Dozens killed in clashes between rival groups in South Sudan

On Sunday, Chad summoned the ambassador of the Central African Republic to lodge an official protest against what it described as a military incursion carried out by the Central African army (Saturday) in the town of Abnabak in the Tissi region, near the tri-border with Sudan.

The Chadian government said that the incident left several people seriously injured, including soldiers and civilians, without announcing a toll in numbers. Chadian Foreign Minister Ahmed Kogari informed the ambassador that the actions were “serious” and could not be considered isolated incidents, recalling that the country had recorded several incursions into the border region since 2021, and that their repetition was “unacceptable” and “will not pass without consequences.”

The minister asked Bangui to provide accurate explanations and urgent clarifications, and also asked the ambassador to convey the official protest and “severe warning” to his government, stressing his country’s adherence to its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the security of its citizens.

In another story, Agence France-Presse quoted a Chadian military source as saying that Russian forces bombed a site for rebels from the Central African Republic after they entered Chadian territory, leaving several people wounded. This accusation was not mentioned in the government statement.

Bangui novel

On the other hand, the Central African Army announced (Saturday) that it had carried out, with the support of its Russian allies, “preventive actions” against “foreign mercenaries” whose identity it did not specify. The Ministry of Defense said that air strikes and ground operations targeted armed groups in the tri-border area of ​​Vakaga Prefecture to thwart an imminent attack on army positions. The Ministry confirmed that all the attackers were “neutralized,” without providing a human toll and no indication of entering Chadian territory. There was also no response from the Central African Republic government to the Chadian protest, as of Monday afternoon.

The Russian “Sputnik”, citing the “Officers’ Community for International Security”, stated that the operation was carried out in cooperation with “Russian military specialists.” In the Central African Republic, there are elements of the “African Corps”, which reports directly to the Russian Ministry of Defense, and has replaced the special “Wagner” group.

According to Sputnik, the operation took place in the Nabgai-Tisi region, targeting about 200 fighters, and resulted in more than 60 dead and wounded. The groups were planning an attack in the second half of October under the supervision of “Westerners,” and that Bangui informed N’Djamena of the presence of fighters on its territory.

Antecedents and context

It does not appear to have been the first incident in these confines; In May 2021, N'Djamena accused the Central African Army of attacking the Soro police station inside its territory, killing a soldier, kidnapping five and executing them, while Bangui proposed a joint investigation committee. In November 2022, Bangui accused a neighboring country of bombing its Russian forces and allies.

Armed groups are active in the northeast of Central Africa, and the region is affected by the Sudan war. The town of Umm Dafuk in Central Africa witnessed an attack on June 30, which the army said killed about twenty people, while local sources spoke of 28 dead.

This border region between the Central African Republic, Chad, and Sudan, especially around Tissi, Umm Dafuk, and Birao, is considered one of the most security-fragile areas in Central Africa, and is characterized by porous borders, weak government control, in addition to the activity of multiple armed groups, and direct effects from the ongoing war in Sudan since April 2023.

24 people were killed, including 8 soldiers and a policeman, in two separate attacks, one by an armed gang and the other by individuals suspected of belonging to an extremist group, in northwestern and central Nigeria over the weekend, according to what residents and aid workers reported on Monday, according to Agence France-Presse. The two regions have recently witnessed an escalation in attacks launched by extremist groups and gangs known locally as “bandits,” who are active in stealing livestock and kidnapping in exchange for ransom.

On Sunday, 13 people were killed in an ambush by armed gangs on a convoy carrying merchants that was heading to a local market in the Bukuium area of ​​Zamfara state in the northwest of the country, according to what three residents reported to Agence France-Presse. The convoy was coming from Gouache and heading to Gorosso to attend a weekly market when gunmen opened fire on it, according to the sources. Three Bukoium residents confirmed that 13 people had been killed.

Local leader Lawal Mohammed said: “The bandits killed 13 people in the ambush, including 8 soldiers, a policeman, and 4 traders, including a woman.” He added that 11 people, including 3 soldiers, were taken to the hospital after being injured in the attack. Jamilo Omar, a resident of Bukoyum, said that the attackers searched the vehicles and looted the goods before setting fire to 3 vehicles in the convoy.

In a separate attack, individuals suspected of belonging to extremist groups killed 11 people during their storming of the Borgo region of Niger State in the center of the country, near the border with Benin, according to what two aid workers reported. The two workers confirmed that 11 people were killed in the attack that occurred on Saturday night. One of them said: “The Lakurawa terrorists killed 11 people, including 4 guards assigned to protect the village.” Residents of some areas in Niger State, rich in mineral and agricultural resources, continue to flee their homes, in light of the escalation of bloody attacks launched by armed gangs and extremist groups.

Separately, the army announced, on Monday, the killing of more than 40 ISIS-West Africa Province fighters in an air strike targeting a “terrorist enclave” in the Guzamala region of Borno State, which is the hotbed of an extremist insurgency that has been ongoing for more than 17 years. He said that Saturday's operation came thanks to intelligence information "followed by credible reports of a gathering of ISIS-West Africa Province fighters preparing to launch coordinated attacks against forces" in the army.

A plane carrying the head of the Ethiopian Intelligence Service, Redwan Hussein, landed on Sunday in Mekelle, with the resumption of flights to the capital of the Tigray region after being suspended for two weeks due to the return of fighting in northern Ethiopia.

After months of tension, battles were renewed on September 23 between the Ethiopian federal army and the forces of the Tigray People's Liberation Front, the political party that rules the Tigray region, and is supported by the Fano militias from the neighboring Amhara region.

On September 23, the Tigray People's Liberation Front forces, supported - according to Addis Ababa - by Eritrean forces, took control of the state's main airport in Mekelle. Last week, the rebels evacuated the city, which federal forces entered without battles.

On Sunday, state-owned Ethiopian Airlines resumed its flights to Mekele. Radwan Al-Hussein, who is also the National Security Advisor to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, was on the first plane to land at the airport coming from Addis Ababa.

Telephone lines have also been restored, but flights are still suspended to two other airports in the region, in Shiri and Axum.

The Tigray region witnessed a war that lasted from 2020 to 2022 between the federal government forces and the forces of the “Tigray People’s Liberation Front” that ruled Ethiopia for a long time, causing the deaths of at least 600,000 people, according to African Union estimates, making it one of the conflicts with the highest toll in the world in recent years, while a number of observers consider that the actual numbers are higher than that, but fears are increasing of the outbreak of an open war between Ethiopia and Eritrea, with the publication of Eritrea in recent days. Forces in the northern Tigray region bordering it.

On Saturday, Asmara called on the UN Security Council to condemn Ethiopia’s “declaration of war” against it, warning that the conflict would lead to “destabilization of the entire region.” In return, Addis Ababa accused Eritrea of ​​committing “flagrant aggression that justifies Ethiopia’s exercise of its inherent right to legitimate self-defense.”