WASHINGTON — Political leaders in Somalia agreed Wednesday on a framework for the country’s first national one-person, one-vote elections, a government statement said.

The decision followed marathon monthlong talks led by Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud that saw the withdrawal of Jubaland President Ahmed Mohamed Islam, also known as Madobe, from the National Consultative Council meeting in Mogadishu.

Somalia’s government and federal member states said Wednesday that direct universal suffrage would be introduced with local elections set for June 2025.

The agreement signed by Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre, the leaders of three regional states and Mogadishu’s governor laid out a path to nationwide one-person, one-vote elections.

“The leaders agreed to introduce national elections, where citizens will vote for their leaders, starting with the local, regional and municipal elections set for June 2025,” read a communique released at the end of the meeting in Mogadishu.

“The election of parliamentary and presidential leaders of the Federal Member states will be held on September 2025,” the statement said.

The members of NCC also have ordered the completion of Somalia’s National Independent Electoral Commission to facilitate the electoral process.

Opposition stand

In March, Somalia’s parliament unanimously approved a bill overhauling the country’s electoral system to reintroduce universal suffrage, a plan that has been criticized by some leading politicians.

The leaders of two federal member states, the Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni and Jubaland President Islam, opposed Wednesday’s decision.

Unlike Islam, who stepped out of the NCC meetings two weeks ago, Deni repeatedly said that Puntland no longer would recognize federal institutions, accusing President Mohamud of violating the constitution and losing his legitimacy.

Additionally, prominent Somali opposition leaders, including former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire, and MP Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame, have vehemently condemned Wednesday’s decision, calling it illegal.

“The decision illegally extends the terms of the regional presidents, threatens the national stability, the efforts of building good governance,” according to a statement from the opposition. “We will never accept it.”

The country has not had nationwide one-person, one-vote elections since 1969, when dictator Siad Barre seized power.

Mohamud was elected by lawmakers in May 2022 and previously said the next national elections would be by universal suffrage.

Currently, voting follows a complex, indirect model where state legislatures and clan delegates pick lawmakers for the national parliament, who in turn choose the president.

UN Security Council

Wednesday’s agreement comes on the heels of another significant development for Somalia.

The United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution on Wednesday facilitating the transition of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Somalia, or UNSOM, to the U.N. Country Team, or UNCT.

This shift, prompted by a formal request from the Somali government, presented by the United Kingdom, received unanimous support from all 15 member states of the council. It establishes that during this transition phase, the U.N.’s support activities in Somalia will be rebranded as the U.N. Transitional Mission in Somalia, or UNTMIS.

According to the resolution, the transfer of responsibilities from UNSOM to UNTMIS, alongside national authorities, will commence on November 1, and is anticipated to conclude by October 31, 2026.

U.K. Ambassador to the U.N. Barbara Woodward characterized the passage of the resolution as the “beginning of a crucial period for Somalia.”

“UNSOM has played an important role since its inception in 2013, supporting peace building and state building in Somalia through implementing its good offices, policy guidance, coordination, technical assistance and capacity building functions,” she said.
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harare, zimbabwe — Zimbabwe is aiming to be home to Africa’s largest steel plant, but disputes over the project continue even as it ramps up production.

Over the past few months, villagers have been accusing the Chinese steel plant’s subsidiary Dinson Iron and Steel Company, or DISCO, of taking over their land without compensation, damaging the environment and not helping them relocate.

There are also concerns that the project, along with the impact of the climate crisis, is impacting food security for villagers who live in areas near the plant.

Chokutaura Chananda, 81, head of Mushenjere, a village in central Zimbabwe, told VOA that villagers are asking all stakeholders for help. They are also urging the Chinese steel company to honor its promises of compensation and relocation.

“We are appealing to all parties involved to intervene, to come together and support our cause,” Chananda said. “As the rightful owners of the land, we deserve to be treated fairly by DISCO. We seek development, not destruction.”

DISCO, which is a subsidiary of Tsingshan Holding Group of China, touted as one of the world’s largest producers of stainless steel, denies any wrongdoing.

In June, some local villagers staged a protest and attempted to block DISCO’s trucks from entering the plant. The villagers accused the company of forcing residents off their farmland with no compensation, resulting in food shortages and severe dust pollution.

Chananda told VOA that while the company welcomes investments and business development, residents felt the company’s behavior had been disrespectful and insensitive.

The giant steel and mining company is erecting a wall around farmland and pastures in the area, further isolating families in Mushenjere Village from the traditional sources of livelihood. Before 2021, when the steel mine came to Manhize, residents in the area relied primarily on subsistence farming for their livelihood.

Villagers said the plant has displaced more than 100 families, leaving them impoverished and food insecure according to villagers.

A September report released by Centre for Natural Resource Governance concluded that Chinese mining operations in Zimbabwe are not necessarily mutually beneficial.

“Evidence on the ground shows a widening rift between Chinese nationals and their Zimbabwean employees and host communities. Increasingly, ordinary Zimbabweans are accusing China of exhibiting colonial traits,” the report said.

The villages near the DISCO “plant have been conspicuously excluded from engagement platforms” by the Chinese company, the report found. The report adds that “this lack of meaningful engagement and consultation has led to feelings of disenfranchisement and marginalization among the affected communities.”

Promises of economic benefits

The $1.5 billion plant started production in July and is expected to create 10,000 new jobs when it reaches the final phase of production. It is currently operating at 60% of its capacity and aims to be at 75% sometime early next year.

Anticipated to be an economic boon to Zimbabwe, the country hopes to reap financial benefits from the project when steel can be exported from the plant in the future.

The steel industry could contribute approximately $5 billion to the national economy, said Winston Chitando, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Mines and Mining Development, after touring the plant in June.

Wilfred Motsi, project director for the Dinson Group, said the development marks a huge milestone in Zimbabwe’s manufacturing industry.

“We are going back to our glory days when Zimbabwe was known as one of the industrial hubs in southern Africa because of the opening of the steel industry,” said Dinson Group project director, Wilfred Motsi, told Chinese state news agency, Xinhua in June.

Food insecurity and the environment

Despite promises of infrastructure development, including roads and housing, residents said there has been a lack of progress. There is fear that the displacement is exacerbating an already fragile existence among the villagers. In August, the UN described levels of food insecurity in Zimbabwe as “rapidly deteriorating after it was hit with historic droughts.”

Chenjerai Mushore, chairman of three affected villages, echoed these concerns, highlighting the ongoing environmental challenges and a slow compensation process.

Mushore claimed that the mine’s road resurfacing project has led to dust pollution. He emphasized the urgent need to complete the road project to mitigate these risks.

Response to concerns

DISCO’s spokesperson, Joseph Shoko has denied any wrongdoing and told VOA the company is committed to environmental compliance and is investing in state-of-the-art sewage ponds and chimneys.

Since the villagers’ farmlands are now within the perimeter of the steel plant, Shoko said DISCO has also been supporting 22 seniors who are considered the head of households with US $200 a month for food since February until they are relocated to a new place to live.

Shoko told VOA there are also plans to support six additional heads of households. Shoko added that younger residents are offered job opportunities instead of monetary assistance. Additionally, the company is prioritizing these residents for employment opportunities as they await relocation, he said.

According to Mushore and Shoko the mine is building new homes in a designated relocation area to accommodate the displaced community.

Shoko further explained that compensation evaluations involving government ministries are currently underway.

“The final compensation amount will be determined by these ministries following a thorough assessment,” Shoko concluded.

Chitando, Zimbabwe’s minister of mines, has not responded to VOA’s request for comment.

Zimbabwe-Sino relationship

Zimbabwe and China have maintained a strong alliance over the years. The relationship deepened significantly when Western nations imposed economic sanctions on Zimbabwe during Robert Mugabe’s presidency. As international funding and investment declined, China emerged as a major supporter.

Under President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe and China elevated their partnership to a strategic level in 2018. This move facilitated increased Chinese investment, particularly in the extractive industries. However, the DISCO steel plant has been criticized by environmental and human rights activists for its potential negative impact on the environment.

Zimbabwe’s environmental standards agency, the Environmental Management Authority, or EMA, is working with the Steel Mine in addressing the issues which were raised by activists and villagers said the agency’s Environmental Education and Publicity manager, Amkela Sidange. She said EMA is closely overseeing the implementation of abatement measures outlined in a previous environmental audit.

In response to VOA’s request for comment, the EMA said that there are currently no environmental violations at the Dinson-Manhize plant; however, “monitoring the progression on implementation of abatement measures proposed on environmental compliance during a previous Environmental Audit by the Agency at the same plant” was conducted a few months ago.

The EMA said the steel company has been addressing issues identified in the audit, including upgrades to the access road from Dinson to Mavise into a tarred road to further reduce dust.

The company is applying for necessary environmental licenses, including for effluent disposal and air emissions, the EMA said, adding that it will continue to monitor the plant “to ensure they are completed within set time frames and ensure the project development is done in a manner that does not harm the environment or health of the public.”
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Gaborone, Botswana — Southern Africa’s diamond-rich nation of Botswana voted in general elections Wednesday with the ruling party seeking to extend its nearly six-decade rule and hand a second term to President Mokgweetsi Masisi.

Polls opened at 6:30 a.m. for more than a million people registered to vote, with four presidential candidates in the race to head the region’s oldest democracy, installed on independence from Britain in 1966 when the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) took office. 

“It is my time to voice my opinion. I can’t wait,” said Lone Kobe, 38, who had been queueing since 3:15 a.m. at a school in Gaborone hosting a polling station.

“I would like to experience a new Botswana. We are seeing a percentage of the population enjoying the benefits. We are just the spectators, like we are watching a movie,” said the self-employed woman, a light blanket around her shoulders.

“We want to see true democracy, transparency and a free and fair election,” said Muthisi Kemo, a 56-year-old unemployed man who arrived three hours before the polling station opened.

There were irregularities in the functioning of the Independent Electoral Authority (IEC) in favor of the ruling party, he said, echoing opposition claims in the lead-up to the polls. “It’s an open secret.”

Opposition groups have been critical of the IEC including for failing to share a digital version of the voters roll and a shortage of ballot papers in early voting for public officers.

An unemployment rate that has reached 27% amid a weakening economy has been one of the key concerns of voters ahead of the elections, alongside claims of government corruption and mismanagement.

But the ruling party points to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, with weakened demand for diamonds also chipping away at revenues.

An energetic Masisi, 63, held a final campaign rally with about 400 cheering supporters in the capital late Tuesday, saying that he wanted to use his second term “to polish” what he started in his first five years.

Queen Mosiane, 34, said at the rally she was loyal to the party because its government had supported her when she became an orphan, including with education and healthcare covered by the state.

“We live peacefully in this country because of BDP,” she said. “It’s not time to change because we don’t know what are we inviting.”

“The opportunities that we find, and our kids are going to find in the future, are because of the BDP,” said civil servant Refile Kutlwano, 34, at the same rally. “The opposition is not ready to rule.”

Fractured opposition

Masisi was elected in 2019 with around 52% of the vote. While the party is not expected to fare much better this time, the opposition is fractured.

The main opposition alliance is the left-leaning Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), led by youthful human rights lawyer, Duma Boko, 54.

It lost two key members in the run-up to voting day with the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) and Botswana Congress Party (BCP) quitting and each fielding their own presidential candidates.

It was a blow to voters like Ookeditse Letshwenyo, 23, who saw the UDC offering opportunities to young people struggling to find work.

“Since our independence we’ve been ruled by the same people, with the same mindset, with the same goals,” said Letshwenyo, who has launched an IT start-up. “You can’t win against the BDP while you are divided,” he said.

While the surprise return six weeks ago from three years of self-exile of the previous president Ian Khama to campaign against Masisi added some energy to the opposition, analysts said his influence was limited to a few districts.

With 61 seats up for grabs in parliament, Botswana’s first-past-the-post system means that the first party to take 31 seats will be declared the winner and install its candidate as president.

Counting will start in the hours after polling stations close at 7 p.m. Wednesday with results due late Thursday.
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NEW YORK — A Kenyan man who plotted a 9/11-style attack on a U.S. building was training as a commercial pilot in the Philippines when his plans were interrupted, a federal prosecutor told a New York jury Tuesday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jon Bodansky told a federal jury in Manhattan that Cholo Abdi Abdullah plotted an attack for four years that he hoped to carry out on behalf of the terrorist organization al-Shabab.

He said Abdullah was almost finished with his two-year pilot training when he was arrested in July 2019 in the Philippines on local charges. He was transferred in December 2020 to U.S. law enforcement authorities, who charged him with terrorism-related crimes.

Abdullah underwent training in explosives and how to operate in secret and avoid detection before moving to the Philippines in 2017 to begin intensive training for a commercial pilot’s license, the prosecutor said.

Abdullah posed as an aspiring commercial pilot even though his true intention was to locate a building in the United States where he could carry out a suicide attack from the cockpit by slamming his plane into a building, Bodansky told the jury.

He said Abdullah was “planning for four years a 9/11-style attack” only to have it thwarted with his arrest.

The defendant, operating from a Nairobi hotel, used the internet to research how to breach a cockpit door and looked up a 2019 terrorist attack that killed some 21 people, Bodansky said. Among those killed in that attack was an American businessman who survived the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Prosecutors have said Abdullah also researched information “about the tallest building in a major U.S. city” before he was caught.

Abdullah, who is representing himself and once pleaded not guilty, declined to give an opening statement and did not actively participate in questioning witnesses Tuesday.

In court papers filed before the trial, prosecutors told the judge that they understood “through standby counsel that the defendant maintains his position that he ‘wants to merely sit passively during the trial, not oppose the prosecution and whatever the outcome, he would accept the outcome because he does not believe that this is a legitimate system.'”

The State Department in 2008 designated al-Shabab, which means “the youth” in Arabic, as a foreign terrorist organization. The militant group is an al-Qaida affiliate that has fought to establish an Islamic state in Somalia based on Shariah law.

If convicted, Abdullah faces a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison. His trial is expected to last three weeks.
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NAIROBI, KENYA — Some companies are coming up with creative ways of making electric vehicles a more realistic option in power-challenged areas of Africa.

Countries in Africa have been slow adopters of battery-powered vehicles because finding reliable sources of electricity is a challenge in many places.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies described Africa as “the most energy-deficient continent in the world” and said that any progress made in electricity access in the last five years has been reversed by the pandemic and population growth.

Onesmus Otieno, for one, regrets trading in his diesel-powered motor bike for an electric one. He earns his living making deliveries and ferrying passengers around Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, with his bike.

The two-wheeled taxis popularly known as “boda boda” in Swahili are commonly used in Kenya and throughout Africa. Kenyan authorities recently introduced the electric bikes to phase out diesel ones. Otieno is among the few riders who adopted them, but he said finding a place to charge his bike has been a headache.

Sometimes the battery dies while he is carrying a customer, he said, while a charging station is far away. So, he has to end that trip and cancel other requests.

To address the problem, Chinese company Beijing Sebo created a mobile application that allows users of EVs to request a charge through the app. Then, charging equipment is brought to the user’s location.

Lin Lin, general manager for overseas business of Beijing Sebo, said because the company produces the equipment, it can control costs.

“We can deploy the product … in any country they need, and they don’t need to build or fix charging stations,” Lin said. “We can move to the location of the user, and we can bring electricity to electric vehicles.”

Lin said the mobile charging vans use electricity generated from solid waste and can charge up to five cars at one time for about $7 per vehicle — less for a motorbike.

Countries in Africa have been slow to adopt electric vehicles because there is a lack of infrastructure to support the technology, analysts say. The cost of EVs is another barrier, said clean energy expert Ajay Mathur.

”Yes, the capital cost is more,” Mathur said. “The first cost is more, but you recover it in about six years or so. We are at the beginning of the revolution.”

Electric motor bike maker Spiro offers a battery-swapping service in several countries to address the lack of EV infrastructure.

But studies show that for many African countries, access to reliable and affordable electricity remains a challenge. There are frequent power cuts, outages and voltage fluctuations in several regions.

Companies such as Beijing Sebo and Spiro are finding ways around the lack of power in Africa.

”We want to solve the problem of charging anxiety anywhere you are,” Lin said. 

This story originated in VOA’s Mandarin Service.
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Yaounde — Chad’s President Mahama Idriss Deby has launched a security operation to track and neutralize several hundred Boko Haram fighters who attacked and killed on Sunday more than 40 Chad government troops in the Lake Chad Basin, shared by Cameroon, Nigeria, Niger and Chad. Deby visited the area on Monday and assisted in the burial of his soldiers.

Chad state TV reports that President Mhamat Idriss Deby has ordered that flags be flown at half-mast and that all radio and tv stations in the central African states should play only religious music for three days from October 28 at midnight.

Deby announced on Monday the three days of national mourning after visiting Ngouboua, a western village in Lake Chad, on the island of Bakaram, near the border with Nigeria where Boko Haram fighters killed at least 40 Chad government troops on Sunday night, according to Chad state TV.

Videos of Deby dressed in a military uniform and present at the burial of soldiers killed have been broadcast several times since Monday by local TV stations, including Chad state TV.

After the burials, Deby announced the launch of “Haskanite,” a military operation with fresh troops deployed to Lake Chad, to search out and eliminate members of the terror group hiding in the large area. Deby spoke on Chad state TV.

He said as president of Chad, he is the supreme commander of government troops and guarantor of the security and safety of civilians, and that he has ordered Chad’s military to protect civilians and their property by tracking and eliminating Boko Haram terrorists who committed atrocious acts on government troops and are hiding in the vast Lake Chad.

Chad officials note that Haskanite is a strong and resilient plant that grows in deserts and in the Lake Chad area. The deployed government troops are experienced and have the equipment necessary to defeat the jihadists, Deby said.

Chad military officials say they estimate the number of soldiers in the jihadist attacking force was 300 and that the surprise assault came Sunday at around 10 pm. In addition to the 40 deaths, several dozen government soldiers were injured, they said.

Scores of the attackers were killed and the fighters succeeded to escape with some dead bodies and seized weapons according to Chad’s military. Many civilians either died or were injured in the attack, Chad military says. Deby ordered that all civilians and troops receive medical care free of charge.

Chad’s military says the heavily armed jihadist fighters took control of the garrison before torching vehicles, motorcycles and buildings equipped with heavy arms. The attackers disappeared in the waters of lake Chad and surrounding villages.

Saibou Issa, a conflict resolution specialist at Cameroon’s University of Maroua, says it will be difficult for Chad to singlehandedly fight the jihadists in Lake Chad.

Issa says it is obvious that poverty and hardship push Boko Haram fighters who either surrendered or were weakened by the firepower of forces from Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad and Niger to rejoin smaller jihadist groups in Lake Chad. He says Lake Chad, which serves as a hideout for jihadist groups, is vast and only joint efforts from states that share the lake can stop militants, who are becoming more active.

Issa spoke on Cameroon state Radio on Tuesday. He said the militants attack mainly for supplies and seize weapons from both armed groups and government troops in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria.

Chad’s government says it has informed the Multinational Joint Task Force of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, or MNJTF — made up of 11,000 troops and rescue workers from Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria — to assist in a renewed push against the terror group. VOA could not independently verify if troops of MNJTF have been deployed, but Cameroon says its military is alert.

The United Nations says over 40,000 people have been killed and 3 million have fled their homes in Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad. since 2009, when fighting between Nigerian government troops and Boko Haram militants degenerated into an armed conflict and spread to Cameroon, Niger and Chad.
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Johannesburg, South Africa — Police in Mozambique killed at least 11 people and injured more than 50 others in violence after a disputed presidential election this month, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Tuesday.   

Protests have rocked the southern African nation since Daniel Chapo, candidate of the ruling Frelimo party that has held power since 1975, was announced winner of the October 9 election.  

Hundreds of opposition supporters took to the streets last week, leading to clashes with riot police.  

“Mozambique security forces killed at least 11 people,” HRW said in a statement, adding that “over 50 people suffered serious gunshot wounds” on October 24 and 25.   

Eight police were also reportedly injured, the rights group said.   

HRW said it interviewed 22 people, including victims, witnesses, physicians, journalists, government officials and civil society groups.   

“Many, including children as young as one year old, inhaled tear gas that the police fired indiscriminately into residential areas,” the rights group said.  

HRW said it had been told by one doctor that he treated dozens of injured people and one victim had “a bullet in his spine.”  

“Mozambican authorities should promptly and impartially investigate alleged misuse of force and hold those responsible accountable,” said Allan Ngari, Africa advocacy director at HRW.  

A local NGO, the Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (CDD), also counted at least 11 people killed in the violence, including six in Nampula province.  

More than 450 people were arrested, including 370 in Maputo, CDD said in a statement on Sunday, adding that at least 85 had since been released.   

Police have not commented on the reports by CDD and HRW but previously said that 20 people had been injured in the protests.   

Police also told AFP that one person had been killed in Nampula while another died in Niassa, without giving further details.  

Mozambique’s electoral commission said Chapo won the presidential election with 71 percent of votes, while the main opposition candidate Venancio Mondlane, backed by the small Podemos party, received 20 percent.   

On Monday, Podemos filed a lawsuit demanding a recount of votes.  

Election observers noted serious flaws before, during and after the vote.   

European Union election observers were among those who noted “irregularities during counting and unjustified alteration of election results at polling station and district level.” 
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Experts say small modular reactors, called SMRs, are bringing affordable nuclear energy to less wealthy countries. But what are SMRs and why are proponents so excited about them? VOA reporter Henry Wilkins explains
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The United States and Germany have launched a $40 million joint initiative, the Coastal States Stability Mechanism, across five West African states, focusing on countering terrorism and extremism. Unlike past military-driven efforts, this program emphasizes community-led developmental approaches to address the root causes of instability and promote good governance and economic development. Senanu Tord reports from Yendi in Ghana.
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N’Djamena, Chad — An attack by jihadist group Boko Haram on the Chadian army killed around 40 people overnight near the Nigerian border, the government and local sources said Monday.

“A garrison housing more than 200 soldiers was targeted by members of Boko Haram” late on Sunday, a local source told AFP.

The presidency said in a statement that the attack struck near Ngouboua in the west of the country, “tragically leaving about 40 people dead.”

Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno visited the scene early on Monday and launched an operation “to go after the attackers and track them down in their furthest hideouts”, the statement added.

The attack struck at 10:00 pm local time (2100 GMT), local sources told AFP.

“Boko Haram members took control of the garrison, seized the weapons, burnt vehicles equipped with heavy arms, and left,” said one local source, who asked not to be named.

A vast expanse of water and swamps, Lake Chad’s countless islets serve as hideouts for jihadist groups, such as Boko Haram and its offshoot Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP), who make regular attacks on the countries’ army and civilians.

Boko Haram launched an insurgency in Nigeria in 2009, leaving more than 40,000 people dead and displacing two million, and the organization has since spread to neighboring countries.

In March 2020, the Chadian army suffered its biggest ever one-day losses in the region, when around 100 troops died in a raid on the lake’s Bohoma peninsula.

The attack prompted then-president Idriss Deby Itno — the current president’s father — to launch an anti-jihadist offensive.

In June, the International Office for Migration (IOM) recorded more than 220,000 people displaced by attacks from armed groups in Lake Chad province.
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Cairo — Fighters from the notorious paramilitary Rapid Support Forces ran riot in east-central Sudan in a multi-day attack that killed more than 120 people in one town, a doctors group and the United Nations said.  

It was the group’s latest attack against the Sudanese military after suffering a series of setbacks, losing ground to the military in the area. The war, which has been going on for more than a year and a half, has wrecked the African country, displacing millions of its population and pushing it to the brink of a full-blown famine.  

RSF fighters went on a rampage in villages and towns on the eastern and northern sides of the province of Gezira between Oct. 20-25, shooting at civilians and sexually attacking women and girls, the United Nations said in a statement Saturday, adding that they looted private and public properties, including open markets.  

The attack displaced more than 4,000 people in the city of Tambiuk and other villages in eastern Gezira, according to the International Organization for Migration’s Tracking Matrix.  

“The killings and appalling human rights violations in Gezira province intensify the unacceptable human toll this conflict has taken on the people of Sudan,” IOM Director General Amy Pope told The Associated Press ahead of her trip to the country next week.  

She called for concerted international efforts to stop the conflict, saying: “There is no time to lose. Millions of lives are in the balance.”  

“These are atrocious crimes,” Clementine Nkweta-Salami, U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, said in a statement on Saturday. “Women, children, and the most vulnerable are bearing the brunt of a conflict that has already taken far too many lives.”  

She said the attacks resembled the horrors committed during the Darfur genocide in the early 2000s, including rape, sexual violence, and mass killings.  

The RSF was born out of Arab militias, commonly known as Janjaweed, mobilized by ex-Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir against populations in Darfur that identify as Central or East African. At the time, the Janjaweed were accused of mass killings, rapes and other atrocities, and Darfur became synonymous with genocide. Janjaweed groups still aid the RSF.  

The Sudanese Doctors’ Union said in a statement that at least 124 people were killed and 200 others were wounded in the town of Sariha, adding that the group rounded up at least 150 others. It called on the U.N. Security Council to pressure the RSF to open “safe corridors” to enable aid groups to reach people in impacted villages.  

“There is no way to help the injured or evacuate them for treatment,” the statement said.  

Footage circulating online, some shared by RSF fighters themselves, showed members of the paramilitary group abusing detained people. One video showed a man wearing a military uniform grabbing an old man by the chin and dragging him around as other armed men chanted in the background.  

The RSF didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.  

The Coordination of Civilian Democratic Forces, an alliance of pro-democracy parties and groups, also accused the RSF of storming villages, and opening fire on civilians as well as rounding up and mistreating “a large number of residents.”  

In a statement, the alliance held the RSF “responsible for these massive violations,” and called for holding the preparators accountable.

The attack on Gezira came as the military had successfully taken back areas held by the RSF.  

In September, the military launched a massive operation in and around the capital city of Khartoum, reclaiming large swaths of areas from the RSF. Also, earlier this month, it seized control of Jebel Moya, a strategic mountainous area in Gezira province, as well as areas in Gezira and nearby Sinnar province, driving out RSF forces.  

In October, a top RSF commander, Abu Aqlah Keikel, the de facto ruler of Gezira, defected and surrendered himself to the military.  

That prompted RSF fighters to attack villages and towns in Gezira seen as loyal to Keikel, according to local reports.  

The war in Sudan began in April 2023 when simmering tensions between the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in Khartoum, before spreading across the country.

The war has been marked by atrocities such as mass rape and ethnically motivated killings. The U.N. and international rights groups say these acts amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, particularly in the western region of Darfur, which has been facing a bitter onslaught by the RSF.

The conflict has killed more than 24,000 people so far, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, a group monitoring the conflict since it started.
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Merzouga, Morocco — In Morocco’s southeastern desert, a rare downpour has brought lakes and ponds back to life, with locals — and tourists — hailing it as a gift from the heavens. 

In Merzouga, a tourist town about 600 kilometers southeast of the capital, Rabat, the once-parched golden dunes are now dotted with replenished ponds and lakes. 

“We’re incredibly happy about the recent rains,” said Youssef Ait Chiga, a local tour guide leading a group of German tourists to Yasmina Lake nestled amid Merzouga’s dunes. 

Khalid Skandouli, another tour guide, said the rain has drawn even more visitors to the tourist area, now particularly eager to witness this odd transformation. 

With him, Laetitia Chevallier, a French tourist and regular visitor to the region, said the rainfall has proved a “blessing from the sky.” 

“The desert became green again, the animals have food again, and the plants and palm trees came back to life,” she said. 

Locals told AFP the basin had been barren for nearly 20 years. 

But this September, torrential rains triggered floods in southern parts of Morocco, killing at least 28 people, according to authorities. 

The rare heavy rains come as the North African kingdom grapples with its worst drought in nearly 40 years, threatening its economically crucial agriculture sector. 

Last year was Morocco’s driest in 80 years, with a 48% drop in rainfall, according to an October report from the General Directorate of Meteorology. 

Neighboring Algeria saw similar rain and flooding in early September, killing six people. 

North African countries currently rank among the world’s most water-stressed, according to the World Resources Institute, a nonprofit research organization. 

The kingdom’s meteorological agency described the recent massive rainfall as exceptional. 

It attributed it to an unusual shift of the intertropical convergence zone, the equatorial region where winds from the northern and southern hemispheres meet, causing thunderstorms and heavy rainfall. 

“Everything suggests that this is a sign of climate change,” Fatima Driouech, a Moroccan climate scientist, told AFP. “But it’s too early to say definitively without thorough studies.” 

Experts say climate change is making extreme weather events, such as storms and droughts, more frequent and intense. 

In Morocco’s south, the rains have helped partially fill some reservoirs and replenish groundwater aquifers. 

But for those levels to significantly rise, experts say the rains would need to continue over a longer period of time. 

The rest of the country is still grappling with drought, now in its sixth year and jeopardizing the agricultural sector that employs more than a third of Morocco’s workforce. 

Jean Marc Berhocoirigoin, a 68-year-old French tourist, said he was surprised to find Yasmina Lake replenished. 

“I felt like a kid on Christmas morning,” he said. “I hadn’t seen these views for 15 years.” 

Water has also returned to other desert areas such as Erg Znaigui, about 40 kilometers south of Merzouga, AFP reporters saw. 

Last week, Morocco’s meteorological agency said such downpours could become increasingly frequent, “driven partly by climate change as the intertropical convergence zone shifts further north.” 
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