Last week in Africa, Al Shabaab launched multiple attacks on state and international forces, as outgoing United States (US) President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of American soldiers from Somalia; state forces clashed with Al-Qaeda militants in Algeria; and police continued to suppress opposition campaigns for the January elections in Uganda.
Outgoing US President Donald Trump ordered the near complete withdrawal of US forces from Somalia (Reuters, 5 December 2020), amid ongoing Al Shabaab attacks on state and international military targets in the country. Al Shabaab launched attacks on military bases in Bakool, Banadir, Bay, Lower Shabelle, Lower Juba, and Mudug. Further attacks on African Union peacekeeping (AMISOM) targets were reported in Bay, Lower Juba, and Lower Shabelle. Meanwhile, more than a dozen militants were killed in Lower Shabelle when state forces conducted operations targeting Al Shabaab militants in Marcadde village.
In Ethiopia, clashes between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and Ethiopian federal forces fell following significant gains by federal forces during the previous week. Clashes continued to be reported in the area surrounding the Tigrayan capital of Mekelle.
In South Sudan, three days of inter-clan violence prompted the displacement of hundreds of civilians in Central Equatoria state. The fighting between members of the Kobura and Nyangwara clans, within the Mundari ethnic group, was reported within Juba county, at Kworjik and in the Kaprui area. In neighboring Terekeka county, Mundari cattle raiders attacked an Aliab Dinka cattle camp in Tindalo payam, leaving several dead.
In Uganda, presidential candidate Bobi Wine announced that he would be suspending his campaign (The Africa Report, 2 December 2020) in response to a deadly police crackdown on Wine’s National Unity Platform (NUP) in the lead up to the January elections. State forces targeted opposition rallies with force in Kamuli, Jinja, Kayunga, and Mukuno districts, resulting in three fatalities. Police also arrested Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) presidential candidate Patrick Amuriat Oboi for allegedly disobeying police orders. In Kyotera district, one person was killed when National Resistance Movement (NRM) supporters clashed with Democratic Party (DP) supporters.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, separate attacks by the Patriotic and Integrationist Force of Congo (FPIC) and Cooperative for Development of Congo (CODECO) left dozens of civilians dead in Ituri province. Meanwhile, unidentified armed gunmen shot and killed 8 civilians during an incursion into the North Kivu capital of Goma.
In Algeria, state forces killed three members of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), including a regional commander and member of the organization’s consultative council, during operations near El Ancer in Jijel province. An Algerian soldier was killed in a further clash on the following day.
Finally, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) militants conducted coordinated mortar and rocket attacks on military bases housing United Nations peacekeepers (MINUSMA) and French military forces in Mali. The attacks were directed at bases in Kidal, Menaka and Gao.
A separate, weekly discussion of the ongoing conflict in Mozambique can be found in the Cabo Ligado project.
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