting to melt into the population, though this is difficult,” said Gaid. “It’s the natural progression when faced by a force that is superior.”

The tactic also may have bought IS time to hide some of its most prominent and most important leaders.

Somali forces have found no trace of Abdul Qadir Mumin, thought to lead not just IS-Somalia but the entire IS terror operation.

IS-Somalia operational commander Abdirahman Fahiye Isse and IS-Somalia finance chief Abdiweli Mohamed Yusuf are also in hiding.

Somali officials have nonetheless appealed to them, and to Fahiye in particular, to surrender.

“The people whom you think will give you a sanctuary are guiding the army,” Puntland military commander General Adan Abdihashi said after capturing Mumin’s headquarters on March 1.

“Don’t put young people in harm’s way,” Abdihashi said. “I swear to God, you will get the punishment you deserve.”

Said Abdullahi Deni, Puntland region’s leader, has also offered IS members in Somalia, including women and children, a chance to surrender and for foreign fighters to possibly even return to their countries of origin.

“They [IS] envisioned it as a place where they cannot be seen, strategically a tough place, and gives them access to the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Gulf,” he said.

But he has warned Puntland’s forces are prepared to hunt and eliminate remnants of the terror group “until all terrorists, their movement and their bases are eliminated.”

Various estimates from Somali and Western counterterrorism officials put the number of IS fighters in Somalia at up to 1,600, bolstered by an influx of fighters from Ethiopia, Morocco, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania and Yemen.

Experts such as Samira Gaid said IS-Somalia’s growing numbers combined with the difficult terrain in Puntland’s mountains may have led to overconfidence.

“The miscalculation to face the Puntland forces seemed to have been their folly,” she said, adding that about 500 IS fighters have been killed in the recent fighting.

IS-Somalia has suffered “grave losses,” Gaid said, “and will most likely not be recovering in the short to medium term.”

This story is a collaboration between VOA’s Africa Division and the News Center.
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Fourteen militia groups control two-thirds of the Central African Republic (C.A.R.) and parts of the capital city, Bangui. Russian military involvement has been stained with gross human rights violations, corruption and appropriation of natural resources.
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