Photo : UN Photo/Sabir Olad
NIAS Area Studies
AFRICA MONITOR
Photo : UN Photo/Sabir Olad
IN BRIEF
By Sejal Sharma, Satyam Dubey and Padmashree Anandhan
Somalia: Militants attack increases to halt presidential election
On 27 March, the militants in Somalia recently attacked the Af Urur military base in the north of the country, killing four soldiers. The ambush comes after two deadly attacks on 24 March, one on Halane base near the airport and other twin blasts in the city of Beledweyne in which Amina Mohamed Abdi, a prominent opposition politician outspoken government critic, was killed along with 47 other people. Al-Shabab had taken responsibility for the attacks to target politicians contesting in the upcoming elections in Somalia which will pave the way for the lawmakers to pick a president. Earlier, Somalian President Mohamed Abdullahi extended his tenure for two years after his term expired in April 2021. Somalian Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble said the ambush was aimed at disrupting the elections.
Nigeria: 7,000 Boko Haram and ISWAP fighters surrendered within a week
On 24 March, around 7000 members from different fighter groups, including the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Boko Haram, have surrendered within a week in the northeast region of Nigeria. The Nigerian army will profile the surrendering fighters and their families before they undergo the rehabilitation process. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), until now, 350,000 people have been killed and three million civilians displaced in fighting that has been going on for more than a decade in the country. A top commander in northeast Nigeria informed: “This is evident as thousands of the insurgents comprising combatants, non-combatants, foot soldiers, alongside their families, continued to lay down their arms in different parts of Borno to accept peace.”
Ethiopia: Tigray rebels agree to a cessation of hostilities
On 25 March, the Tigrayan rebels have agreed to a cessation of hostilities immediately in northern Ethiopia and urged the government to hasten the delivery of emergency aid to the people facing starvation in the region. The rebel's move comes just after the Abiy Ahmed government's surprise announcement of an indefinite humanitarian truce that would pave the way for resolving the 17-month war in northern Ethiopia. The Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed has called on the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) to desist from any act causing further aggression and withdraw from the area of neighbouring regions that the rebels have occupied during the war.