By Dominic Wabwireh with AP Copyright © africanews Nazim Sirag/Copyright 2023 The AP. All rights reserved Sudanese officials announced on Sunday that numerous bodies have been discovered at the bottom of a well in Khartoum, just days after the military expelled a notorious paramilitary group from the area. Police reported that 11 bodies, including those of women and children, were retrieved from the deep well located in the Fayhaa neighborhood on Saturday. Col. Abdul-Rahanan Mohamed Hassan, who leads the civil defense team in Khartoum, stated that the search was initiated after residents alerted authorities about a dead body found in the well. "We discovered various bodies inside this well, including males, females, adults, and children," Hassan noted, adding that the search for more remains was ongoing. Authorities believe the victims were killed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and subsequently disposed of in the well while the paramilitary group controlled the area. The military regained control of the region earlier this month as part of its broader offensive in Khartoum and Omdurman. There has been no immediate response from the RSF. Afraa al-Hajj Omar, a resident of the nearby Hajj Youssef neighborhood, claimed that the RSF had killed many individuals in the area, leaving their bodies on the streets for days. She mentioned that numerous bodies were discarded in the well. "They robbed us, beat us, and tortured us," she recounted. The conflict has resulted in at least 20,000 deaths, though the actual figure is likely much higher. Over 14 million people have been displaced, with parts of the country facing famine. The fighting has devastated Khartoum and other urban centers, marked by horrific acts such as mass rape and ethnically targeted killings, which have been classified as war crimes and crimes against humanity, particularly in the western region of Darfur, according to the United Nations and international human rights organizations. The violence has escalated in recent months, with the military making consistent progress against the RSF in Khartoum and other areas. Source: Africanews

Rédaction Africanews with AP A charred helmet  -  Copyright © africanews Jerome Delay/AP A separatist group in Mali said an airstrike on a market in the country's north has killed at least 18 people. Mali's army said its attack targeted armed militants. The Collective for the Defense of the Rights of the Azawad People, part of a Tuareg separatist coalition, said the attack occurred 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Lerneb in the Timbuktu region. Seven people were also injured in Sunday's strike, the group said in a statement late Monday, denouncing a “barbaric act from another age." Mali’s army said on X it carried out airstrikes on a “refuge” in the area and killed 11 “terrorists.” The West African nation, along with neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger, has for more than a decade battled an insurgency fought by armed groups, including some allied with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. Following military coups in all three nations in recent years, the ruling juntas have expelled French forces and turned to Russian mercenary units for security assistance instead. Since seizing power in 2021, interim president Assimi Goita has struggled to curb violence in Mali, while the army has has been accused of targeting civilians. Last month, the Front for the Liberation of Azawad, the coalition of Tuareg separatist groups, accused the army and Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group of “coldly executing” at least 24 people in northern Mali. A possible reason for the contradicting information about the latest attack might be that the military targeted militants in civilian-populated areas indiscriminately, said Rida Lyammouri, senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, a Moroccan think tank, adding that jihadi fighters are known to visit markets to obtain supplies. “The Malian army may have deemed the targets significant enough to accept a certain degree of civilian casualties, but these would not be the primary goal," he said. Lyammouri said another explanation could be that both the army and separatists misrepresented the identities of those killed to bolster their narratives. The army might point to it as combating extremism, while the separatists might allege human rights allegations, “legitimizing their goal of greater autonomy or separation from the Malian state.” SOURCE: Africanews

Palestinian men grieve in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, this morning. BASHAR TALEB / AFP - Getty Images JERUSALEM/CAIRO, March 18 (Reuters) - Israeli airstrikes pounded Gaza and killed more than 400 people, Palestinian health authorities said on Tuesday, ending weeks of relative calm after talks to secure a permanent ceasefire stalled. Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas each accused the other of breaching the truce, which had broadly held since January, offering respite from war for the 2 million inhabitants of Gaza, where most buildings have been reduced to rubble. Hamas, which still holds 59 of the 250 or so hostages Israel says the group seized in its October 7, 2023 attack, accused Israel of jeopardising efforts by mediators to negotiate a permanent deal to end the fighting, but the group made no threat of retaliation. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered strikes because Hamas had rejected proposals to secure a ceasefire extension during faltering talks. "Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength," the prime minister's office said in a statement. The strikes hit houses and tent encampments from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip, and Israeli tanks shelled from across the border line, witnesses said. Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said 404 people had been killed in one of the biggest single-day tolls since the war erupted. "It was a night of hell. It felt like the first days of the war," said Rabiha Jamal, 65, a mother of five from Gaza City. "We were preparing to have something to eat before starting a new day of fasting when the building shook and explosions began. We thought it was over but war is back," she told Reuters via a chat app. Israel's sudden onslaught overwhelmed Gaza hospitals already reeling from weeks of an aid blockade, medics said, as ambulances ferried in hundreds of badly injured survivors. Families in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip and eastern areas of Khan Younis in the south fled their homes, some on foot, others in cars or rickshaws, carrying some of their belongings after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders warning the areas were "dangerous combat zones". Egypt and Qatar, mediators in the ceasefire deal along with the U.S., condemned the Israeli assault. The U.N. aid chief said "... once again, the people of Gaza are living in abject fear." "Modest gains made during the ceasefire (are) destroyed," Tom Fletcher, U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator told a Security Council briefing that had been scheduled before the airstrikes. He said humanitarian aid and commercial essentials must be allowed to enter Gaza. Israel has halted aid deliveries into Gaza for over two weeks, exacerbating a humanitarian crisis. BODIES STACKED UP The airstrikes earned Netanyahu a political boost at home. Former National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who left the government over disagreements about the Gaza ceasefire, is rejoining the coalition after the resumption of Israeli strikes, a statement said, strengthening Netanyahu's government. Witnesses contacted by Reuters said Israeli tanks shelled areas in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Bewildered children sat next to bagged-up belongings, ready to flee north again having returned to Rafah with the ceasefire. In hospitals strained by 15 months of bombardment , piles of bodies in white plastic sheets smeared with blood were stacked up as casualties were brought in. The health ministry said many of the dead were children, and 562 people were injured. Among the Hamas officials killed in the airstrikes were Essam Addalees, the de facto head of the Hamas government, Ahmed Al-Hetta, deputy justice minister and Mahmoud Abu Watfa, the head of the Hamas-run security services, Hamas said. As Israel launched its operation in Gaza, its forces have pressed on with an operation in the occupied West Bank and Israeli jets have struck targets in southern Lebanon and Syria in recent days. TRUCE STANDOFF Negotiating teams from Israel and Hamas had been in Doha as mediators sought to bridge the gap between the two sides after the end of an initial phase in the ceasefire, which saw 33 Israeli hostages and five Thais released in exchange for some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. With the backing of the United States, Israel had been pressing for the return of the remaining hostages in exchange for a truce until after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover holiday in April. However, Hamas has insisted on moving to negotiations for a permanent end to the war and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces, under the terms of the original ceasefire agreement. On Tuesday, Hamas spokesperson Abdel-Latif Al-Qanoua told Reuters the group was still in touch with mediators, and it was keen to complete the implementation of the original deal. Egyptian mediators were engaged in intense contacts to salvage the ceasefire, two Egyptian security sources said. Much of Gaza now lies in ruins after the war, which erupted on October 7, 2023 when Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel, killing some 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. The Israeli campaign in Gaza has killed more than 48,000 people, say Palestinian health authorities, and destroyed much of the housing and infrastructure in the enclave. Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi, Enas Alashray and Yomna Ehab and Nafisa Eltahir in Cairo, Jana Choukeir and Tala Ramadan and Clauda Tanios in Dubai and Alex Cornwell in Jerusalem; Additional reporting by Jeff Mason and David Brunnstrom in Washington and Olivia Le Poidevin in Geneva; Writing by Enas Alashray, James Mackenzie and Michael Georgy; Editing by Aidan Lewis, Sharon Singleton, Ros Russell © 2025 Reuters. All rights reserved

India orders curfew after violence over tomb of 17th-century Muslim ruler Members of police stand as vehicles burn after clashes erupted due to demands over removal of the tomb of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, in Nagpur, India. REUTERS/Stringer MUMBAI, March 18 (Reuters) - Authorities clamped indefinite curfew on parts of the Indian city of Nagpur after more than a dozen police officers were hurt in clashes sparked by a Hindu group's demand for the removal of the tomb of a 17th-century Mughal ruler, police said on Tuesday. Monday's violence in the central Indian city damaged many vehicles and injured several people, among them at least 15 police personnel, one of whom was in serious condition, a police officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Devendra Fadnavis, chief minister of the western state of Maharashtra, where the city is located, criticised the violence in a video message, calling for every effort to maintain law and order. "I have told the police commissioner to take whatever strict steps are necessary," Fadnavis added. Police said in a statement that members of the group, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), burnt an effigy of the Emperor Aurangzeb and his tomb as they chanted slogans demanding its removal from the nearby city of Aurangabad. The police officer told Reuters the situation escalated after several members of Muslim groups marched near a police station and threw stones at police. The attackers, wearing masks to hide their faces, carried sharp weapons and bottles, a resident of the area told the ANI news agency, in which Reuters has a minority stake. The VHP denied accusations of engaging in any violence. It wants the tomb to be replaced with a memorial for rulers from the local Maratha community, its general secretary, Milind Parande, said in a video message. Nagpur is also the headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party. The VHP belongs to the same family of organisations. Modi's critics have often accused him of discriminating against Muslims, and failing to act against those targeting them. He and his government have denied the accusations. © 2025 Reuters. All rights reserved

A report by Brenda Salazar and Olivia Cash, Genocide Watch   March 2025    © UNICEF/Adriana Zehbrauskas Children play in a child-friendly space at a refugee camp in South Darfur, Sudan.    The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have been fighting for control of Sudan since April 2023. This brutal power struggle has killed over 60,000 people  and has displaced millions . Over 30 million people  in Sudan need humanitarian aid.    The ongoing conflict in Sudan has caused a severe child protection crisis. Over 10 million children have been exposed to brutal violence due to the indiscriminate and deliberate attacks  on civilians and civilian infrastructure by SAF and RSF. Many have witnessed  the killing of their family, the destruction of their homes, and the massacre of entire villages. More than 200 children ,  some as young as one, have been raped.   This hostile environment, coupled with the worsening humanitarian crisis, has left children vulnerable to organized criminal gangs and the risk of recruitment by the conflicting parties.    What is a child soldier?     A child soldier  is any individual under the age of 18 who has been recruited by an armed force or group and participates in a conflict, either directly or indirectly.   Both the RSF and SAF and their allied forces have recruited children. Videos  of child soldiers from across Sudan have been posted on social media.   Siobhán Mullaly, UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, reported  that RSF target unaccompanied and impoverished children from the outskirts of the Khartoum, as well as those from Arab tribes in Darfur and West Kordofan. She also received information suggesting  that over 600 RSF child soldiers were killed or injured fighting in Khartoum in August 2023. In River Nile state, children as young as ten  have been handed loaded automatic rifles.      Causes of Child Recruitment in Sudan   Whilst many children are harassed or intimidated into recruitment by armed forces, others are driven to join militias as a means of surviving Sudan’s widespread extreme poverty. Some families see recruitment as employment, with parents even pushing their children into the military.      © 2025 Sudan Human Rights Hub [In the photo on the left, shared on X account on 20 August 2023, the boy shown is wearing a green T-shirt and has ammunition around his neck waving one hand in the air]. [The video from which the photo on the right was extracted shows a collage of imagery of soldiers in various places. It was posted on 5 August 2023 on X, also from the RSF’s official account. It shows several people who seem to be young men and could be child soldiers].      New RSF recruits are being rewarded  with stolen food and aid. The UN Special Rapporteur for contemporary slavery, Tomoya Obokata, stated  that recruiting children in exchange for food and safety amounts to forced labor and contemporary slavery under international law.   Local leaders are key facilitators of child recruitment in Sudan, acting at the request of local RSF chiefs or RSF allied militias. Traditions and customs  also play a significant role in encouraging children to join both the RSF and SAF. The faza’a  (الفزع) tradition allows tribal leaders to mobilize their members, including children, to engage in combat.    What Does the Law Say About Recruitment of Child Soldiers?     Child soldiers are exposed to extreme physical and psychological trauma . Child soldiers frequently suffer from fear, anxiety, depression, impulsiveness, hyperactivity, and low self-esteem, making it difficult for them to reintegrate into society. They are also at higher risk of substance abuse, anger issues, criminal behavior, and social isolation. In extreme cases, they may engage in serious violent crimes such as murder, sexual violence, or mutilation, or struggle with suicidal tendencies.   Several treaties aim to protect children in armed conflict. According to the UN Human Rights Council,  the recruitment of children by armed groups for any form of exploitation, including combat roles, constitutes a violation of human rights, a serious crime, and a breach of international humanitarian law. The Rome Statute also establishes the enlistment of children into armed forces or groups as a war crime.   Sudan is a signatory  to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, which forbids  the participation of children under 18 in armed conflicts. Sudan’s Child Act of 2010 also forbids  child soldiers recruitment. Despite the existence of these legal frameworks, the Sudanese government, along with the RSF and allied forces, have been complicit in severe human rights violations against children by recruiting children to serve in their ranks.    Genocide Watch urges:   The UN Security Council to create a Commission of Inquiry to report on crimes being committed in Sudan.  All parties involved in the conflict to respect and protect humanitarian personnel, property, and relief items used for humanitarian operations, premises, and warehouses.   International actors to increase their efforts to free/liberate child soldiers, reintegrate them into local communities, and provide them with access to schooling, as per the Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups.   The UN to develop child-sensitive reintegration and rehabilitation programs for children formerly associated with armed forces and groups, along with survivor-centered, gender-sensitive services and assistance programs for survivors of rape and other forms of sexual violence.  The UN Security Council to authorize reestablishment of a powerful UN/AU force to stop these crimes.  The African Union and UN to deploy 10,000 troops to re-establish their peacemaking mission in Sudan.

'This isn’t an isolated event. There’s a concerted effort to alter the region’s social fabric.' A video screengrab, purportedly showing the crowd ramming the tree trunk against the mosque gate, and the Jama Masjid at Rajapur. New Delhi: Maharashtra’s coastal town of Rajapur in Ratnagiri district witnessed an unsettling communal episode recently during the annual Shimga festival procession. Viral videos showed a group ramming a tree trunk into the gates of the local Jama Masjid , leading to accusations of forced entry and deliberate provocation. While police officials have denied claims of any orchestrated attack, locals say that the festival’s age-old traditions were exploited to stoke tensions. A festival marked by syncretism Shimga is a week-long festival which coincides with the festival of Holi. It is celebrated in parts of the Konkan. Statues of goddesses are taken out of the temples in a palakhi (chariot), on processions. This is a longtime tradition. The video from March 12 which went viral also shows people participating in a palakhi procession. As part of the celebrations, a coconut tree is cut down and carried through the town and is ultimately burned in a ritual fire. A unique aspect of this procession is its brief stop at the Jama Masjid’s gate, where the tree is momentarily placed on the mosque’s steps. Members of the local Muslim community offer a coconut to the revellers before the procession moves to the Dhopeshwar temple. Locals said that traditionally, the procession concludes by Asr prayers, i.e. by 5 pm, but this year, the group arrived at the mosque’s gates around 8 pm. This custom has historically represented the Hindu-Muslim unity of the region. According to a local who requested anonymity, “This has been happening for generations, twice every five years, and never before has there been an issue.” However, what occurred this year deviated from this tradition. Instead of simply placing the tree trunk at the mosque’s steps, some individuals forcibly rammed it into the gate. Videos from the incident also captured members of the procession hurling the trunk into the air multiple times, raising concerns that the festival was being manipulated to fuel discord. The role of political influence Local lawyer Owais Pechkar has been vocal about the issue, linking the disturbances to recent political developments. “These provocations have increased since the Lok Sabha elections. With Narayan Rane and his sons consolidating their political hold, tensions are being deliberately escalated,” Pechkar alleged. He revealed that community members had informed police of suspicions of a possible escalation of tensions ahead of the festival. Local Jamaat representatives, including Javed Thakur and Zamir Khalife, had expressed fear of unrest to police, Pechkar said. Despite these warnings, only two policemen were present at the scene when the large crowd gathered. “The police were largely absent, and those present did nothing to stop it,” Pechkar said. In response to the incident, he has written to the Ratnagiri Superintendent of Police, demanding action under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), including those relating to rioting, promoting enmity, and defiling a place of worship. Police and government response Ratnagiri ACP Jayshree Gaikwad has downplayed the incident, stating that the videos have been misinterpreted. “There are social media claims that gulaal was thrown during Tarawih prayers. I want to clarify that this is false. There are no tensions in the village right now,” Gaikwad told The Quint . However, an FIR has been filed under Section 135 of the Maharashtra Police Act for unlawful assembly, specifically regarding the provocative sloganeering. A peace meeting between community leaders was subsequently held at the Rajapur police station, presided over by Rajapur’s MLA Kiran Samant.  Pechkar alleged that Samant (an MLA from the Shiv Sena Shinde faction) blamed the Muslim community for “not keeping the doors of Masjid open” during the procession.  AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi condemned the incident, questioning the silence of the state government. “Will law take its own course? It is shameful that a Masjid was attacked in the presence of police,” he posted on social media. On the other hand, Maharashtra’s guardian minister for Ratnagiri, Uday Samant, sought to pacify concerns but in a challenging tone. He stated that anyone found guilty of inciting communal discord would face action. “If you work against the country, you will be taught a lesson,” he warned, without addressing the specific allegations. A pattern Pechkar highlighted another incident in nearby Rajapur’s Madilwada locality, where a dilapidated dargah is being falsely claimed as a Hindu temple. “This isn’t an isolated event. There’s a concerted effort to alter the region’s social fabric. Locals are concerned about the Noor-e-Alam dargah,” he warned. The Noor-e-Alam dargah in Rajapur. In February 2025, supporters of Hindutva leaders submitted a memorandum to the Rajapur police, urging them to deny permission for the Urs celebration at a dargah and instead allow a Hindu festival to be held there. The events in Rajapur reflect a larger trend where religious traditions, which have long been symbols of unity, are being repurposed to manufacture division. A local highlighted that many traditions have deep syncretic roots, blending Hindu and Muslim practices over centuries. For instance, the Karanjeshwari temple in neighbouring Chiplun, is tied to the ritual processions that passes through different parts of a Muslim village. The tradition involves the deity symbolically visiting her maternal home before returning to her in-laws’ home. The Muslim Chowgule family, custodians of the goddess’s ornaments, live opposite the temple. The festival includes a ritual with the palanquin and the sacred shevra tree, which is cut from the hills between Panchami and Purnima and brought back in a ceremonial procession. The same tree was seen in the viral video from Rajapur. ©2023 All rights reserved. Foundation for Independent Journalism (FIJ)

The U.S. Flag flies above a sign marking the US Department of Justice (DOJ) headquarters building on Jan. 20, 2024, in Washington, DC. (J. David Ake/Getty Images) The U.S. has privately told European officials that it is pulling back from an international group investigating Russian leaders for the crime of aggression committed against Ukraine, the New York Times reported on March 17, citing undisclosed sources. The move underscores the foreign policy shift in Washington as the Trump administration  seeks to restore ties with Moscow while pushing for a swift peace deal in Ukraine. The decision is expected to be announced on March 17 in an email to the group's parent organization, the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust), the New York Times  wrote. The Hague-based International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine is a judicial hub supporting national investigations into the crime of aggression committed by the Russian leadership, including President Vladimir Putin, and Moscow's allies against Ukraine. While the group is made up of specialists from Ukraine, Poland, Romania, and the Baltic countries, the Biden administration appointed a special prosecutor to support the hub's activities in 2023. The Trump administration will also reduce the work of the U.S. Justice Department's War Crimes Accountability Team, which was launched in 2022 to investigate Russia for the atrocities  it had committed during the full-scale invasion. Ukraine is investigating more than 150,000 possible war crimes committed by Russia as part of its all-out war, including the summary execution of prisoners  and targeted aerial strikes against civilians. U.S. President Donald Trump has sought to mend the ties with Moscow in an effort to bring a swift end to the war  while adopting a more antagonistic stance toward Ukraine and other partners. The U.S. has briefly halted military and intelligence support  for Kyiv while also cutting key foreign aid  supporting programs aimed at the prosecution of Russian war crimes and the restoration of Ukraine's energy infrastructure. On the international scene, the U.S. has sought to water down joint statements  labeling Russia as the aggressor and the "sole obstacle" to peace. Copyright © 2025 The Kyiv Independent

An independent human rights expert says Myanmar’s people are already feeling the “crushing impact” from the “sudden, chaotic withdrawal” of U.S. and other humanitarian aid Tom Andrews, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, presents the latest update situation of human rights in Myanmar to the media during a press conference, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, March 17, 2025. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP) By Associated Press GENEVA — Myanmar’s people are already feeling the “crushing impact” from the “sudden, chaotic withdrawal” of U.S. and other humanitarian aid, an independent human rights expert said Monday, calling on the world community to do more. Tom Andrews, a monitor on rights in Myanmar commissioned by the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council, said he would appeal to its 47 member countries to issue a “declaration of conscience against this unfolding disaster” — a humanitarian crisis — “and I will urge them to follow up those words with action.” “Action that includes funding vital, life-sustaining programs that are being slashed and burned and jeopardized,” he told reporters on Monday, before addressing the council on Wednesday. ”If the Human Rights Council does not (take action), then who will?” Andrews, a former Democratic congressman from the U.S. state of Maine, acknowledged that the specific fallout wasn’t clear so far. The American embassy in Myanmar said on its website, in a statement dated Oct. 25, that the U.S. had provided $141 million in humanitarian aid  since Oct. 1, 2023. Andrews said the cut in aid was “unnecessary and cruel” and ill-timed: A strong movement of national resistance and a weakening of Myanmar’s military rulers has raised hopes of its people. Myanmar  has been in turmoil since the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, 2021, triggering widespread popular opposition. After peaceful demonstrations were put down with lethal force, many opponents of military rule took up arms, and large parts of the country are now embroiled in conflict. The violence is continuing: An airstrike Friday reportedly killed and injured dozens  in a village held by resistance forces. Tuberculosis and HIV patients have been missing their medication for weeks; disabled children have been locked out of rehabilitation centers; rights groups have faced cuts in their ability to distribute food and water to people, he said. “The sudden, chaotic withdrawal of support — support principally by the government of the United States — is already having a crushing impact on the people of Myanmar,” Andrews said. The Trump administration and many of its supporters have argued that the United States, the world’s single largest humanitarian aid provider, has shouldered too much of the burden for too long. Andrews alluded to efforts by a chainsaw-wielding Elon Musk through the Department of Government Efficiency to reduce waste and spending in the U.S. government, including at the U.S. Agency for International Development, known as USAID  — which has distributed many billions of dollars in foreign aid over the years. “You have this incredible rhetoric that is based upon nothing except creating headlines,” Andrews said, to show how “this entire program is going to be thrown into a wood chipper ... Well, it’s innocent people who are being tossed into that wood chipper.” “We need to take a stand about this,” he added. © 1996-2025 The Washington Post

By Fred Harter " They said Tigray would be strong, and independent. But despite sacrificing so much, we are still poor – starving. " “A tank destroyed in fighting between the Ethiopian National Defence Force and the Tigray People's Liberation Front in Kasagita town, in the Afar region, in 2022. Tiksa Negeri/Reuters More than two years after a cessation of hostilities ended a brutal civil war, Ethiopia’s Tigray region should be well along the road to recovery. Instead, its ruling Tigray People’s Liberation Front Party (TPLF) is embroiled in a bitter internal spat that has paralysed politics and sparked fears of fresh conflict. The dispute pits a faction led by TPLF chairman and wartime leader Debretsion Gebremichael against another helmed by TPLF deputy chairman, Getachew Reda, who signed the November 2022 cessation of hostilities in Pretoria and now leads the interim regional administration created by the deal. Debretsion’s side accuses Getachew’s interim administration of selling out Tigray’s interests and mishandling the implementation of the peace deal, which was meant to see the  return of displaced people , the full withdrawal of Eritrean and Amhara forces from Tigray’s territory, and fresh elections. None of these things have happened. Getachew and his allies, on the other hand, portray themselves as democratisers – on a mission to open up Tigray’s politics and implement the ceasefire deal – and accuse Debretsion’s group of thwarting them at every turn. “Getachew aspires to better democracy, whereas Debretsion represents the status quo,” said Woldeselassie Woldemichael, one of Getachew’s senior advisors. “Getachew is consistently on the side of the Pretoria agreement. Debretsion wants to suspend Pretoria and use it as a political tool by placing obstacles to implementation and then saying it’s Getachew’s fault.” Debretsion’s faction, which controls the party apparatus, firmly denies this. To outsiders, the dispute can appear esoteric, featuring a soup of acronyms and internal party procedures. But its consequences are far-reaching. Nearly one million people in Tigray remain stuck in improvised displacement camps, sustained by ever-diminishing trickles of aid. Although Tigray is peaceful, malnutrition rates are at emergency levels, hundreds of thousands of children are out of school, and much of its health system still lies in tatters. “The schism has crippled the whole bureaucracy, and that’s impacting aid delivery, health, education, infrastructure, and the overall well-being of the Tigray society,” said Abel Abate, a researcher at Chatham House. When a group of senior military commanders denounced the interim administration and called for its overhaul in late January, Getachew called it a coup d'état. The sharp escalation prompted panic among Tigray’s population. Last month, Getachew warned, “we are heading towards a cliff edge” and conflict could erupt “any minute”. A broad range of mediators – from Tigray’s clergy to Western diplomats – has attempted to heal the rift, without success, as competition to control Tigray’s gold mines and state-owned enterprises heats up.  Map of Tigray and Ethiopia. The New Humanitarian "The Genesis of the Split" The  Pretoria agreement sits at the heart of the dispute. At his heavily guarded compound in Mekelle, Tigray’s capital, Debretsion describes it as “the genesis of the split”.  Getachew’s negotiating team was dispatched to Pretoria as fierce battles raged in Tigray with one assignment: “To just stop the fighting – no more, no less”, Debretsion told The New Humanitarian. Instead, under pressure from the federal government, the team agreed to a much broader deal that dissolved Tigray’s regional government, outlined an unrealistically fast timeline for Tigray’s disarmament, and described parts of Tigray occupied by Amhara forces as “contested territories”. “The whole terms were dictated by the federal government. We told our team, ‘You are simply accepting orders, not negotiating,’” said Debretsion. Shortly after the deal was signed, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said he got “100%” of what he wanted, while other members of the TPLF have said that Tigray was losing the war and had no option other than to accept subservient terms. Although his opponents accuse him of seeking to undermine the Pretoria deal, which he describes as “good and bad”, Debretsion insisted he is committed to its implementation: “Once you have an agreement, you execute the spirit and words of the agreement. We should still honour it.” Whether or not Tigray’s negotiators could have secured a better deal, the main sticking point now driving the TPLF apart is the failure to return home nearly one million displaced people – a key part of the Pretoria agreement. Most of these displaced people come from western Tigray , a fertile area known for its gold and sesame production that was seized by forces from the neighbouring Amhara region, who have long claimed it as their own. The Pretoria agreement did not deal directly with the fate of western Tigray and other areas but committed the parties to “resolving issues of contested areas in accordance with the Constitution”. Abiy has said this means a referendum. But the TPLF insists the displaced people must return before any vote. The TPLF also insists, in line with the peace deal, that Amhara forces – and Eritrean soldiers in border areas – must withdraw before Tigray’s fighting force disarms, and on the creation of a safe environment for IDP returns. The same applies for elections, another key Pretoria clause, the TPLF says. Debretsion’s TPLF faction blames Getachew’s interim administration for failing to pressure the federal government into ordering the withdrawal of Amhara forces. “If PM [Abiy] wanted to, he could place a call and it's done,” said Abraham Tekeste, a Debretsion ally who is on the TPLF executive committee. Yet the continued presence of Amhara forces in western Tigray probably benefits Abiy, who is battling another  insurgency in the Amhara region. This conflict would be inflamed further if he returned the territory to Tigray. The failure to send the displaced people home also keeps Tigray divided and thus easier to control, some analysts suggest. Who is the TPLF? Another key sticking point is the refusal of the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) to reinstate the TPLF as a political party. During the war, NEBE suspended the TPLF and parliament proscribed it as a terror group. That terror designation has been rescinded, but the dispute over the TPLF’s legal status continues, with NEBE suspending the TPLF again last month. Amid the dispute, the TPLF went ahead with a party Congress in August where it suspended Getachew and his allies. Getachew’s faction branded the Congress as illegal. In October, the Debretsion’s faction upped the ante further by demanding that Getachew and his allies step down from the interim government.   “We can’t allow these individuals to be in TPLF positions,” Debretsion told The New Humanitarian. “They are free to abandon the party, go their own way, and form another party, but they don’t represent us, so they have to vacate their positions and we will assign another [set of officials].” Pro-Debrestion cadres now portray the TPLF as “a party in opposition”, saying it has nothing to do with the decisions of the interim administration. According to Kindeya Gebrehiwot, a senior member of the interim administration who was among those expelled from the TPLF in October, this characterisation is disingenuous. “The rift is within the TPLF, not between the TPLF and the interim administration,” he said. “There are deep divisions. We have people who are resisting the cessation of hostilities agreement, especially at the local level.” The possibility of a civil war between Tigrayan factions is unlikely. “We’ve seen enough pain and suffering, no one wants to fight again,” explained a well-placed Tigray official, who asked to remain anonymous to speak freely. Regional Dynamics Over the last 18 months, Abiy has launched a campaign to reclaim landlocked Ethiopia’s sea access, which it lost when Eritrea seceded in 1993. This prompted an angry row with Somalia that has only just been patched up. It has also ratcheted up tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea, which mobilised reservists below the age of 60 years and increased security along its southern border in February. Any conflagration between the two would inevitably drag in Tigray, which shares decades of bad blood and a 1,000-kilometre border with Eritrea. “I don’t like either side. They are not working for the public. They are just struggling for their power.” Added to this is a swirl of rumours that senior Tigray military commanders met recently with Eritrean dictator Isaias Afwerki in January – claims they deny. “We have to resolve the rift peacefully,” said Kindeya, “but the regional dynamics are very fraught – maybe it will be out of our control.” For many, the TPLF is more than a political party. “Our mums, dads, and uncles fought in the TPLF since the 1970s, first against the communist regime [known as the Derg], then Eritrea, and then against the federal government,” said another Tigray official. “It's an institution close to our hearts, a huge political movement.” Yet the absence of a peace dividend after a devastating war that killed roughly 600,000 people has badly damaged the TPLF’s legitimacy. One young man who fought in the recent conflict told The New Humanitarian how he no longer supports the party, which he sees as a venal elite ready to plunge Tigray back into conflict to preserve its interests. “I don’t like either side. They are not working for the public. They are just struggling for their power,” he said. “They said Tigray would be strong, and independent. But despite sacrificing so much, we are still poor – starving.”  Edited by Obi Anyadike. © The New Humanitarian. All rights reserved 2025

By Abdullahi Jimoh Burkina Faso’s military and allied militias allegedly tortured and massacred civilians in a retaliatory attack in the country’s west, an NGO official and a local source told AFP on Thursday. “Whole families of Fulani shepherds were killed in the bushes of Solenzo, in the Bema and Ban areas,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The death toll is believed to be in the dozens. Videos circulating online show bloodied bodies—many of them women, children, and the elderly—strewn across the ground, some with their hands and feet bound. In one video, men armed with rifles and knives, reportedly from local self-defense groups, are seen standing over the corpses while hurling insults. Another video shows them transporting bodies on a three-wheeled vehicle. According to the local source, the attack followed an earlier assault in the area at the start of March. “They accused the Fulani of sheltering the terrorists responsible for the attack. Locals asked them to leave the area to avoid reprisals,” they said. However, as the Fulani were fleeing Solenzo, they were reportedly captured by soldiers and volunteer fighters before being tortured and executed. A human rights official who verified the videos told AFP that the massacre aligns with the military’s ongoing strategy of targeting Fulani civilians in retaliation. Burkina Faso has been locked in a brutal insurgency for over a decade, with violence spilling over from neighbouring Mali and Niger. Military-led governments in all three countries have vowed to crack down on insurgents, but human rights groups have accused security forces of widespread abuses. Since 2015, the conflict has claimed more than 26,000 lives, according to conflict monitor ACLED. Over half of those deaths occurred after Burkina Faso’s September 2022 military coup. Human Rights Watch estimates that Burkina Faso’s army and its militias killed at least 1,000 civilians between January and July 2024. Source: News Central

UN Security Council meets to discuss war’s toll on children as MSF secretary-general slams ‘hollow’ ceasefire calls. A woman and baby at the Zamzam displacement camp in Sudan, where Doctors Without Borders (MSF) last month suspended all activities [Handout/Mohamed Zakaria/MSF via Reuters] The war in Sudan has exposed more than 12 million people to “pervasive” sexual violence that is being used to “terrify” the entire population, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). As the war nears the two-year mark, UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell told a UN Security Council meeting on Thursday that the number of women and girls – and increasingly, men and boys – at risk of rape and sexual assault had increased by 80 percent over the last year. Referencing data analysed by UNICEF, Russell said that 221 cases of rape against children were reported in 2024 in nine states, with 16 of these cases involving children under the age of five and four involving babies under the age of one. “The data only gives us a glimpse into what we know is a far larger, more devastating crisis,” said Russell. “Survivors and their families are often unwilling or unable to come forward due to challenges in accessing services, fear of social stigma, or the risk of retribution.” Much of the meeting focused on the suffering of the 16 million children needing humanitarian assistance this year as a result of the continuing war between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). The fighting erupted in April 2023 and has since killed tens of thousands, uprooted more than 12 million people and created the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis. Russell cited more than 900 “grave violations” against children reported between June and December 2024, with victims killed or maimed in 80 percent of cases – mainly in the states of Khartoum, Al Jazirah and Darfur. The meeting took place as the SAF accused the RSF of targeting civilians in the besieged North Darfur state capital of el-Fasher, killing five children under the age of six and wounding four women on Wednesday. Fighting in el-Fasher has intensified in recent months, as the RSF tries to consolidate its hold on Darfur after army victories in central Sudan. The city is the only one of five state capitals in the vast Darfur region that is not under paramilitary control. ‘Hollow’ Christopher Lockyear, the secretary-general of Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF), accused the warring sides of not only failing to protect citizens but also “actively compounding their suffering”. “The war in Sudan is a war on people, a reality that grows more evident by the day,” Lockyear said. Lockyear also criticised the UN Security Council’s repeated calls for a ceasefire as “hollow”. “This council’s failure to translate its own demands into action feels like abandonment to violence and deprivation,” he said. “Whilst statements are being made in this chamber, civilians remain unseen, unprotected, bombed, besieged, raped, displaced, deprived of food, of medical care, of dignity,” he added. The ongoing violence led MSF last month to suspend all activities in the famine-stricken Zamzam refugee camp, located near el-Fasher. Sudan’s UN Ambassador, Al-Harith Idriss Al-Harith Mohamed, told the Security Council that the Sudanese government has a national plan for the protection of civilians and claimed Lockyear did not raise any issues with him in a previous private meeting. Reporting from the UN in New York, Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo said diplomats in the Security Council frequently harked back to the Jeddah Declaration, an agreement committing to protect civilians that was signed by warring parties in 2023 under the mediation of the United States and Saudi Arabia. “The Jeddah Declaration … is repeated by diplomats, particularly in the Security Council, over and over again as something that needs to be returned to,” he said. “Lockyear said that the international community needs to move beyond that and a new compact is needed for Sudan.” SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

By Aaron Ross and Giulia Paravicini A damaged Eritrean military tank is seen near the town of Wikro, Ethiopia, March 14, 2021.Picture taken March 14, 2021. Reuters/Baz Ratner/File NAIROBI, March 13 (Reuters) - Longtime foes Ethiopia and Eritrea could be headed towards war, officials in a restive Ethiopian region at the centre of the tensions have warned, risking another humanitarian disaster in the Horn of Africa. Direct clashes between two of Africa's largest armies would signal the death blow for a historic rapprochement for which Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 and could draw in other regional powers, analysts said. It would also likely create another crisis in a region where aid cuts have complicated efforts to assist millions affected by internal conflicts in Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia. "At any moment war between Ethiopia and Eritrea could break out," General Tsadkan Gebretensae, a vice president in the interim administration in Ethiopia's Tigray region, wrote in Africa-focused magazine the Africa Report on Monday. A 2020-2022 civil war in Tigray between the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and Ethiopia's central government killed hundreds of thousands of people. Fears of a new conflict are linked to the TPLF's split last year into a faction that now administers Tigray with the blessing of Ethiopia's federal government and another that opposes it. On Tuesday, the dissident faction, which Tsadkan accused of seeking an alliance with Eritrea, seized control of the northern town of Adigrat. Getachew Reda, the head of Tigray's interim administration, in turn asked the government for support against the dissidents, who deny ties to Eritrea. "There is clear antagonism between Ethiopia and Eritrea," Getachew told a news conference on Monday. "What concerns me is that the Tigray people may once again become victims of a war they don't believe in." 'Dry Tinder Waiting For A Match' Ethiopia's federal government has not commented on the tensions. Eritrea's information minister dismissed Tsadkan's warnings as "war-mongering psychosis". However, Eritrea ordered a nationwide military mobilisation in mid-February, according to UK-based Human Rights Concern - Eritrea. And Ethiopia deployed troops toward the Eritrean border this month, two diplomatic sources and two Tigrayan officials told Reuters, asking not to be named due to the sensitivity of the situation. Reuters could not independently verify these developments. Eritrean and Ethiopian government spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment. Payton Knopf and Alexander Rondos, the former U.S. and EU envoys to the region, say the prospects of a new war are real. "The deterioration of the political and security situation in Tigray is dry tinder waiting for a match," they wrote in an essay for U.S. publication Foreign Policy on Wednesday. Relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea have long been fraught. Eritrea broke away from Ethiopia in 1993 after a 30-year fight for independence. The neighbours then fought a 1998-2000 border war. They remained formally at war until 2018, when Abiy and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki agreed to normalise ties. Eritrean troops even supported Ethiopian federal forces against TPLF-led rebels during the Tigray civil war. But the exclusion of Eritrea from subsequent peace negotiations once again chilled relations. Eritrean officials have bristled at repeated public declarations by Abiy since 2023 that landlocked Ethiopia has a right to sea access, comments some analysts view as an implicit threat of military action against Eritrea, which lies on the Red Sea. Last October, Eritrea, an authoritarian and insular state, signed a security pact with Egypt and Somalia that was widely seen as aimed at countering Ethiopia's potential expansionist ambitions. © 2025 Reuters. All rights reserved