Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian

Armed Conflict

latest news & developments
Life president: NRM Presidential Candidate Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, together with the First Lady Maama Janet Museveni, arrive at Buziga Islamic School grounds, Makindye Division, to kick off election campaigns. Photo: National Resistance Movement
AFRICA

Africa 2026: polls sans choice, jobs

In addition, some of the continent’s wars show little sign of resolution

  • Alex Vines
7 min read
The M23 marched into Goma in February to effectively take over North Kivu, with the decisive battle at the same airport against the ill-fated South African-led Southern African Development Community force, known as SAMIDRC.
AFRICA

M23 opposes the opening of DRC’s Goma International Airport

It was suggested at peace negotiations that the airport would primarily serve humanitarian purposes to bring in aid for communities affected by the conflict

  • Lenin Ndebele
3 min read
The M23 rebels have said they support the withdrawal of the South African National Defence Force from the UN Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Photo: Wikipedia
AFRICA

DRC peace deals hang in the balance as the government forces shell M23-controlled areas

The rebels claim they were compelled to defend civilian towns after ‘indiscriminate aggression’ by government troops

  • Lenin Ndebele
2 min read
Former DRC president Joseph Kabila.
AFC

Ramaphosa, Mnangagwa urge DRC’s Tshisekedi to drop Kabila charges

Sources said Mnangagwa and Ramaphosa discussed Kabila’s predicament in Zimbabwe in August and agreed that the treason charges were not fair

  • Lenin Ndebele
4 min read
The M23 rebels have said they support the withdrawal of the South African National Defence Force from the UN Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Photo: Wikipedia
AFC

Mbeki throws diplomatic hot potato at government over M23 invitation

The international relations department was not aware of the rebels’ presence in South Africa

  • Lenin Ndebele
6 min read
Intense clashes resumed between M23 rebels and a coalition of government forces, local militias known as Wazalendo and the Burundian army.
AFC

M23 to attend peace conference, but DRC government boycotting

Opposition officials in the DRC have accused the government of blocking their attempts to travel to the forum hosted by the Thabo Mbeki Foundation

  • Lenin Ndebele
  • Intore Nelson
4 min read
Children in Africa are exposed to violence such as armed conflict, with some children recruited as child soldiers. Photo: Stefanie Glinski/AFP
AFRICA

Safeguard the rights and welfare of Africa’s children

About 50% of the continent’s children have experienced violence – emotional, sexual, physical and the added dangers of war

  • Yeukai Chideya
6 min read
People’s power: Voters wait at a polling station outside the hostels in Umlazi, Durban. Voting remains critical to bring about the change desired. Photo: Marco Longari/AFP
COVID 19 RECOVERY

East and Southern African governments must prioritise human rights ahead of elections

We cannot accept anything less than a full guarantee of the safety of vulnerable people before the polls

  • Tigere Chagutah
5 min read
AFRICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES RIGHTS

UN security council needs A3’s leadership on African crises

International intervention needed in Tigray region of Ethiopia and Anglophone areas of Cameroon

  • Carine Kaneza Nantulya
  • Louis Charbonneau
4 min read
A picture taken from a vehicle and through a window shows a group of migrant men, mainly from Niger and Nigeria, sitting in the back of a pick up, on January 15, 2019 during a journey across the Air dessert, northern Niger, towards the Libyan border post of Gatrone. (SOULEMAINE AG ANARA / AFP)
AGADEZ

Don’t disrupt Niger’s balancing act

Europe must tread carefully or risk fuelling militancy and migration

  • International Crisis Group
5 min read