Last week in Africa, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front suffered numerous territorial losses in Ethiopia; the detention of presidential candidate Bobi Wine prompted violent confrontations in Uganda; and Nigerian state forces launched operations against Ansaru militants, amid ongoing violence in the country’s northwest.
Ethiopian federal forces made significant gains against Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) forces during ongoing fighting in Ethiopia’s Tigray. Ethiopian forces captured Adigrat, Adwa, Axum, Mehoni, Chercher, Shire and Alamata. Two people were killed during an Ethiopian air strike on the Tigrayan capital of Mekele, while the TPLF launched a rocket attack on Bahir Dar in the Amhara region. Meanwhile, Ethiopian forces clashed with an unidentified armed group at Dibate in the Benshangul-Gumaz region. The unidentified fighters had been linked to a fatal attack on a civilian bus during the previous week (Addis Standard, 16 November 2020).
In Somalia, an Al Shabaab suicide bomber targeted police officers at a crowded bar and restaurant near General Kahiye police academy in Mogadishu’s Hamar Jabjab district. Multiple fatalities were reported in the attack.
In Uganda, state forces detained opposition presidential candidate Bobi Wine, prompting violent confrontations with supporters of Wine’s National Unity Platform (NUP). Police, military, local defense unit (LDU) paramilitaries and unknown armed men in civilian attire fired live rounds during demonstrations in the capital Kampala, as dozens of people were killed during two days of clashes. At Nansana town in Wakiso district, LDU paramilitaries also shot and killed two boda-boda drivers. Further fatalities were reported in Mukono town, Luwero town, and Nkumba in Wakiso district, as well as an unspecified location in Butambala district. Meanwhile, Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) supporters clashed with police in Gulu town, after police attempted to disperse a rally attended by the FDC presidential candidate. Police arrested the FDC leader, and deliberately stomped on his bare feet. Police forcibly dispersed another FDC political rally at Pabbo in Amuru district.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) continued to execute attacks on civilian populations. In North Kivu’s Beni territory, ADF militants killed 14 civilians during raids on the villages of Baeti and Kokola, with further fatal attacks reported at Manzamapini and Malambo. Another attack was reported in the proximate Ituri province.
Finally, Nigerian state forces launched an airstrike on an Ansaru militant camp in the Dunya forest area of Katsina state in Nigeria. More than a dozen militants were killed. Meanwhile, armed groups launched several attacks on the civilian populations in Kaduna state, including a raid on Albasu village, which left 11 dead. During an attack in the Zango-Kataf local government area, unidentified gunmen shot and killed the District Head of Gidan Zaki.
A separate, weekly discussion of the ongoing conflict in Mozambique can be found in the Cabo Ligado project.
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