Blog - Page 238 of 265

Ethiopia – November 2016 Update

Africa, Analysis, Ethnic Militias, Focus On Militias, Remote Violence, Rioting And Protests, Violence Against CiviliansBy Andrea Carboni 14 November 2016

ETwelve months after the beginning of the uprisings in the Oromia region, violence shows no sign of decreasing in Ethiopia. In its strenuous efforts to contain a wave of protest unseen for decades, the government has launched a violent crackdown that is estimated to have killed more than one thousand people over one year.… Details

Targeting Religious Minorities in Pakistan

Asia, Current Hotspots, Remote Violence, Violence Against CiviliansBy Fatima Zeb 19 October 2016

Between January and July 2016, ACLED data recorded 83 fatalities among specific religious minority groups in Pakistan.The vast majority of those killed (72) are the result of a Jamaat-ul-Ahrar coordinated bomb-blast that took place in a Christian neighbourhood of Lahore on Easter Sunday.… Details

Caste Violence in India Sparks Dalit Protests

Asia, Elections, Inequality, Political Stability, Rioting And Protests, Vigilante MilitiasBy Daniela Pollmann 18 October 2016

July and August 2016 witnessed an unprecedented surge of Dalit protest against their systematic discrimination. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat experienced the bulk of the protests, which resulted in the resignation of Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, and the continued struggle of the the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state government to restore confidence among the Dalit community (Firstpost, 2016).… Details

Electoral Violence in South Asia: Local Elections in West Bengal & Bangladesh

Asia, Elections, Local-Level Violence, Remote Violence, Rioting And Protests, Violence Against CiviliansBy Nina Kaysser 17 October 2016

Between March and June, local elections in Bangladesh and in West Bengal, India, led to a spike in political violence and protests. Despite a long-standing history of electoral violence in both areas, the extent and pattern of violence, especially in Bangladesh, is considered unprecedented (Gulf Times 2016).… Details

2015 Review of Jammu & Kashmir

Asia, Civilians At Risk, Current Hotspots, Jammu & Kashmir, Remote Violence, Rioting And Protests, Violence Against CiviliansBy Matt Fleugel-Carew 13 October 2016

The territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) is a unique context where many attributes of political violence differ in disputed territories. India administers J&K as a state under the federal government, while Pakistan- which refers to its section as Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK)- administers it as a self-governing state.… Details

ISIS in Bangladesh

Asia, Islamic State, Islamist Violence, Remote Violence, Violence Against CiviliansBy Hillary Tanoff 11 October 2016

ISIS activity in Southeast Asia escalated during the Dhaka hostage crisis in July. ACLED first recorded ISIS in Bangladesh in September 2015 for the killing of an Italian aid worker. Since then, there have been 17 more events by ISIS, culminating in the July killing of 20 hostages, most of which were foreigners.… Details

Mozambique – October 2016 Update

Africa, Analysis, Elections, Political Stability, ResourcesBy Margaux Pinaud 7 October 2016

More than two decades after civil war ended in Mozambique, and despite years of economic growth and relatively peaceful elections, the country continues to face political and security challenges. General levels of political violence have continued to rise in 2016 as events have increased in intensity and in geography (68 events of political violence across 10 provinces have been recorded in 2016 up from 19 such events were observed across 6 provinces in 2015).… Details

Democratic Republic of Congo – October 2016 Update

ADF, Africa, Remote Violence, Rioting And Protests, Violence Against CiviliansBy Matt Fleugel-Carew 7 October 2016

Since the beginning of 2016, riots and protests in DR-Congo have generally fallen into two broad categories. First, protests against the presidential election delay scheduled to be held in late November 2016, a concern which was recently confirmed when the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) announced that the election will be pushed back to 2018 (Bloomberg, 29 September 2016).… Details

Somalia – October 2016 Update

Africa, Al Shabaab, Civilians At Risk, Current Hotspots, Violence Against CiviliansBy Roudabeh Kishi 7 October 2016

Somalia continues to be the most conflict-affected country across Africa. It has experienced almost twice as many violent events in the past two years as the second most affected state of Nigeria; however, Nigerian fatalities for the same period are more than double Somalia’s total.… Details

Libya – October 2016 Update

Africa, Current Hotspots, Focus On Militias, Islamic State, Islamist Violence, Remote ViolenceBy James Moody 7 October 2016

The number of conflict events recorded by ACLED in Libya remained stable throughout September 2016, exhibiting neither an overall increasing or decreasing trend. Whilst ostensibly this indicates relative stability in the conflict lifecycle (ACLED Crisis Blog, 10 June 2016), the underlying political dynamics were far from static, with a renewed offensive in the country’s East and external military involvement leading to the emergence of General Khalifa Haftar as ‘a man on horseback’ grooming himself for power.… Details