Two of the Libyan capital’s most powerful armed factions battled across the city on Tuesday, stranding civilians in their homes and raising fears that Tripoli’s worst violence this year could escalate.

The death toll from the clashes remains unclear but a medical unit linked to the Defense Ministry said it had recovered three bodies from Furnaj, Ain Zara and Tarik Shok districts.

The Health Ministry appealed to citizens to donate blood to help casualties. Usama Ali, a spokesperson for the ambulance service, said 19 people had been injured and 26 families evacuated from a strife-hit district.

Dark smoke hung over parts of the city and the sound of heavy weapons rattled through the streets, a Reuters journalist in Tripoli said. Residents and local media reported fighting in different suburbs during the day.

The U.N. envoy to Libya called for an immediate end to the violence.

The clashes between the 444 Brigade and the Special Deterrence Force, which both backed the interim Government of National Unity (GNU) during brief battles last year, shatter months of relative calm in Tripoli.

Libya has had little peace or security since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising, and it split in 2014 between warring eastern and western factions.

An assault by eastern forces on Tripoli, in the west, collapsed in 2020 leading to a ceasefire that has halted most major warfare. Turkey, which backed the Tripoli government, maintained a military presence in Libya.

However, there has been little progress towards a lasting political solution to the conflict and on the ground armed factions that have gained official status and financing continue to wield power.

Last year factions backing a rival government declared by the eastern-based parliament launched a doomed attempt to oust Dbeibah, leading to a day of heavy clashes in Tripoli. Sporadic fighting has also this year rocked the city of Zawiya, west of the capital.

On Monday the Special Deterrence Force, which controls the capital’s Mitiga airport, seized 444 Brigade commander Mahmoud Hamza as he attempted to travel, a source in the brigade said.

In the following hours, both factions mobilized around the capital and fighting broke out in the evening.

The Special Deterrence Force has been one of Tripoli’s main armed factions for years, holding Mitiga and the surrounding coastal area, including a stretch of the main road to the east.

The 444 Brigade controls large swathes of the capital and areas south of Tripoli. Hamza, a former officer in the Special Deterrence Force, has previously been a key figure in mediating an end to tension between other armed factions.

Another significant Tripoli armed faction, the Stabilization Support Apparatus, had fighters and vehicles out on the street in areas it controls, but was not involved in the clashes, a Reuters witness said.

A resident of the Tarik Shok area of southern Tripoli said he could hear fighting when he went to bed at 1:30 a.m. and more strongly when he woke up at 7:30 a.m.

“We can hear heavy gunfire since early morning. My family lives in the Khalat Furjan area about 7 km (4 miles) away and they also hear clashes,” he said.

Some of the fighting erupted around Mitiga airport, continuing there into Tuesday morning, residents said. Flights were diverted from the airport to Misrata, a city about 180 km (110 miles) east of Tripoli, airlines and airport sources said.

A Turkish defense ministry official said on Tuesday afternoon that “the situation calmed down” in Tripoli and there were no problems regarding the security of Turkish troops. Mitiga hosts a Turkish military presence, diplomats say.

By Tuesday afternoon, fighting was clearly audible in some central Tripoli districts that had been quieter overnight and during the morning, with a loud explosion and exchanges of gunfire, a Reuters witness said.
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In a rare televised speech Monday, the head of Sudan’s military accused the rival paramilitary force of committing war crimes as all-out civil war threatens to engulf the northeast African country.

Sudan was plunged into chaos in April when months of simmering tensions between the military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, exploded into open fighting in Khartoum and elsewhere.

In a speech broadcast on Sudan TV, Burhan accused the RSF and Dagalo of committing violations under the falsehood of promising to restore democracy.

“How can you bring about democracy by committing war crimes?” he said, in a speech celebrating Sudan’s annual armed forces day.

Earlier this month, rights organization Amnesty International accused both sides of committing extensive war crimes, including deliberate killings of civilians and mass sexual assault. In its 56-page report, the group said almost all rape cases were blamed on the RSF and its allied Arab militias.

In Darfur, the scene of genocidal war in the early 2000s, the conflict has morphed into ethnic violence, with the RSF and allied Arab militias targeting African communities in the western region, U.N. officials say.

Last week the violence intensified in South Darfur province, killing dozens. The Darfur Bar Association, a Sudanese legal group focusing on human rights in the western Darfur region, said at least five civilians died in crossfire during intense clashes between the military and the RSF in Nyala, South Darfur’s capital, on Friday.

Some 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Nyala, Arab tribesmen in RSF vehicles raided the Kubum area of South Darfur last week, burning down the local market and sacking a police station, the legal group said in a separate statement. At least 24 people were killed in the attack, it said.

Last month, Karim Khan, a prosecutor from the International Criminal Court, told the United Nations that he would be investigating alleged new war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur.

The nearly four-month conflict has also reduced the capital, Khartoum, to an urban battlefield. Across the city, RSF forces have commandeered homes and turned them into operational bases, residents and physician groups say. The army, in turn, has struck residential areas from the air and with artillery fire. Over 2.15 million people have since fled Khartoum state, according to U.N. data.

The country’s health minister, Haitham Mohammed Ibrahim, said in June that the conflict has killed upward of 3,000 people but there has been no update since. The true tally is likely far higher, say local doctors and activists.

Meanwhile, Meta, Facebook’s parent company, confirmed to The Associated Press that it had suspended the RSF’s account and the account belonging to Dagalo. Meta told the AP in an email that the group had violated its Dangerous Organizations and Individuals policy but did not provide any further details.

On its website, Meta says the policy aims to clamp down on “organizations or individuals that proclaim a violent mission or are engaged in violence.”

In a statement sent to the AP on Monday, the RSF said the closure of the accounts infringes on the public right to impartial information.

“The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) are allowed to disseminate graphic violence on their page while the RSF’s call for democracy and freedom is silenced,” the paramilitary said.

As of Monday, the paramilitary and Dagalo still had active accounts on X, the platform previously known as Twitter.
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The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali said Sunday it had brought forward its withdrawal from a base in the north of the country due to deteriorating security conditions.

During the operation, three of its soldiers were wounded when they came under fire, the force added a few hours later.

The MINUSMA force’s departure from Ber comes after the Malian army said Saturday that six soldiers died and 24 fighters from “armed terrorist groups” were killed in a skirmish in the area Friday.

Former rebels from the Tuareg ethnic group also said the army and the Russian mercenary group Wagner had attacked their forces Friday in Ber.

“MINUSMA has expedited its withdrawal from #Ber due to the deteriorating security situation in the area & the high risks posed to our #BlueHelmets,” the force said Sunday on Twitter, recently rebranded as “X.”

“It urges all concerned parties to refrain from any actions that could further complicate the operation.”

The number of troops involved or details on the original departure date were not specified.

In a message posted later Sunday, the force added: “The MINUSMA convoy that withdrew from #Ber today was attacked twice,” adding that three wounded peacekeepers had been evacuated to Timbuktu for treatment.

Attacks against peacekeepers can constitute war crimes under international law, the statement added.

Numerous incidents

Mali’s army in a statement issued Sunday evening, said it had taken possession of the Ber camp “after numerous incidents had marred the movement of our units.”

Army troops were targeted with sporadic fire as they advanced Sunday toward Ber, the statement said, without identifying the assailants.

The army also reported earlier incidents, while it was on the way to Ber.

It said armed “terrorist” groups had staged “an attempted incursion into the camp and harassing fire” against its troops, as well as other clashes, which left a total of six soldiers dead and four wounded, according to a military press release.

For several days now, the Ber area has been the scene of tensions between the army and the Russian Wagner paramilitary group against the CMA, an alliance of Tuareg-dominated groups seeking autonomy or independence from the Malian state and which controls vast areas of the north.

A CMA official, commenting on social media Sunday, had called for MINUSMA to “simply leave” Ber and not hand the camp over to the army.

The junta, which has ruled Mali since 2020 had pushed the U.N. Security Council in June to withdraw MINUSMA by the end of the year.

The U.N. Security Council in June decided to do so, and the first departures happened early this month from the central Ogossagou base.

Increasing tensions

The MINUSMA mission, which had some 11,600 troops and 1,500 police officers in the country, began in 2013 after separatist and jihadi rebellions broke out in northern Mali the previous year.

Its impending withdrawal from all of Mali has exacerbated tensions between the junta and the CMA ex-rebels.

CMA said Saturday that the Malian army was “determined to occupy MINUSMA’s holdings at all costs, including those in areas under CMA control,” in violation of a 2015 peace deal.

On Thursday, the former rebels announced the departure of all their representatives from the capital Bamako for “security” reasons, further widening the gap with the junta.

The CMA also criticizes the military for having approved a new constitution in June, which it says compromises the peace agreement.

Mali’s junta has fallen out with former colonial power France and turned to Russia for political and military support.

The deep security crisis that has engulfed northern Mali since 2012 has spread to the center of the country as well as neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger.
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Six Malian soldiers have been killed in an attack by “armed terrorist groups” in the north of the country, according to an army report.

An earlier army statement on the incident had said one soldier was killed and four wounded in the attack in Ber on Friday.

The death toll has risen to six, it said on Saturday, while “in their rout armed terrorist groups abandoned 24 bodies.”

They also left behind AK-47 assault rifles and motorbikes, the army said.

It said the clashes in the Timbuktu region took place after an “attempted incursion and harassing fire by terrorist groups against FAMa (Malian Armed Forces) units.”

The Malian troops were due to be stationed in Ber as part of a handover while the U.N. mission in Mali, known as MINUSMA, prepares to leave the country, the army said.

Mali’s junta, in power since 2020, pushed the U.N. Security Council in June to withdraw MINUSMA by the end of the year.

Tuaregs report army attack 

Also in Ber on Friday, former Tuareg rebels said their forces were attacked by the army and the Russian mercenary group Wagner.

The Coordination of Azawad Movements, which controls vast areas of the north, said in a statement to AFP on Saturday that there were “maneuvers against its positions by the Malian armed forces accompanied by the Wagner militia.”

The CMA is an alliance of Tuareg-dominated groups seeking autonomy or independence from the Malian state.

“The FAMa is determined to occupy MINUSMA’s holdings at all costs, including those in areas under CMA control, in violation of all the security arrangements guaranteed to date by the U.N. mission and the international community”, it added, referring to a 2015 peace agreement.

On Thursday, the former Tuareg rebels announced the departure of all their representatives from Bamako for “security” reasons, further widening the gap with the country’s military rulers.

The CMA also criticizes the military for having approved a new constitution in June, which it believes compromises the agreement.

Mali’s military government has fallen out with former colonial power France and turned to Russia for political and military support.

Since 2012, Mali has been in the grip of a deep security crisis that began with an Islamist insurgency in the north, which has spread to the center of the country as well as to neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger.
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A delegation of religious leaders from Nigeria arrived Saturday in Niger and met with members of the military junta who took control of the country last month. 

Coup leader General Abdourahamane Tchiani and junta-appointed Prime Minister Ali Maham Lamine Zeine both met with the delegation of Muslim religious leaders led by Sheikh Abdullahi Bala Lau, leader of the Izala Salafist movement in Nigeria, according to Nigerien media. 

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu gave his approval to the mediation delegation. Tinubu currently serves as the president of the Economic Community of Western African States (ECOWAS), which has threatened to intervene militarily if the leaders of the military coup in Niger do not reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum, 63, who was deposed by members of his guard on July 26. 

The clerical delegation hopes to ease tensions between Nigeria and the junta leaders, a source close to the delegation told AFP. 

“The clerics are in Niamey to explain to the junta leaders that Nigeria is not fighting Niger and that the decisions taken on Niger are not Nigeria’s but those of ECOWAS as a regional bloc,” the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said. 

ECOWAS has approved the deployment of a “standby force to restore constitutional order” in Niger, but still hopes to find a peaceful resolution to the situation. The ECOWAS parliament met Saturday to discuss further action, but no decision was made. 

A crisis meeting set for Saturday was called off for technical reasons, the chiefs of staff of ECOWAS said. The meeting was to discuss the best options for deploying the standby force. 

“The military option seriously envisaged by ECOWAS is not a war against Niger and its people but a police operation against hostage takers and their accomplices,” Hassoumi Massaoudou, foreign minister in the ousted civilian government, said Saturday. 

Coup leaders defiant

So far, the coup leaders remain defiant and refuse to restore constitutional order in Niger.  

The threat of a military intervention has proved divisive among the 15-member ECOWAS bloc, but it remains determined to restore Bazoum to his elected position while other African nations fear sparking a conflict with an unpredictable outcome. 

Niger, an impoverished country of about 25 million people, was seen as one of the last hopes for Western nations to partner with in quelling a jihadi insurgency linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group that’s ravaged the region.  

France and the United States together have more than 2,500 military personnel in Niger and with other European partners had poured hundreds of millions of dollars into propping up its military. 

The junta responsible for spearheading the coup, led by Tchiani, has maintained it could be more effective at protecting the nation from jihadi violence and has exploited anti-French sentiment among the population to shore up its support. 

Nigeriens in the capital of Niamey said on Friday that ECOWAS has been out of touch with the political realities in Niger and that it shouldn’t interfere.  

“It is our business, not theirs. They don’t even know the reason why the coup happened in Niger,” said Achirou Harouna Albassi, a resident. Bazoum was not abiding by the will of the people, he said.  

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. appreciated “the determination of ECOWAS to explore all options for the peaceful resolution of the crisis” and would hold the junta accountable for the safety and security of Bazoum. However, he did not specify whether the U.S. supported the deployment of troops.  

Western powers fear Russian influence increasing if Niger follows neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso, both of which expelled troops of former colonial power France after coups in those countries. 

Mali has since teamed up with mercenaries from the Russian-led Wagner Group and kicked out a United Nations peacekeeping force there, something security analysts say could lead to further conflict. 

In Niamey, thousands demonstrated Friday outside a French military base. 

“Long live Russia,” one protester’s sign read. “Down with France … Down with ECOWAS.” Another said: “Wagner will protect our children from terrorism.” 

Doctor visits Bazoum 

Meanwhile, Niger’s military junta remains in power, appears closed to dialogue, and refuses to release the constitutionally elected president.  

Bazoum, who had complained recently of the treatment he, his wife and son were receiving and the conditions they were held in, was seen by a doctor Saturday.  

Bazoum “had a visit by his doctor today,” a member of the doctor’s team told AFP, adding the physician had also brought food for Bazoum, his wife, and son.  

“He’s fine, given the situation,” the source added. 

Representatives of the junta told U.S. Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland during her visit to the country this week that they would kill Bazoum if ECOWAS intervened militarily, a Western military official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.  

“The threat to kill Bazoum is grim,” said Alexander Thurston, assistant professor of political science at the University of Cincinnati. There have been unwritten rules until now about how overthrown presidents will be treated and violence against Bazoum would evoke some of the worst coups of the past, he said.  

Human Rights Watch said Friday that it had spoken to Bazoum, who said that his 20-year-old son was sick with a serious heart condition and has been refused access to a doctor. The president said he hasn’t had electricity for nearly 10 days and isn’t allowed to see family, friends or bring food supplies into the house.  

Blinken said he was “dismayed” by the military’s refusal to release Bazoum’s family as a “demonstration of goodwill.” 

Some information in this report came from Reuters, The Associated Press, and Agence France-Presse.  
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Education skills and employability are the pathway to a better life — that is the key takeaway expressed by 40% of young people across all age groups who participated in a survey to identify the hopes and aspirations of youth and learn what they need to enhance their prospects for a good, sustainable future.

In a bid to make their voices heard by decision-makers around the world, more than 700,000 children and adolescents between the ages of 10 and 24 participated in the project that coincides with this year’s observance of International Youth Day.

The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, or PMNCH, is a global alliance for the health and well-being of women, children and adolescents, hosted by the World Health Organization. In an effort to work toward improvements, PMNCH shared the preliminary findings of the largest survey into what young people want for their well-being.

The project aims to collect the voices of at least 1 million young people by October, when PMNCH will convene a global forum for adolescents at which the results of this mammoth undertaking will be unveiled.

“To date, there has not been enough knowledge, there has not been enough accountability and evidence around adolescent well-being,” said Helga Fogstad, PMNCH executive director. “This is our effort, together with this 1 million young people, intended to rectify.”

Young people were asked to express their views on a multitude of issues, including climate change, good health, optimum nutrition, connectedness, positive values, contributions to society, safety and a supportive environment.

“Adolescents and young people are responding to a fragile world of high living costs, pandemic disruptions, climate crises” and the rising complexities of the world “in which they live,” said David Imbago, a board member of PMNCH.

“Young people in low- and middle-income countries have been among the most affected of our increasingly fragile world, and there is no way to deny that,” he said. “For example, there are still consequences from the pandemic to school education, household food insecurity and income scarcity.”

UNICEF reports that more than 616 million students remain affected by full or partial school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. In low- and middle-income countries, it says, school closures “have left up to 70% of 10-year-olds unable to read or understand a simple text.”

More than two-thirds of respondents, 68.8%, are from the Africa region, followed by the Southeast Asia region at 27.5%, and a small minority from Latin America. Most respondents come from India. Uganda is the second-largest contributing country, followed by Indonesia and Zambia.

The survey uses digital technology and face-to-face outreach through teams of trained youth mobilizers.

“I was excited to be a part of this campaign that was asking what we young people want for our well-being and try to be heard by policymakers and government and taking action on them,” said Deep Shikha, a young mobilizer from India.

Shikha said she and her mobilizing team gathered information from chatbots online, visited schools and colleges, and interviewed people in local communities.

“We discussed with young people about what they want, what challenges they face and what they felt was ignored by officers and policymakers,” she said.

Shikha said most of the young people wanted the opportunity to get a higher education but were frustrated by a lack of resources. She said girls were discouraged from getting an education.

“Their parents do not want to send their child to another city for their higher education because they are concerned about their safety,” she said. “And, of course, there are girls who do not get an education because of lack of financial support.”

The survey indicated that addressing the concerns of adolescent girls worldwide was more challenging than addressing adolescent boys’ concerns about health, education, safety, security and well-being.

“It is not a matter of perception,” board member Imbago said. “It is reality.”

PMNCH expects the upcoming Global Forum for Adolescents to energize the 1.8 Billion Young People for Change campaign. The campaign was launched last year to help young people reach their full potential by influencing governments to change current policies and investments that fail to meet their needs.

“The voices of young people and adolescents need to be amplified, and the governments’ budgets and plans need to be more explicit about what young people want,” said Fogstad, the PMNCH executive director.

“This is a population and a generation that has not got enough attention because the evidence was missing,” she said, adding that the evidence produced by the survey results puts an end to that argument.

She said the movement of young people has been converted into a global movement “where young people are now increasingly taking the lead. And that is how it should be.”
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Tuareg former rebels in northern Mali said their forces were attacked Friday by the army and Russian mercenary group Wagner.

The Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) said in a Facebook post that their forces “repulsed a complex attack by the Fama (Malian army) and Wagner” in the town of Ber, in the northern Timbuktu region.

“We call the international community to witness these serious acts,” said CMA spokesperson Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, denouncing the attack as a “violation of all security commitments and arrangements.”

Mali’s army said it had “vigorously retaliated” against an “attempted incursion” into their position on Friday, blaming “terrorists” for the incident.

On Thursday, the Tuareg former rebels announced the departure of all their representatives from Bamako for “security” reasons, further widening the gap with the junta, which has been in power since 2020.

The CMA is an alliance of Tuareg-dominated groups seeking autonomy or independence from the Malian state.

It is one of the parties to a 2015 peace agreement with the Malian government.

Mali’s military government has fallen out with former colonial power France and turned to Russia for political and military support.

Wagner is openly active in Mali and at least three other African countries, typically shoring up fragile regimes in exchange for minerals and other natural wealth.

In Mali, Wagner paramilitaries protect the regime, conduct military operations and training, and advise on the revision of mining laws and even the constitution.

The regime in Bamako says the foreign military instructors in Mali are not from Wagner but from the regular Russian army.  
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Thousands of people gathered in Niger’s capital Friday to demonstrate in favor of last month’s coup as regional leaders were considering military intervention to restore civilian rule.

Since the July 26 military ouster of elected President Mohamed Bazoum, many Nigeriens have joined junta-organized rallies to show support for the generals, criticize Western powers and laud Russia, which is vying for influence with the West in the region.

The peaceful crowd on Friday numbered in the thousands, according to a Reuters witness. The rally began at a French military base in the capital, Niamey, then protesters with signs and flags spread onto surrounding streets.

“Long live Russia,” one protester’s sign read. “Down with France … Down with ECOWAS,” referring to the Economic Community of West African States. At a summit on Thursday, the body ordered the activation of a standby force that could intervene to reinstate Bazoum.

The military takeover was the seventh coup in West and Central Africa in three years, and demonstrations in Niger have mirrored street scenes in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso after coups between 2020 and 2022.

Popular anger is targeted at former colonial power France, whose forces were kicked out of Mali and Burkina Faso after the coups there and whose presence in Niger is under threat. Protesters in Niger attacked the French Embassy.

“I am here to request the departure of the French forces,” said protester Salamatou Hima on Friday. “We are free and we have the right to demand what is beneficial for our country.”

The military coup was triggered by internal politics but has repercussions far beyond Niger’s borders, raising the specter of deepening conflict in a strategically important region. Uranium-rich Niger, one of the world’s poorest countries, has been an ally for the West in the fight against Islamist militants in the Sahel region.

U.S., French, German and Italian troops are stationed in Niger to repel local affiliates of al-Qaida and Islamic State that have killed thousands and displaced millions across the Sahel.

Standby force

Regional army chiefs were expected to meet in coming days. It was not yet clear how long the ECOWAS standby force would take to assemble, how big it would be and if it would actually invade. The organization stressed that all options were on the table and said it still hoped for a peaceful resolution.

Security analysts said the force could take weeks to set up, potentially leaving room for negotiations.

Ivory Coast is the only country so far to specify how many troops it would send, promising on Thursday to contribute a battalion of 850.

Benin and Sierra Leone said on Friday they would contribute troops but did not say how many. Senegal said last week it would contribute troops if there were an intervention.

Most other countries in the 15-nation ECOWAS have so far either declined to comment or not yet taken a decision.

At Friday’s rally, protester Ali Hassane vowed to defend his country. If the ECOWAS force invades, “it’s us civilians who are going to fight,” he said.

Russia’s foreign ministry said it supported ECOWAS efforts to mediate but warned against any military intervention in Niger, saying it could destabilize the country and region.

France said it fully backed conclusions of the ECOWAS summit but did not outline any concrete support it would give to a potential intervention.

Niger’s junta has yet to react to the prospect of a forceful intervention by ECOWAS. But it has rebuffed repeated calls for dialog from the international community and named a new government hours before the summit.

Military governments in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso have said they will defend the junta in Niger.

Worry about Bazoum

Meanwhile, the African Union, the European Union, the United States and the United Nations all said they were increasingly worried about Bazoum’s detention conditions.

The U.N. Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on Friday said the conditions were “rapidly deteriorating” and could amount to a violation of international human rights law.

Human Rights Watch said it had spoken to Bazoum this week and that he had told them that his family’s treatment in custody was “inhuman and cruel.”

“My son is sick, has a serious heart condition, and needs to see a doctor,” HRW quoted Bazoum as telling the group.

Bazoum’s daughter Zazia Bazoum, who is in France, told Britain’s Guardian newspaper the junta was keeping her father in deplorable conditions to pressure him to sign a resignation letter. Reuters could not independently confirm the conditions of his detention.  
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Tensions are escalating between Niger’s new military regime and the West African regional bloc that has ordered the deployment of troops to restore Niger’s flailing democracy.

The ECOWAS bloc said on Thursday it had decided to deploy a “standby force” aimed at restoring constitutional order in Niger after its Sunday deadline to reinstate ousted President Mohamed Bazoum expired.

Hours earlier, two Western officials told The Associated Press that Niger’s junta had told a top U.S. diplomat they would kill Bazoum if neighboring countries attempted any military intervention to restore his rule.

It’s unclear when or where the ECOWAS force would deploy, and how reports of the threats against Bazoum would affect a decision by the 15-member bloc to intervene. Conflict experts say it the force would likely comprise some 5,000 troops led by Nigeria and could be ready within weeks.

After the ECOWAS meeting, neighboring Ivory Coast’s president, Alassane Ouattara, said his country would take part in the military operation, along with Nigeria and Benin.

“Ivory Coast will provide a battalion and has made all the financial arrangements. … We are determined to install Bazoum in his position. Our objective is peace and stability in the sub-region,” Ouattara said on state television.

‘It is our business’

Niger, an impoverished country of some 25 million people, was seen as one of the last hopes for Western nations to partner with in beating back a jihadi insurgency linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group that’s ravaged the region. France and the United States have more than 2,500 military personnel in Niger and together with other European partners had poured hundreds of millions of dollars into propping up its military.

The junta responsible for spearheading the coup, led by General Abdourahmane Tchiani, has claimed it could do a better job than Bazoum’s government of protecting the nation from jihadi violence, and has exploited anti-French sentiment among the population to shore up its support.

Nigeriens in the capital, Niamey, on Friday said ECOWAS isn’t in touch with the reality on the ground and shouldn’t intervene.

“It is our business, not theirs. They don’t even know the reason why the coup happened in Niger,” said Achirou Harouna Albassi, a resident. Bazoum was not abiding by the will of the people, he said.

‘Down with France’

Hundreds of people marched toward the French military base in Niamey on Friday waving Russian flags and screaming “Down with France.” Many were young, including children, all chanting that the French should go.

Also Friday, the African Union expressed strong support for ECOWAS’ decision and called on the junta to “urgently halt the escalation with the regional organization.” It also called for the immediate release of Bazoum. An African Union meeting to discuss the situation in Niger is expected to take place on Monday.

On Thursday night after the summit, France’s foreign ministry said it supported “all conclusions adopted.” U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken said his country appreciated “the determination of ECOWAS to explore all options for the peaceful resolution of the crisis” and would hold the junta accountable for the safety and security of President Bazoum. However, he did not specify whether the U.S. supported the deployment of troops.

The mutinous soldiers who ousted Bazoum more than two weeks ago have entrenched themselves in power, appear closed to dialogue, and have refused to release the president.

Representatives of the junta told U.S. Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland of the threat to Bazoum’s life during her visit to the country this week, a Western military official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. A U.S. official confirmed that account, also speaking on condition of anonymity, because the official was not authorized to speak to the media.

“The threat to kill Bazoum is grim,” said Alexander Thurston, assistant professor of political science at the University of Cincinnati. There have been unwritten rules until now about how overthrown presidents will be treated and violence against Bazoum would evoke some of the worst coups of the past, he said.

Bazoum’s son sick

Human Rights Watch said Friday that it had spoken to Bazoum, who said that his 20-year-old son was sick with a serious heart condition and has been refused access to a doctor. The president said he hasn’t had electricity for nearly 10 days and isn’t allowed to see family, friends or bring supplies into the house.

It’s unclear if the threat on Bazoum’s life would change ECOWAS’ decision to intervene militarily. It might give them pause, or push the parties closer to dialogue, but the situation has entered uncharted territory, analysts say.

“An ECOWAS invasion to restore constitutional order into a country of Niger’s size and population would be unprecedented,” said Nate Allen, an associate professor at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. Niger has a fairly large and well-trained army that, if it actively resisted an invasion, could pose significant problems for ECOWAS. This would be a very large and significant undertaking, he said.

While the region oscillates between mediation and preparing for war, Nigeriens are suffering the impact of harsh economic and travel sanctions imposed by ECOWAS.

Before the coup, more than 4 million Nigeriens were reliant on humanitarian assistance and the situation could become more dire, said Louise Aubin, the U.N. resident coordinator in Niger.

“The situation is alarming. … We’ll see an exponential rise and more people needing more humanitarian assistance,” she said, adding that the closure of land and air borders makes it hard to bring aid into the country and it’s unclear how long the current stock will last.

Aid groups are battling restrictions on multiple fronts.

ECOWAS sanctions have banned the movement of goods between Niger and member countries, making it hard to bring in materials. The World Food Program has some 30 trucks stuck at the Benin border unable to cross. Humanitarians are also trying to navigate restrictions within the country as the junta has closed the airspace, making it hard to get clearance to fly the humanitarian planes that transport goods and personnel to hard-hit areas.

Flights are cleared on a case-by-case basis and there’s irregular access to fuel, which disrupts aid operations, Aubin said.

The U.N. has asked ECOWAS to make exceptions to the sanctions and is speaking to Niger’s foreign ministry about doing the same within the country.
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Former South African president Jacob Zuma was released under a remission process Friday after he surrendered himself to a correctional facility in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal.

Zuma had received a 15-month prison sentence in 2021 on corruption charges, but only served two months.  He was released on a medical parole.  

Friday’s appearance could have sent him back to prison to finish his term but instead he was granted a remission, which relieves him of completing the rest of his sentence.  

The remission program, approved by current South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, is designed to reduce South Africa’s low-risk prison population.  

Zuma’s imprisonment in 2021 sparked weeks of violent protests in which 300 people were killed.  

A court found his release from imprisonment in 2021 unlawful.  

However, the 81-year-old former president was freed from custody Friday after about two hours.   

The Democratic Alliance, South Africa’s main opposition party, says it will challenge the remission of the former president. 
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Four months into a battle both believed they would win, Sudan’s army has lost its grip on Khartoum to paramilitaries, who are unable to declare victory and instead are accused of waging war on civilians.

When fighting began on April 15, Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan was certain it would be over “within two weeks.”

His former deputy, turned enemy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has sworn his Rapid Support Forces will achieve “victory.”

Yet neither has been able to gain a decisive advantage, while fighting has killed at least 3,900 people, uprooted more than 4 million, worsened food shortages and sparked war crimes allegations.

“The army thought it knew the exact military capacity of the RSF,” said military expert Mohammed Abdelkarim.

But the RSF realized “they could be in for a long war” and immediately “seized the entry points to Khartoum and secured their supply lines,” a former army officer said, requesting anonymity for security reasons.

The army in July announced the closure of the highway linking Khartoum and Darfur – a paramilitary stronghold – but that did little to stem their flow of troops and weaponry, residents and analysts said.

Sanctions by the United States and Britain on companies linked to both sides also seem to have done little to slow the fighting.

While the armed forces try to hold key Khartoum bases, they dominate the skies, raining regular air strikes on the capital.

But they lack the RSF’s infantry power, which is “essential given the urban nature of the war,” Abdelkarim told AFP.

Sudan’s army has all but ceded the streets to the RSF.

‘Appalling abuses’

“The army has for years neglected its infantry,” the former officer said, choosing to instead contract out its many wars — including, ironically, to the RSF, which previously fought in the Darfur region and South Kordofan state.

Sudan’s army long relied on the Popular Defense Forces Islamist militia, and in Darfur, where a rebellion began in 2003, then-president Omar al-Bashir unleashed the Janjaweed militia, which later evolved into the RSF.

Their campaign led to war crimes charges against Bashir and others by the International Criminal Court.

Bashir’s overthrow in 2019 ushered in a transition to civilian rule but that was derailed when Burhan, the country’s de facto leader, carried out a coup with Daglo in 2021.

Through its inability to control Khartoum, the army’s “claim to represent the government was in question,” said Sudan expert Alex de Waal.

But “what it gained on the battlefield, the RSF lost in the political arena,” he said, decisively eliminating any sympathies among city dwellers “through the appalling abuses” its fighters committed.

The U.S.-supported Sudan Conflict Observatory said the RSF’s positions in civilian-occupied neighborhoods and buildings are “a potential violation of the Geneva Conventions.”

A separate Observatory report issued Aug. 2 found that, in Darfur, RSF and “aligned forces” had destroyed at least 27 towns.

And on Aug. 4, Britain, Norway and the United States condemned “reports of killings based on ethnicity and widespread sexual violence” in Darfur by the RSF and allied militias.

The army has also been accused of abuses, including a July 8 air strike that killed around two dozen civilians.

Burhan retains “the political upper hand” but only “by default,” de Waal said.

De Waal said Burhan had “shown neither political profile nor leadership, and it is unclear if he can manage his cabal of quarrelsome lieutenants.”

Diplomatic impasse

What initially appeared as a fight between two generals has since threatened to broaden into “full-scale civil war,” the United Nations has warned.

On the army side, “it has opened the door to the Islamists, because they’re the most prepared, but that would prolong the war and complicate Sudan’s diplomatic relations,” the former officer said.

The RSF “has mobilized Arab tribes from Darfur in addition to our traditional forces,” said a paramilitary source speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

“Some fight to support their brothers,” the RSF source said, “while others fight for money,” a resource Daglo appears to have in abundance through his reputed ties to the country’s gold mines.

Before the war, Washington sanctioned companies that it said served as a cover for Russian mercenary force Wagner and were also linked to Sudan’s gold.

The United Arab Emirates is the largest buyer of Sudanese gold and, “according to some reports, is still supplying him with weapons,” de Waal said of Daglo.

Backing the army are Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayipp Erdogan.

These allies, according to de Waal, “are talking peace even while they are arming their favored clients.”

In July, Cairo hosted a summit of Sudan’s neighbors but this had “the aim of blocking IGAD,” the East African bloc whose mediation efforts Burhan accused of bias, the analyst said.

That adds a diplomatic impasse to political stalemate and military quagmire.

“It could last for years,” one Western diplomat warned, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. 
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At least eight people have been killed and six others injured in two separate explosions in Somalia, residents say.

At least five people were killed, and four others were injured in the town of Jalalaqsi in the Hiran region after a suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest at a public place.

The al-Shabab military group claimed responsibility for the two attacks.

Two sources in Jalalaqsi, a medical worker and a resident, confirmed the casualties to VOA Somali.

According to the resident, the bomber went to a tea shop but was approached by the security guards of District Commissioner Nur Mohamed Absuge, who was in the area. 

The man then detonated the bomb, killing two security guards and three civilians, the resident said.

That witness account was later confirmed by the deputy district commissioner of Jalalaqsi, Abdisalam Hassan Abukar, who told VOA in a telephone interview, “The target was the district commissioner.” 

Abukar said one of the commissioner’s bodyguards fired a shot at the attacker before the bomb was detonated. The bodyguard is among the dead, he said.

Jalalaqsi is about 200 kilometers north of Mogadishu.

Meanwhile, three soldiers were killed when a roadside explosion hit their vehicle in the Yaqshid district of north Mogadishu.

A security official, who asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media, told VOA Somali that two civilian bystanders were also injured in the explosion.

Thursday’s attacks come a day after a roadside explosion killed six people and injured 12 others in Lower Shabelle region.

Hussein Hassan Dhaqane contributed to this report.
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