Egypt
The violence in Darfur on the night of 24 April 2018 has already left 15 people dead and more than 1,000 injured, the Darfur conflict monitoring group, DRRCDA, said.
Hadi El Rashid, president of the Central Darfur Land and Resources Organisation (CRDUE), was quoted by Reuters news agency, saying: “Most of those killed were combatants… They were not civilians. Many were killed with knives and machetes.”
DR Congo
The latest fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo appears to be in the village of Kambia. Three weeks ago, Burundi, where thousands of the group had sought refuge, sent military reinforcements to help the local army.
More than 600 Burundian refugees and Congolese forces on Wednesday exchanged gunfire in Kambia, which lies 50 km west of Goma, the country’s second largest city.
El Kumba, in the zone between Goma and the Lubero Province capital, Bunia, was the scene of the two-day fighting that started in April 2017.
Analysts believe that the larger the refugee population in eastern Congo, the more volatile the situation will be.
Intra-Burundi
Burundi has at times shared one of the border areas with the Democratic Republic of Congo but did not withdraw its soldiers from Congo. In early 2017, 700 Burundian troops were guarding the border with Congo.
Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza says that for all intents and purposes, there is no border, only a sphere of influence in which Burundi will remain until the date of independence on 5 May 1962. This is disputed by East African and some European nations.
On Tuesday, Rwanda sent its troops to the border zone with Burundi to assist the DR Congo soldiers. The People’s Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Defence Minister, Jean-Jacques Kiliwa, said they were taking preventive measures. Burundi’s relationship with DRC is complicated because of Nkurunziza’s comments.