Roundup on African conflicts

Chad

In Chad, the government has unleashed an offensive against rebels in the east, near the border with Sudan.

Government troops in Chad have launched a military offensive against rebels in the east as President Idriss Deby seeks to reassert his control over the country ahead of a presidential election in May.

Government sources in N'Djamena said on Tuesday the Chadian army had since Monday attacked at least one rebel command post in the mountains of Hadjer Marfain, south of Adre, near the eastern border with Sudan.

"We've gone on the offensive since yesterday morning and we've dislodged the rebels from the mountains of Hadjer Marfain where they had installed a command post," one of the government sources, who asked not to be named, said.
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Deby, who has faced increasing attacks and incursions on Chad's eastern border by groups of Chadian rebels and army deserters in recent months, was directing the offensive in the east of the country, along with his defense minister.

Denouncing a spillover into his own country of the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region, he has accused the Sudanese government of backing efforts to topple him, a charge denied by Khartoum.

The army push against the rebels came one week after Chad's government announced it had foiled a coup plot against Deby, whose 16-year rule has been weakened by a wave of high-level military desertions.

Dozens have been arrested in the wake of the plot.

Chad’s government has arrested 100 military officers and soldiers implicated in a failed assassination plot against President Idriss Deby last week, the security minister said on Monday.

Routouang Yoma Golom also ruled out peace negotiations with Chadian rebels and army deserters who are threatening to launch an offensive from the east of the landlocked oil producer to try to topple Deby as he prepares for a May 3 presidential election.

The Chadian leader, whose 16-year rule has been weakened by a spate of high-level military desertions in recent months, rushed home from an African summit a week ago to foil what officials said was a plot to shoot down his plane.

Senegal

In Senegal, separatists are waging war for the independence of Casamance. The fighting is spilling over into Guinea Bissau.

The fighting that has been going on for four days between army troops in Guinea-Bissau and Senegalese separatists from the Movement of the Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC) reopened an almost century-old wound.

Since the wee hours of Friday morning, the army of Guinea Bissau - a tiny former Portuguese colony of 1.2 million people wedged between Senegal and Guinea on the Atlantic coast of West Africa - has pressed into use the entire arsenal of weapons available on the northwestern border with Senegal, in an attempt to retake the roads that link the villages of Susana and Varela with the town of São Domingos.
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On Sunday, the Guinea-Bissau army set fire to the border villages of Barraca Mandioca, Bamcer and Budjin, which were suspected of serving as a refuge to the MFDC rebels. They in turn destroyed the village of Djeque, kidnapped local residents to use them as human shields, and drove out the inhabitants of Suncutoto, 10 km from São Domingos, to occupy their houses.
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The rebel actions began last Friday, when 20 MFDC fighters launched a suicide attack in São Domingos. Thirteen were killed, and the remaining seven were captured and are now guiding the Guinea-Bissau soldiers in search of rebel bases in the jungle, in Senegalese territory as well.

As is always the case, civilians are getting caught in the middle.

Fighting in the forests of Guinea Bissau near the border with Senegal has left many civilians in distress, their villages wholly cut off, Guinea Bissau military sources say.

And in a region where landmines from past conflicts have injured and killed hundreds in recent years, Senegalese separatists in the past several days have planted more mines, the sources say.

"Many civilians are in difficulty in the region of Varela," Colonel Antonio N'daye said, referring to an area about 45 kilometres west of Sao Domingos, the site of recent heavy clashes between the Guinea Bissau military and rebels of Senegal's Movement for the Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC).
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The latest clashes have driven at least 5,000 people from their homes -- thousands displaced within Guinea Bissau and thousands more having fled over the border into Senegal, according to humanitarian workers.

Uganda

The war in northern Uganda continues. That region is an awful situation.

Extrajudicial killings by security agents, the unending war in the north of the country and oppression of political opponents continue to give Uganda a poor human-rights record, the US Department of State has said in its latest report.
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Some of the problems highlighted in the report are: restrictions on opposition party activity, unlawful killings by security forces, disappearances of people, harsh prison conditions, as well as security forces' use of torture and abuse of suspects.

Other human-rights violations noted in the report include mob justice, official impunity, restrictions on freedom of speech, the press, association and assembly, abuse of internally displaced persons (IDPs) as well as the arbitrary arrest, incommunicado detention, and lengthy pre-trial detention of suspects, many of whom were denied their rights to a fair trial.

The report attributes a lot of the human- rights violations in the north of the country to the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels led by Joseph Kony, who "committed numerous, serious abuses and atrocities, including the abduction, rape, maiming, and killing of civilians, including children."

However, it adds, "Security forces tortured and abused civilians suspected of collaborating with the LRA; however, unlike in previous years, there were no reports that security forces killed suspected collaborators. UPDF soldiers reportedly tortured suspected rebels and raped civilians living in IDP camps."

The rebel LRA army has been fighting for years. A report Thursday said the army's leader, Joseph Kony, may have entered neighnoring Congo.

Uganda's army said on Thursday the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels had left a south Sudanese hideout and joined his deputy in the jungles of neighboring Congo.

"We have stepped up security and we are on high alert, although Kony and his men are weakened," he said. "We don't want to take chances. We have to ensure our people are safe."

On Tuesday, the military said it was increasing border surveillance because of fresh fears that other anti-Ugandan rebels in Congo might slip into the country and launch attacks.

Uganda has long accused Congo of being a safe haven for rebels seeking to destabilize it and has twice joined Rwanda to invade the huge country with the stated aim of flushing out rebel bases in its eastern forests.

Attacks such as this one are common.

On March 18, Yambio residents awoke to another heavy assault on the town from Midnight. Locals say rebel Lord Resistance Army came and starting attacking many places to loot.

There was heavy gunfire all over the town and this lasted for more than six hours, till dawn.

“Some UN peace keeping force and SPLA forces fought back but it seems our forces were pinned down in their places and LRA went on to loot many houses and places”, said a local source to Sudan Tribune.

One of the places looted by the rebels is the Catholic Church Bishop’s residence. Report from his spokespersons (Fr. Mathew mention a number of items looted from the Bishop). Even the Bishops life was in dander as fighting at the Church resulted in one LRA being killed.

The importance of Africa

As this recent report from the PINR says, Africa will only increase in importance, especially as oil production there increases. Conflicts such as these jeopardize economic development and energy production.

Africa is becoming an increasingly important factor in global energy markets. By the end of the decade, the continent's significance will rise dramatically. Africa currently contributes 12 percent of the world's liquid hydrocarbon production, and one in four barrels of oil discovered outside of the U.S. and Canada between 2000 and 2004 came from Africa. IHS Energy, an oil and gas consulting firm, calculates that Africa will supply 30 percent of the world's growth in hydrocarbon production by 2010. West Africa's low-sulfur oil is highly desirable for environmental reasons, is readily transported to the eastern U.S. seaboard, and can be easily processed by China's refineries.

Fifteen percent of U.S. oil imports come from Africa; by 2010 this could reach 20 percent. In this decade, US$50 billion will be invested in the Gulf of Guinea's energy sector, according to a recent report by the Council on Foreign Relations. While U.S. companies will account for 40 percent of this investment, other major players -- particularly state-owned energy companies -- will play a critical role in determining the shape of Africa's energy industry. From 1995 to 2005, national oil companies more than doubled the number of licenses they hold in Africa, from 95 to 216. China's energy firms are the largest state-owned investors, but India has also made significant investments and is looking to expand its presence in the region.

However, political instability, criminal syndicates and terrorism threaten growth in the region. These factors are the main reason the region's hydrocarbon industry has not fully developed in the past, but as China and India demand more oil and gas to fuel their rising economies and as major oil fields reach maturity in other regions, Africa's oil and gas supplies have become more attractive investments.

The rise of Africa's energy industry is changing the geopolitical landscape of the region. The West has found its leverage in the region challenged by China's willingness to invest in oil-producing states in order to ensure Beijing's energy security. For instance, a $2 billion low-interest loan from China has all but scuttled the International Monetary Fund's (I.M.F.) attempts to tie economic assistance to reform in Angola. In other areas, China and the West find their interests aligned, such as on the north-south peace accord in Sudan. In the coming years, Washington will be forced to adjust its policies toward Africa in order to compensate for China's rising influence.