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23892 – Africa Research Bulletin
“Captured terrorists and surrendered
terrorists and members of their families
are being profiled for further action,” he
said.
In another report published by Van-
guard on January 24th, SB Morgen
Intelligence (SBM) said gunmen killed
39 Catholic priests and kidnapped 30
others during attacks across the country
in 2022.
“According to the report, the north-
central was the worst hit with 12 killings,
while the north-west recorded nine
deaths,” the report said. The south-east
and southern regions recorded five
deaths each with the north-east and the
north-west accounting for four deaths
each.
SBM Intelligence added that different
armed groups were behind attacks on
the Christian clerics, with kidnappers
perpetuating 28 of the attacks while
three were by herdsmen and two by
IPOB. Two priests were attacked by
Boko Haram militants and one each by
“bandits” and mobs.
Ransom is believed to fuel attacks on
Christian clerics although local media
says persecution for their faith could be
a factor especially in cases where no
ransom was demanded and they were
killed. (Vanguard website 21,24/1)
Armed attackers burnt a Catholic priest
alive and abducted five worshippers in
two separate attacks in central and
northwestern Nigeria, AFP (15/1)
reported police as saying. In Kafin-Koro
village, Niger state, “bandits” set fire to
the priest’s residence after failing to
access the house. The assailants shot
and injured another priest while he was
trying to escape.
In a separate attack hours later, bandits
invaded a Christian home in Dan Tsauni
village in the Kankara district of Katsina
state, kidnapping five people as they
were preparing for Sunday mass at a
nearby church. The priest was taken to
hospital for treatment for a bullet
wound.
Meanwhile security operatives rescued
12 more people who were among 32
abducted by gunmen at a train station
on January 7th in Edo state (south),
Channels TV reported.
Edo state governor Godwin Obaseki
said the Nigerian Railway Corporation
had failed to strengthen security at its
stations despite an attack in March 2022
on an Abuja-Kaduna passenger train in
which scores of people were killed and
over 100 abducted. “It doesn’t speak
well of their preparedness to run an
efficient rail system in this country and it
doesn’t give Nigerians the confidence
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© 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Senegal
Casamance Clash: A Senegalese soldier
was killed and four were wounded during
an operation against separatist rebels in
the southern region of Casamance, the
latest clash in the decades-long conflict, an
army official said on January 17th. The
soldier died the previous day when the
army moved against an attempt by the
Movement of Democratic Forces of Casa-
mance (MFDC) to install a new base near
the border with The Gambia, and also
destroy hemp fields, according to press
reports.
The MFDC has waged its campaign to
break away since 1982 but signed a peace
deal with the government in August 2022,
hailed as a first step toward a permanent
end one of Africa’s oldest active
rebellions.
Senegal’s President Macky Sall has said
that ending the rebellion is a priority, and
in recent years the government has begun
returning Casamance residents displaced
by the conflict.
Officials also accuse the rebels of illicit
trafficking of cannabis and wood, and of
seeking refuge in The Gambia or in
Guinea-Bissau to the south. (© AFP 17/1
2023)
Journalist Freed: A Senegalese court
released journalist Pape Ale Niang on
January 11th, who had been detained
since mid-December on charges of under-
mining state security, privately-owned
Senenews website reported. He remains
under judicial supervision.
Niang was first arrested on November 6th
but was released then re-arrested on
December 14th for violating bail condi-
tions He then went on a hunger protest.
Niang, who runs the news website Dakar
Matin, was taken to hospital on December
24th after his health deteriorated.
The Coordination of Press Associations
(CAP) organised a protest on January 4th
to demand his immediate release.
Senenews later reported (10/1) that three
activists who were among the leading
voices calling for Niang’s release had been
arrested during a meeting with Prime
Minister Amadou Ba on January 11th.
They appeared in court the following day
charged with participating in an
unauthorised demonstration. (Senenews
website 10,12/1) Journalist returned to jail
Vol. 59, p.23851C
that they will be safe using that mode of
transportation,” he said.
Edo state governor Godwin Obaseki
said the Nigerian Railway Corporation
had failed to strengthen security at its
stations despite an attack in March 2022
on an Abuja-Kaduna passenger train in
which scores of people were killed and
over 100 abducted. “It doesn’t speak
well of their preparedness to run an
efficient rail system in this country and it
National Security
doesn’t give Nigerians the confidence
that they will be safe using that mode of
transportation,” he said.
Police in the central state of Nasarawa
had rescued 30 people kidnapped by
gunmen, Nation reported (14/1). “The
kidnappers were trailed to their enclave
at Sardauna forest. On sighting the
operatives, the criminals dispersed,” a
police statement said.
In a separate development, at least five
people were killed when unknown gun-
men attacked government offices in
Anambra state (southeast) on January
12th, the Nation reported. “The gunmen
came from [neighbouring] Imo state near
the border from Orlu,” an unnamed
source told the Nation.
Gunmen killed three police officers and
injured another in a January 28th attack
at a security checkpoint along the Enugu
– Abakaliki expressway in Enugu state,
Premium Times reported. Between Jan-
uary 17th – 19th, armed men abducted
six people after laying siege in the Isi-
Uzo LGA of Enugu state. (Sources as
referenced in text) Jihadist infighting Vol. 59,
p.23850A
SOMALIA
Phase Two Offensive
Progress is made in the effort to crack
down on al-Shabaab.
The Somali government has said that 323
al-Shabaab militants were killed during a
seven-day nationwide military offensive
against the al-Qaeda-allied group, state-
owned Somali National TV (SNTV)
reported on January 25th. Information
Minister Daud Aweis said the army also
repulsed al-Shabaab attacks on military
bases in central Mudug and south-west
Middle Shabelle regions. He added that
significant progress had been made against
the militants following joint operations by
the army and clan militias in southern and
central regions.
In recent months, the army and the
militias have retaken swathes of territory
in the central states of Galmudug and
Hirshabelle (where Hiiraan region is
located) in an operation backed by US
air strikes and an African Union (AU)
force known as ATMIS. But despite the
gains by the pro-government forces, the
offensive has drawn retribution and the
militants have continued to demonstrate
the ability to strike back with lethal force
against civilian and military targets.
The minister said government forces had
repulsed al-Shabaab assaults on military
bases in the central town of Gal’ad in
Galmudug state on January 20th and
Hawadley village in south-west Middle
Shabelle region on January 17th. He also
C

January 1st – 31st 2023
revealed that military operations against
al-Shabaab in Southwest and Jubbaland
regional states had registered some
successes in the previous seven days.
On January 17th, President Hassan
Sheikh Mohamud said his government
was gearing up to launch the second
phase of its offensive against al-Shabaab
in Southwest state. He maintained that
after recent military successes in the
central regions, the next phase in South-
west would take a shorter time “because
al-Shabaab is weakened”.
Addressing a reconciliation conference in
Baidoa, Southwest state’s interim capital,
the president said al-Shabaab had block-
aded towns in Bay and Bakool regions
and there was an urgent need to reopen
roads. “The government’s main strategy
is to liberate the country from al-Sha-
baab. We want to see a vehicle that travels
from the capital, Mogadishu, to arrive in
Baidoa safely,” Mohamud said.
“Somalis have just one enemy and that
enemy is al-Shabaab. They are killing us
and we are killing them,” he said, calling
on young men fighting with the group to
surrender. The president offered amnesty
those who defect and pledged to have them
rehabilitated and reintegrated in society.
The previous week, Mohamud had
called on ordinary Somalis to rise up
against the jihadists, describing them as
“bedbugs”, AFP reported (20/1). “The
people are tired of massacres, killings,
and all kinds of misdeeds and they are
now saying to al-Shabaab: ‘Enough is
enough’,” Mohamud said.
Mogadishu Attacks
At least six people were killed on
January 22nd in an attack by al-Shabaab
militants at the mayor’s office in central
Mogadishu. A suicide bomber set off a
huge blast that tore through building
near the office complex with gunfire
erupting afterwards, Somali police
spokesman Sadik Dudishe said at the
end of the four-hour siege.
“All the six attackers died. Five of them
during the fire exchange with the security
forces and one of them detonated him-
self,” Dudishe told reporters. “Six civilians
also died during the attack and the
situation is back to normal.” All the
staffers at the mayor’s office were rescued,
the police added.
Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for
the attack via its communication chan-
nels, saying its fighters “made their way
inside the targeted building after killing
the security guards.”
The elite Somali Police unit, Haramcad
(cheetah), joined the fighting, ending the
siege. The current mayor Yussuf Hus-
sein Jim’ale was not in the country at the
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© 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
time of the attack, noted The East-
African (23/1).
Also in Mogadishu, on January 28th
gunmen shot dead the state minister for
transport of Galmudug regional state,
privately-owned station Radio Dalsan
reported (29/1). Farhiya Abdi Mohamed
had been appointed to the post Decem-
ber 5th, Radio Dalsan said. Al-Shabaab
claimed responsibility for her killing.
Meanwhile the federal government has
replaced the commander of the country’s
police force, General Abdi Hassan
Mohamed alias Hijar, according to
Somali National TV (26/1). Brig Gen
Sulub Ahmed Firin has been appointed as
the new police chief, the post said. Firin,
who hails from the southern Jubbaland
regional state, previously served as the
deputy minister of transport and civil
aviation. No explanation was given for
the replacement, but it could be linked to
rising al-Shabaab violence in Mogadishu
in recent months.
Al-Shabaab launched the deadly attack
on Hawadley military base just a day
after the government claimed a “historic
victory” over the jihadists with the
capture of a strategic coastal town
without a fight. Haradhere in Galmudug
had been a key supply route for al-
Shabaab for both people and goods after
it seized the port in 2010, dislodging
local militias and pirates.
The January 17th Hawadley attack
“demonstrates al-Shabaab’s continued
ability to produce explosive devices and
deploy them within Hirshabelle state,
where the offensive originally began”,
said International Crisis Group’s senior
analyst for eastern Africa, Omar Mah-
mood. “The group has mounted a
number of similar assaults recently,
likely an attempt to distract the govern-
ment by attacking multiple locations,”
he told AFP in a message.
On January 14th, al-Shabaab carried out
three suicide attacks in Bula Burte and
Jalalaqsi towns in Hiiraan region, killing
at least 30 people and wounding more
than 50 others according to local media.
Earlier in the month, 19 people were
killed in twin car bombings in Mahas, a
town in Hiiraan district in Hirshabelle,
AFP reported (17/1).
Meanwhile Hiiraan Online reported (27/
1) that al-Shabaab had abducted at least
10 members of a clan fighting alongside
the national army near Beledweyne,
capital of Hiiraan region. They all
belong to Hawadle, a sub-clan of the
Hawiye, the majority clan in the region,
it added. Hiiraan Online said al-Shabab
has been taking retaliatory measures
against the Hawadle since the start of
the offensive.
1467825x, 2023, 1, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-825X.2023.10903.x by chen haohou - Jilin University , Wiley Online Library on [24/02/2023]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
Africa Research Bulletin – 23893
The Somali government on January 29th
announced the killing of 136 al-Shabaab
fighters, including top commanders of
the group, in the operation in Lower
Shabelle region, Hiiraan Online
reported. The militants were reportedly
killed following intense clashes in the
village of Warta, about 12km from the
town of Janale, according to the Assis-
tant Minister of Information Abdirah-
man Yusuf al-Adala, who said 80 other
militants were also wounded. (Sources as
referenced in text)
IS Figure Dies: Somali national security
adviser Hussein Sheikh Ali welcomed the
US Defence Department’s announce-
ment of the killing of senior Islamic
State (IS) operative Bilal al-Sudani in an
operation in the north-eastern Puntland
regional state, privately-owned website
Dayniile reported (28/1).
The US said Sudani and an unspecified
number of other IS militants were killed
in “an assault operation” in the moun-
tains of Puntland on January 25th. It
said Sudani “was responsible for fos-
tering the growing presence of [IS] in
Africa and for funding the group’s
operations worldwide, including in
Afghanistan”.
IS announced its presence in Somalia in
late 2015, with most of its fighters
poached from al-Shabaab. Formerly
UK-based cleric Abdikadir Mumin is
widely reported to be the head of IS
militants in Somalia. (Daynile website
28/1)
Al-Shabaab has clashed with ISIS in
southern and central Somalia in the past
few years. ISIS is believed to be operat-
ing from the northern mountainous
region of Bari, near the Puntland com-
mercial port of Bosaso, noted BBC
Monitoring (27/1). Pro-al-Shabaab web-
site, Somali Memo had yet to comment.
(Sources as referenced in text) President’s
upbeat assessment Vol. 59, p. 23852A
SUDAN
Talks Resume
The generals continue to protect their
interests and militant oppositionists still
take to the streets.
The bold hopes surrounding fresh talks
between Sudanese political parties on
January 9th to agree a final deal for a
transition to civil rule ‘within a few
weeks’ look overblown. The parties have
left until last some of the trickiest issues
on the agenda: transitional justice;
review of the Juba peace accord [signed
between some of the country’s rebel
groups and the government]; governance
in the east of Sudan; and financial
accountability. On top of that, they have
C