23/08/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 23/08/2024 20:29
On Our Radar scans conflicts and crises around the globe every week and features some of the hotspots Crisis Group's analysts are closely watching. Whether an under-reported trend or a headline-grabbing development, our field experts explain why it matters or what should be done.
GAZA Talks about a ceasefire in Gaza appeared to sputter this week, with Israel reportedly insisting on holding on to the Philadelphi corridor along the Egyptian border and reserving the right to resume hostilities after a hostage-prisoner exchange. Meanwhile, the confirmed death toll among Palestinians has climbed above 40,000, with several lethal Israeli strikes this week, while Israeli forces recovered the bodies of six hostages. U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday, reportedly urging him to be more flexible. Crisis Group President & CEO Comfort Ero says the U.S. should start using its leverage with Israel - for example, by withholding some arms transfers - to hasten a ceasefire deal.
LIBYA A dispute between Libya's two rival governments over who should lead the Central Bank heated up this week amid controversies over irregularities in budget disbursements and oil revenue allocations. The disagreement pits the Tripoli-based cabinet, which sacked the bank's long-time governor, Siddiq Elkebir, against the east-based parliament, which has stood by him. Crisis Group expert Claudia Gazzini says it was the latest in a series of events that have widened the divide between the two bodies, threatening to undermine Libya's fragile peace. So far, the situation has not turned violent, but tensions are palpable. It is now even more urgent to resume UN-backed negotiations to unify the country, but the odds of that happening remain low.
UNITED NATIONS The UN Office of the Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs reported Monday that a record 280 aid workers were killed in armed conflicts around the world in 2023. More than half these deaths occurred in Gaza in the last three months of the year. Crisis Group expert Daniel Forti says the unprecedented toll is partly the consequence of faltering peace efforts. Humanitarian personnel working on the front lines often lack the tacit protection afforded them by active political processes; conflict parties, meanwhile, face fewer consequences when they attack those supplying aid. The UN is the only organisation that can deliver life-saving assistance at scale in war zones. But vital as that work is, it is no substitute for vigorous diplomacy.
RUSSIA-URKAINEUkrainian forces staged a surprise incursion into western Russia Tuesday, near the city of Kursk, leading to by far the heaviest fighting on Russian soil since Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Moscow said it was pushing the Ukrainians back across the frontier, but at week's end it appeared that fighting in the Kursk region was still under way. Crisis Group expert Lucian Kim says Ukraine's objectives are still unclear. For the time being, however, Kyiv has managed to turn the tables on Moscow, exploiting weak border defences and an intelligence failure to strike inside Russia.
SUDANUNICEF and the World Food Programme confirmed this week that famine has struck Zamzam, a camp sheltering some 500,000 displaced people outside El Fasher in North Darfur, site of some of the heaviest combat between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The fighting makes it nearly impossible for humanitarian agencies to reach the camp, and both warring parties have been obstructing delivery of vital supplies. The worst situation is in Zamzam, but the World Food Programme warned Thursday that thirteen other areas, including the capital Khartoum, are also at risk of catastrophic hunger. Ceasefire talks in Switzerland could finally convene later this month, but expectations remain low, says Crisis Group expert Alan Boswell. World leaders should demand that both sides allow in food aid now - and end the war.
VENEZUELAAuthorities this week widened a crackdown on citizens protesting the result of the 28 July presidential election, which the government says incumbent Nicolás Maduro won by a margin of almost 10 per cent. Maduro's government has yet to release official tallies proving its claim; by contrast, the opposition and foreign media outlets have presented evidence showing that the main challenger Edmundo González was the victor, as exit polls had indicated. At least 24 demonstrators have been killed in clashes with police, who have also detained over 1,100 people. Opposition figures and independent journalists are among the victims of a massive campaign of "knock, knock" arrests across the country. Maduro has vowed to build new jails to house "another thousand" people. The standoff between the government and dissenters looks set to continue, says Crisis Group expert Phil Gunson, while outside parties led by Brazil seek a negotiated solution.
SUDAN Fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continues to exacerbate the country's humanitarian crisis, as the RSF intensified attacks in the regions of El Gezira, Sennar and Kordofan. According to the UN, the conflict has now displaced at least 10 million civilians and put at least 750,000 at imminent risk of famine-like conditions. The U.S. announced Tuesday that it had invited the warring parties to ceasefire talks in Switzerland scheduled for August. Crisis Group expert Shewit Woldemichael says it is unclear if the talks will proceed, as the army has not yet confirmed its attendance. With the rainy season further disrupting delivery of vital aid to civilians throughout the country, an end to the conflict is urgently needed.
VENEZUELA Venezuelans are set to cast their votes Sunday in a presidential election. While most reputable polls give opposition candidate Edmundo González a large lead, many worry that the government might refuse to accept an opposition victory and instead insist that President Nicolás Maduro remain in power. The opposition candidate chosen in a primary, María Corina Machado, was barred from standing and millions of registered voters, especially in the diaspora, have been disenfranchised. Crisis Group expert Phil Gunson says it is unclear whether the government would countenance defeat. If Maduro does win more votes, on the other hand, the opposition will likely regard the result as illegitimate. Outside actors could help mitigate the risk of post-election violence by facilitating talks between government and opposition to alleviate fears on both sides.
YEMEN Houthi rebels last Friday launched a drone attack on Tel Aviv, killing one person and injuring at least ten others. A day later, Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes on the Red Sea port city of Hodeida, which killed at least nine people and injured over 80. It marks the first direct Israeli attack on Yemen since the Houthis started targeting Israel and commercial shipping in the waters around Yemen with drones and missiles in response to the war in Gaza. Crisis Group expert Ahmed Nagi says the attack on Hodeida has hampered this key port's ability to operate, which could disrupt vital shipments of food and fuel to Yemen. The escalation marks a new phase in the Gaza war's spillover. The situation could deteriorate further, with the Houthis vowing to hit back and Israel promising to respond in kind.
BANGLADESHA government crackdown on student protesters intensified this week, with 32 people reportedly killed on 18 July alone. The demonstrators call for scrapping quotas for government jobs, by which almost a third are allocated to descendants of "freedom fighters" from the country's 1971 war of independence. The government has closed state schools and universities and shut down the internet in a bid to stymie the protests. Crisis Group expert Pierre Prakash says the protests reflect broader tensions in Bangladesh, which has not had a fair election in fifteen years and where Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's party, the Awami League, dominates key institutions, including the judiciary and civil service.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGOThe U.S. Wednesday announced a fifteen-day extension of a humanitarian truce between M23 rebels and government forces intended to allow aid delivery to millions of displaced people across North Kivu province in the country's east. Crisis Group expert Richard Moncrieff says the truce is welcome, but it has already been broken by skirmishes as the province's armed groups position themselves for further fighting. Neither Rwanda, which has reportedly deployed thousands of troops into North Kivu to back the M23, nor the Congolese government has publicly endorsed the truce, while many Congolese are hostile to what they see as a move to freeze the front line following recent rebel gains.
GAZAAs talks for a ceasefire in Gaza continue in Egypt and Qatar, the Israeli military has stepped up attacks throughout the strip, hitting schools and other shelters for displaced Palestinians in areas previously designated as safe zones. An Israeli airstrike on the densely populated al-Mawasi area of Khan Yunis Saturday killed at least 90 people and wounded nearly 300. The Israeli military claimed the attack in al-Mawasi was targeting Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas's military wing. Crisis Group expert Tahani Mustafa says the U.S. and other outside actors need to push hard to rein in fighting in Gaza and advance the ceasefire talks. An end to the war is urgently needed to halt the suffering in the strip and avoid further regional escalation.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO M23 rebels continued their northward advance in North Kivu province over the weekend, taking Kanyabayonga, a town of 60,000 at the junction of major highways in the country's east. Kanyabayonga lies in Lubero territory, the fourth part of North Kivu the insurgents have entered since resuming their fight with the Congolese army in 2021. Crisis Group experts Richard Moncrieff and Onesphore Sematumba say the M23's push outside its previous strongholds may lead to frictions with other armed groups in the troubled province. Alternatively, the M23 may be seeking allies among these factions, in addition to the support it already has from neighbouring Rwanda. This latter possibility would deeply worry the Congolese authorities.
ISRAEL-LEBANON An Israeli airstrike Wednesday killed a Hizbollah commander, Muhammad Nasser, near Tyre in southern Lebanon. Israel said Nasser headed a unit that has been firing at Israel in the clashes that have been steadily mounting since shortly after the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks and the subsequent Israeli military campaign in Gaza. In retaliation, the Shiite militia has so far launched 200 rockets and twenty drones at Israeli military bases, killing a soldier in the Golan Heights. Most of the projectiles have been intercepted. Reaching a Gaza ceasefire is crucial to stopping these exchanges, say Crisis Group experts David Wood and Mairav Zonszein, but as that seems unlikely for now, diplomats should keep urging restraint on both sides - lest either one trigger a disastrous escalation.
MYANMAR Fighting intensified this week in Rakhine State, on the border with Bangladesh, as the rebel Arakan Army closed in on Maungdaw, the last major town under the Myanmar military's control in the state's north. The Arakan Army, an ethnic Rakhine group, has stepped up its campaign against the military since the 2021 coup. Should it capture Maungdaw, as appears probable, it will hold the entirety of the areas abutting Bangladesh, including those from which Rohingya fled in 2016-2017. Crisis Group expert Tom Kean says clashes between the Arakan Army and the Myanmar military will likely push more Rohingya to leave, though Dhaka is refusing to accept any new refugees.
BOLIVIA Police on Wednesday arrested the former commander of the Bolivian army, Juan José Zúñiga, after he spearheaded what the government called an attempted coup. The incident involved military units occupying the main square in the capital La Paz and storming the government palace. President Luis Arce called on the public to mobilise before naming a new military high command who ordered the soldiers to stand down. After being arrested, Zúñiga alleged without evidence that Arce had orchestrated the assault to gain popularity. Crisis Group expert Glaeldys González Calanche says the true cause of the events remains unclear. But they underscore the government's instability and the political tensions that are likely to persist in the run-up to the 2025 presidential election.
HAITI After months of delay, Kenya on Tuesday deployed 200 police officers and additional support staff to Haiti, the first contingent of a larger UN-backed mission of around 2,500 officers from various countries. The Kenya-led mission aims to help Haitian police restore order in the country and regain control of the capital Port-au-Prince, an estimated 80 per cent of which is under the rule of criminal gangs. Crisis Group expert Diego Da Rin says Haitians have high expectations for the force, hoping it will improve security and allow for a return to a more normal life. But they are also wary of possible violent resistance from the gangs, which have been coordinating attacks. How the mission conducts its first operations will determine its chances of success.
RUSSIA Militants orchestrated two attacks in the cities of Derbent and Makhachkala in the Russian republic of Dagestan on Sunday, targeting a synagogue, several churches and a police station. The six attackers, who included close relatives of current and former local elites, including two sons of a Dagestan official, killed sixteen police officers and a priest. No organisation has officially claimed responsibility, though the perpetrators were reportedly jihadist sympathisers. Crisis Group expert Jerome Drevon says the absence of a claim of responsibility suggests the assailants had no direct connection to a larger Islamist militant group active in Russia. But the nature of the attacks and the coordination in two cities suggest a certain level of sophistication.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC As war rages in neighbouring Sudan, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces are increasingly crossing over into the Central African Republic (CAR), doing business and recruiting fighters from armed groups there. A new UN report also confirms that the Sudanese army is stepping up air raids along the CAR border, heightening the risk of spillover. Crisis Group expert Charles Bouessel says the foreign incursions have greatly exacerbated criminal violence in CAR's north, especially in the Vakaga prefecture. They could also aggravate the already dire humanitarian situation there as trade is disrupted and hostility rises toward Sudanese refugees perceived as being affiliated with the RSF.
ISRAEL-HIZBOLLAH After a week of intensifying cross-border clashes between Israel and Hizbollah and the arrival of U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein in Lebanon, both sides signalled they were prepared to escalate their eight-month violent standoff into full-scale war. Hizbollah on Tuesday published drone footage of the port of Haifa in northern Israel, while the Israeli military claimed it had received approval for a broad offensive in Lebanon. The heightened rhetoric may just be posturing timed with Hochstein's arrival, but regardless, the conflict between the two long-time adversaries may be reaching a dangerous inflection point. Crisis Group experts David Wood and Mairav Zonszein say a ceasefire in Gaza is imperative for defusing tensions between Israel and Hizbollah. But the U.S. envoy should spare no effort to bring the two sides to a deal of their own.
SOUTH EAST CHINA SEA The Chinese coast guard on Monday searched and seized Philippine vessels on a resupply mission in the South China Sea's Second Thomas Shoal. The incident, which left one Filipino sailor injured and the vessels damaged, prompted the Philippine military to accuse China of piracy. China blamed the Philippines for the confrontation, denying that its coast guard acted inappropriately. Crisis Group expert Georgi Engelbrecht says this encounter, the most serious this year, could trigger skirmishes between the Philippines and China. It also raises questions about potential U.S. involvement, given that Washington on Tuesday reaffirmed it will aid Manila in case of an armed attack, in line with the two countries' Mutual Defence Treaty.
GAZA The Israeli army pressed deeper into Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, amid wrangling over the ceasefire proposal announced by U.S. President Joe Biden last week. Biden presented the offer as approved by Israel, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not embraced it, instead insisting that Israel will keep pursuing its war aim of destroying Hamas (albeit without explicitly rejecting the deal, either). Hamas, for its part, has "welcomed" the proposal, as long as it leads to a permanent ceasefire with guarantees, while suggesting unspecified alterations it calls "not significant". Crisis Group expert Joost Hiltermann says U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators must keep pushing to bridge the gaps between the sides, as this offer is the best and most realistic one to date for both. With much of Gaza facing catastrophic hunger, the imperative of ending the war is glaring.
MEXICO A local councilwoman was shot dead last Friday at her home in Guerrero state, bringing the number of politicians killed around this year's electoral campaign to 39, a record high. Crisis Group expert Falko Ernst says the toll highlights the challenge that criminal violence poses for Claudia Sheinbaum, who will become the country's first woman president when she is inaugurated on 1 October. Vowing to take outgoing President Andres Manuel López Obrador's political program to new heights, Sheinbaum won more than twice the votes of her closest rival in the 2 June election. Her MORENA party also secured a hefty parliamentary majority. But organised crime continues to seek sway over the state. Tackling it may well prove Sheinbaum's toughest test.
PAKISTAN Authorities said the army raided militant hideouts in the north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province's Lakki Marwat district Monday night, killing eleven militants it held responsible for taking the lives of an army officer and six soldiers with a roadside bomb a day earlier. Crisis Group expert Samina Ahmed says the military has escalated counter-insurgency operations amid months of mounting clashes with bands of Pakistani Taliban who (though the Afghan Taliban deny it) are regularly crossing into the country from Afghanistan. The military did not name the Pakistani Taliban in its initial report on the incident, but it rarely does in such cases. The surge in Pakistani Taliban militancy is straining relations between Islamabad and Kabul.
HAITI After nearly a month of discussions, the members of Haiti's transitional presidential council last week appointed Garry Conille, a longtime UN development expert, as prime minister. Conille, who has previously served as prime minister from 2011-2012, is now working with the council members to form a cabinet, the last step before the official installation of a new government. Crisis Group expert Diego Da Rin says Conille and the presidential council should swiftly agree on individuals with sufficient experience and skills needed for key government positions as they face daunting tasks, including working, likely with the support of foreign forces, to loosen the grip of gangs over the capital, reforming the constitution, organising elections and revitalising the economy.
KOREAN PENINSULA South Korea Monday announced the full suspension of a 2018 military agreement with the North and the resumption of frontline military activities. Seoul partly suspended the agreement last November after Pyongyang successfully launched a reconnaissance satellite into orbit. Shortly after, North Korea stated it would no longer be bound by the agreement. Tuesday's decision followed a series of incidents involving North Korea sending trash-filled balloons over the border last week in response to South Korean activists allegedly floating anti-regime propaganda to the North. Crisis Group expert Chris Green says the prospect of increased military activity along the border inevitably heightens the risk of inter-Korean clashes and raises the prospect of potentially calamitous miscalculation on either side.
LEBANON Clashes between Hizbollah and the Israeli military along the Israel-Lebanon border continued this week. Rockets fired from Lebanon Monday set off large-scale wildfires in northern Israel. A drone swarm launched at an Israeli military position Wednesday killed one soldier and wounded several more. Hizbollah claimed the latest attacks were in response to intensified Israeli strikes on Lebanon. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was "prepared for a very intense operation" in the north. Crisis Group expert David Wood says absent a ceasefire in Gaza, which Hizbollah has named as a precondition for stopping the attacks, the risk of continued clashes escalating into an all-out war remains high.
BURKINA FASO A government-organised national conference in the capital Ouagadougou over the weekend agreed to extend military rule by five years. The military leadership had stated earlier that elections, originally scheduled for July, are not a priority, saying the focus should instead be tackling the persisting jihadist violence in the country. Crisis Group expert Mathieu Pellerin says the decision is unlikely to make the transitional government any stronger, but it did allow President Ibrahim Traoré to show his increasingly numerous opponents that he retains support.
GAZA The Israeli military this week expanded its air and ground offensive in the southern city of Rafah. An airstrike near the city Sunday killed at least 45 civilians in a tent camp. Aid agencies have warned that Israel's operations in Rafah have significantly disrupted already difficult aid deliveries. Meanwhile, Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi Wednesday stated the war will continue for at least another seven months. Crisis Group experts Mairav Zonszein and Tahani Mustafa say prolonging the war is unlikely to bring Israel closer to its aim of eradicating Hamas but it will deepen the humanitarian catastrophe millions of civilians in Gaza already face. The U.S. and other outside powers urgently need to ramp up pressure for a ceasefire.
SUDAN Sudan's army this week again rejected calls to return to negotiations with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Fighting between the two sides is intensifying, particularly in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, where full-scale combat broke out earlier this month and UN agencies are warning of an increasingly dire humanitarian crisis. Crisis Group expert Shewit Woldemichael says external powers must redouble their efforts to stop the hostilities and bring the warring parties back to the table. They must also deliver crucial humanitarian aid to those in need, ensure accountability for those who target civilians and sustain pressure on outside actors perpetuating the conflict.
COLOMBIASplinter groups of the former FARC insurgency, known as EMC, launched coordinated attacks Monday on police in four towns in western Colombia, leaving two officers dead and at least six civilians wounded, three of them children. It is the latest escalation after a ceasefire between the government and the EMC broke down in March, prompting factions from the Pacific coast to quit peace talks. Crisis Group expert Elizabeth Dickinson says the attacks are indicative of a trend toward fragmentation in Colombia's conflict. Armed groups are increasingly fracturing to focus on local control of territories and illicit economies. This atomisation could expose ordinary Colombians to greater violence, as groups compete over territory, recruit from local communities and use symbolic violence to entrench their rule.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGOThe Congolese army Sunday announced it had prevented what it called "an attempted military coup" after around 100 armed men attacked several sites in central Kinshasa, including the residence of politician Vital Kamerhe, who has since been named speaker of the National Assembly. At least three people, including the assailants' alleged leader Christian Malanga, a diaspora opposition figure, died in ensuing shootouts. Up to three U.S. citizens were arrested on the scene. Crisis Group expert Richard Moncrieff says the attacks' execution was amateurish, suggesting that they were not a serious effort to overthrow the government. Rather, the incident highlights prevailing political instability and could be connected to infighting over lucrative government roles as President Félix Tshisekedi struggles to form a government six months after elections.
PALESTINEIreland, Norway and Spain announced Wednesday plans to formally recognise Palestine as a state on 28 May. Crisis Group expert Rami Dajani says the recognition signals increasing frustration among European countries about the Gaza war's growing humanitarian toll, lack of progress on a sustainable ceasefire and the Israeli leadership's failure to offer a political strategy for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel will see the announcement as highly provocative, with the Israeli right hardening its position against the two-state solution. In contrast, the Palestinian Authority and the PLO will see it as a moral victory, especially if more European countries follow suit, and possibly as a way back to an Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
CHAD Chad's electoral authority announced Thursday that President Mahamat Déby has won the first round of the presidential election held on 6 May. The absence of credible observers and the way the ballot was organised cast doubt on the official figures. Déby's main opponent, Succès Masra, claimed fraud and called for annulling the vote. The army then deployed in major cities and authorities arrested dozens of Masra supporters. Masra may take no further action, as the Constitutional Council has rejected his appeal. Crisis Group expert Charles Bouëssel says Déby's priority should be to organise legislative elections, the first since 2011, to help lay the foundations for genuine national reconciliation.
RUSSIA As Russian troops continued to advance in Ukraine, the Kremlin announced Sunday that Andrei Belousov, a former deputy prime minister and economist, will take over as defence minister from Sergei Shoigu, who will now head the National Security Council. Belousov's appointment signals that Russia is preparing for a long war, says Crisis Group expert Oleg Ignatov. Belousov has the necessary knowledge and skills to manage Russia's burgeoning defence budget. He may be more effective than Shoigu in modernising the military for a protracted conflict.
SUDAN A full-scale conflict has erupted in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, pitting the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) against the Sudanese army in alliance with several Darfuri armed groups. The army and armed groups hold the city's western and central neighbourhoods, which the RSF has under siege from its strongholds in the northern and eastern sectors. Civilians trapped in El Fasher are forced to move around regularly to evade artillery and aerial assaults. Outside the city, ethnically motivated attacks are on the rise, exacerbating the already dire situation. Crisis Group expert Shewit Woldemichael says it is urgent to halt the hostilities to prevent mass civilian casualties, whether from the belligerents' fire, starvation or disease.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO Shelling last week killed eighteen internally displaced people and injured over 30 others at four camps outside Goma, the largest city in North Kivu province, where Congolese troops backed by international allies and informal auxiliaries are battling the M23 rebellion. The Congolese government (along with the UN and U.S.) has long accused neighbouring Rwanda of backing the M23, including with troops on the ground. A spokesperson for Kinshasa said a Rwandan unit fired the shells. The U.S. condemned "the attack from the Rwandan Defense Forces and M23 positions" and called on Kigali to punish the parties responsible for the "heinous act". A Rwandan representative rejected the idea Rwanda was involved in the incident as "ridiculous". Crisis Group experts Richard Moncrieff and Onesphore Sematumba say civilians are increasingly caught in the crossfire as the fighting in North Kivu draws ever closer to Goma and the camps. Better protection measures are paramount.
GAZA Israel staged several incursions into Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, this week after rejecting an Egyptian-Qatari proposal for a phased ceasefire that Hamas had accepted. Over half the strip's population is jammed into Rafah, with many having fled the destruction to the north. The Israeli operations were smaller in scale than had been feared, but they caused chaos nonetheless, with the army telling Palestinians who have nowhere to go to evacuate parts of the city. The humanitarian emergency in the enclave continued to worsen, as Israel closed two crossings through which some aid had been getting in (later reopening one of them). The U.S. paused a shipment of certain "high-payload munitions" to Israel Wednesday after having urged Israel not to "go into Rafah". Crisis Group experts Rami Dajani and Tahani Mustafa say outside powers, particularly the U.S., need to keep pushing hard for a ceasefire.
UKRAINE Russia fired more than 70 missiles and armed drones at power plants in seven regions of Ukraine Wednesday, in the largest such attack in weeks. It has bombarded such facilities hundreds of times since launching its all-out invasion in February 2022, in an attempt to rob the Ukrainian defence industry of electricity and wear down civilian morale. Ukrainian forces intercepted about 70 per cent of the projectiles this time around. Crisis Group expert Simon Schlegel says the strikes underscore Kyiv's need for continuous supply of air defence batteries and ammunition from its Western backers.
EL SALVADOR On Monday, El Salvador's congress approved an amendment that allows for constitutional reforms to be discussed and approved by the legislature in just one term, rather than having to wait for a vote in a newly elected legislature. Critics raised concerns that the move further erodes the country's democratic institutions as it allows President Nayib Bukele and his party to fast-track constitutional changes. Crisis Group expert Renata Segura says more wide-ranging constitutional reforms could follow, which will likely strengthen Bukele's grip on power as he enters his new term in June.
GAZA-ISRAEL Hamas negotiators in Cairo are weighing a new Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire whose first stage would include a hostage-for-prisoner swap and a six-week pause in hostilities. Hamas, with an eye to its own survival, insists on a permanent end to the war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this past week again committed to launch a ground invasion of Rafah with or without a deal. Crisis Group expert Mairav Zonszein says such an offensive would have severe consequences for the Palestinian population, including the more than a million who have sought refuge there; for the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza; and potentially for Israeli relations with Egypt.
SUDAN U.S. and UN officials have issued warnings regarding a looming conflict in El Fasher, capital of Sudan's North Darfur state and an important humanitarian hub. El Fasher has remained largely peaceful since a deal was brokered among the army, Darfur armed groups and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in April last year. The truce is now shattered, however. Crisis Group expert Shewit Woldemichael says fighting in El Fasher would be devastating for millions, likely triggering a humanitarian catastrophe. Urgent action is required from the U.S. and other concerned parties to facilitate de-escalation, restart ceasefire negotiations and exert increased pressure on external actors supporting Sudan's warring parties.
GAZA Palestinian civil defence workers this week discovered hundreds of bodies buried in the ruins of hospitals the Israeli army had destroyed. UN human rights chief Volker Türk called for an independent investigation of the mass graves. Separately, a UN team led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna released a report vouching for the neutrality of UNRWA, the agency serving Palestinian refugees, twelve of whose staff Israel accused of complicity in the Hamas-led attacks last October. Meanwhile, severe malnutrition and disease continue to spread in the strip, with new warnings of famine in the north. Crisis Group expert Joost Hiltermann says a ceasefire remains of the utmost urgency, along with an enormous, well-coordinated infusion of humanitarian aid. Donors should also restore funding to UNRWA, which is best positioned to distribute assistance.
HAITI A transitional presidential council was sworn in Thursday with heavy police protection amid threats of violence from a top leader of the criminal gangs that have overrun much of the country. Crisis Group expert Diego Da Rin says the council's installation is an important step toward bringing in the Kenyan-led multinational mission the UN has authorised to help fight the gangs. The body's first tests will be to appoint one of its nine members as head and then a new prime minister and cabinet. In the meantime, it will need to work out measures for bolstering public safety until the external force can deploy.
U.S.-UKRAINE President Joe Biden signed a $61 billion military aid package for Ukraine Wednesday, after months of contention with Republican members of Congress over continuing U.S. assistance. The bill will enable Washington to deliver artillery and air defence ammunition Kyiv has been urgently requesting to resist Russia's invasion. Crisis Group experts Olga Oliker and Michael Wahid Hanna say the aid gives Kyiv a chance to fight on, with Russia advancing on the battlefield and launching punishing rocket attacks into Ukraine. But rapid victory is not at hand: Ukraine will need more assistance in the months to come. When relief over the belated Congressional vote recedes, attention in Washington will shift to what other weapons might be sent to Ukraine and what strategy these would be meant to enable.
COLOMBIA Negotiations between the government and a group of former FARC rebels known as EMC fell into crisis this week, as more than half the EMC's regional blocs left talks, confirming a deep split in the organisation. President Gustavo Petro's administration is grappling with how to proceed but appears intent on escalating military operations against the breakaway factions, which include powerful blocs along the Pacific coast and in the country's centre. Crisis Group expert Elizabeth Dickinson says the risk of fresh violence is growing, with the dissidents vowing attacks on military installations and police stations, which are often close to buildings like schools and hospitals. Fighting among EMC factions is also possible, particularly in the south-western province of Cauca, where a half-dozen of them are active.
IRAN-ISRAEL Israel struck targets in central Iran early Friday morning in reprisal for the barrage of drones and missiles fired - for the first time ever, from Iran itself - at Israeli territory last weekend. Details are still emerging, but it appears any damage from Israel's retaliation was limited. Crisis Group experts Ali Vaez and Mairav Zonszein say both sides are downplaying the latest incident amid international pressure to avoid further escalation, even as Iranian officials warned - as Israeli leaders did previously - that the rules of the rivalry are being rewritten with such overt actions. The situation thus remains precarious and unpredictable. Partners of both sides should continue urging restraint.
SUDAN Donors led by the European Union pledged $2.13 billion in humanitarian aid for Sudan at a Paris conference held Monday on the one-year anniversary of the country's ruinous civil war. The promised money goes some way toward meeting the $2.7 billion goal the UN has set for the year. Both the main belligerents - the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces - have obstructed the delivery of assistance, leaving millions at risk of famine. Crisis Group expert Alan Boswell says the relief pledges are welcome. Donors should expedite transfer of the funds, and outside powers should work with the same energy to broker an end to the fighting, which is the cause of the humanitarian emergency.
LEBANON A politician's mysterious murder Sunday has triggered unrest as the months-long cross-border clashes between Hizbollah and Israel continue to escalate. The army said a group of Syrian men killed Pascal Suleiman, a member of Hizbollah's staunch Christian opponent the Lebanese Forces, after a failed carjacking. The party did not immediately accept this explanation, saying it would consider Suleiman's murder politically motivated unless proven otherwise. Several politicians argue that the crime highlights the need to reduce Lebanon's Syrian refugee population, given the suspects' nationality. Crisis Group expert David Wood says the volatile situation has not only inflamed sectarian tensions but also imperilled Syrian refugees - whom vigilantes have reportedly harassed and violently attacked following Suleiman's death.
MYANMAR On Wednesday, the Karen National Liberation Army, the oldest armed group in the country, seized the town of Myawaddy on the Thai border, with the help of allied defence forces. Crisis Group expert Richard Horsey says the loss of economically and strategically significant Myawaddy is another humiliating defeat for the military, which has been on the back foot since last October, when ethnic armed groups launched an offensive, Operation 1027, in areas near the Chinese border. The military has been pushed out of many borderlands and is struggling to project power outside the country's centre, though it retains significant airpower and standoff weaponry. With internal discord increasing, the army appears to be in its most vulnerable position - politically as well as militarily - since independence in 1948.
UKRAINE In late March, Russia resumed its attacks on energy facilities across Ukraine, using a combination of missiles, glide bombs and drones. Ukraine's thinly stretched air defences are struggling to fend off these complex strikes. Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city, had to resort to the rolling blackouts familiar from the invasion's first winter in 2022-2023. A strike destroyed the Tripillia power station in the Kyiv region Wednesday, taking out 8 per cent of Ukraine's electricity generation capacity in one blow. The warm spring weather cushions the impact for now, but to get ready for next winter, Ukraine needs more air defence systems and a steady flow of interceptors, says Crisis Group expert Simon Schlegel. It also needs to further decentralise power generation so that even massive hits cannot make entire cities go dark.
ECUADOR The number of violent incidents in Ecuador has increased in recent weeks. On 27 March, a prison riot in Guayaquil, fuelled by dissatisfaction with the government, resulted in three deaths. Last weekend alone, at least 80 violent deaths were reported in Guayaquil and other provinces throughout the country. Crisis Group expert Glaeldys González Calanche says the incidents highlight the security forces' continuing difficulties in trying to control prisons and curtail violence. The situation could deteriorate further as the country approaches the 21 April popular consultation and referendum election, when Ecuadorians will make crucial decisions about security.
IRAN An Israeli strike Monday on an Iranian consular facility in Damascus killed several members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including senior commanders who reportedly were overseeing Iranian-backed non-state actors' operations in the Levant. It was the latest and most significant in a series of killings of Iranian military personnel since the Gaza war began, as Israel spars with several groups that it sees Tehran as funding, arming and coordinating. Iran's leadership has vowed revenge, but its options range from risky to potentially calamitous, says Crisis Group expert Ali Vaez. Any direct or indirect retaliation against Israel and/or U.S. interests risks further escalation that could provoke a bigger Middle East confrontation that neither Tehran nor Washington seems to want.
SOMALIA Mogadishu expelled the Ethiopian ambassador Thursday, recalling its own ambassador from Addis Ababa, following a cooperation deal between Ethiopia and Puntland, Somalia's oldest federal member state. Ethiopian-Somali relations were already rocky due to January's port deal by which Ethiopia would obtain a naval base in Somaliland, whose declaration of independence Mogadishu rejects. Puntland had announced Sunday that it will cease recognising the federal government and operate outside national structures to protest a constitutional review that the Somali opposition argue is aimed at bolstering President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's chances at re-election in 2026. Crisis Group expert Nicolas Delaunay says Puntland's action is likely meant to draw international attention to the review and put pressure on Mogadishu to conduct the process differently.
HAITIMore than two weeks after a meeting convened by Caribbean leaders at which Haiti's main political groups agreed to create a transitional presidential council, the members of this council issued their first statement announcing preparations for their official installation. Despite delays in appointing representatives to the council, its members claimed to have made progress in drafting operational rules for the body and pledged to set up a clear plan to restore public order and democracy. Crisis Group expert Diego Da Rin says Haitian political forces will have to avoid minor disputes to assert the new transitional government's authority and resume talks with foreign partners to accelerate the deployment of a multinational security mission to clamp down on gang violence and address Haiti's worsening humanitarian crisis.
SOUTH CHINA SEAOn 23 March, Chinese vessels blocked a Philippines supply boat headed for the BRP Sierra Madre, a marooned ship on the Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratlys, a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea, hitting the boat with water cannons and injuring three sailors. Beijing said the boat had illegally intruded in Chinese waters, demanding that Manila "immediately stop infringement and provocation". On Thursday, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. struck a defiant posture, announcing a "comprehensive response and countermeasure package". The incident followed a series of standoffs in recent months that have raised concerns about escalation. Crisis Group expert Georgi Engelbrecht says the worst-case scenario would be a fatality at sea, which would dramatically heighten the stakes in the dispute. Washington has backed Manila diplomatically but faces the increasingly difficult task of supporting its treaty ally while not letting things spiral out of control.
UNITED NATIONSOn Monday, the Security Council passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza for the first time since the war between Hamas and Israel began. The U.S., which had vetoed previous ceasefire resolutions, abstained (while referring to the resolution as "non-binding"). Crisis Group expert Richard Gowan says Washington's abstention is a sign of its increasing concern about the length and human costs of Israel's military campaign as well as its growing impatience with Israel's leadership, which has remained defiant in the face of calls for restraint and greatly enhanced humanitarian access in Gaza.
GAZA-ISRAEL The UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification released a report Monday warning that famine is imminent in northern Gaza. More than one million Palestinians in the strip are expected to face catastrophic levels of food insecurity between March and July, should Israel's offensive continue and humanitarian aid access remain disrupted. Meanwhile, the Israeli army this week has besieged Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza's largest medical complex, along with surrounding neighbourhoods, as the government reaffirmed plans to launch a ground invasion of Rafah. Crisis Group experts Mairav Zonszein and Tahani Mustafa say the U.S. and other stakeholders urgently need to push for a ceasefire, a massive increase in aid and efficient distribution, as the window to avert famine from spreading throughout the strip is rapidly closing and Israel shows no intention of scaling down its offensive.
U.S.-NIGER Niger's military government announced Saturday an end to its status of forces agreement with Washington, describing the U.S. garrison in the country as "illegal". The statement came after members of a high-level U.S. delegation to Niamey reportedly accused Niger's military leaders of making a uranium deal with Iran. The U.S. representatives also raised concerns about Niamey's relationship with Moscow and its lack of progress toward elections. Crisis Group expert Sarah Harrison says it is still unclear what the statement means for the approximately 650 U.S. troops in Niger. But if they are forced to leave, it will be a major shake-up for U.S. counter-terrorism operations in the Sahel.
VENEZUELA Attorney General Tarek William Saab Wednesday announced the arrest of two campaign staffers of leading opposition candidate María Corina Machado and issued warrants for seven others, including her campaign manager Magalli Meda, accusing them of anti-government conspiracy. In January, Venezuela's Supreme Court upheld a ban on Machado's candidacy in the presidential election scheduled for 28 July. Crisis Group expert Phil Gunson says the government's efforts to stymie Machado's campaign have amplified calls on Washington to reverse sanctions relief for Venezuela, which is set to expire in April. Despite the setbacks, the opposition's best course is to maintain its adherence to the electoral route and not to boycott the polls.
NIGERIA Armed groups have snatched more than 300 schoolchildren and over 70 villagers in the north-western states of Kaduna and Sokoto over the last seven days. These abductions are part of a decade-old trend in which heavily armed gangs, locally referred to as "bandits", kidnap thousands of rural residents and highway travellers annually, mostly for ransom. The group that took 287 schoolchildren in Kaduna state last week is demanding about $620,000 as ransom, threatening to kill the children if it does not get the money by 27 March, but the federal government has ruled out payment. Crisis Group expert Nnamdi Obasi says the resurgence of mass abductions underscores the dire need to boost security and curb impunity, while reversing the deepening livelihood and humanitarian crises in the country's North West zone.
SUDAN Hopes for a Ramadan ceasefire in Sudan's grinding civil war evaporated Monday as the army made significant gains over the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, including seizing control of state broadcasting headquarters in the capital Khartoum. The UN Security Council had unanimously called for a ceasefire last Friday, with only Russia abstaining. Crisis Group expert Shewit Woldemichael says the fighting has intensified in several parts of the country, with rumours that former rebel groups that signed a peace agreement with the government in 2020 have joined the battle in the east on the army's side. A ceasefire is urgent for the Sudanese people, but the movement on the front lines means that mediation is unlikely to succeed until stalemate sets in once more, at least around Khartoum.
U.S.-ISRAEL Press reports this week said President Joe Biden would consider withholding military aid if Israel invades Rafah, the city in southernmost Gaza where most of the strip's population is now trapped. It is the latest indication of U.S. impatience with Israel's campaign in Gaza, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said will proceed in Rafah if Israel sees fit. It is unclear if Israeli forces will in fact move into the city, and the White House's shift in rhetoric may be an attempt to account for pressure from within the Democratic Party, parts of which are increasingly critical of the Biden administration's pro-Israel approach. In any case, says Crisis Group expert Sarah Harrison, the U.S. should use its leverage to achieve a ceasefire now rather than later. Every day of delay means more lives lost in Gaza.
GAZA With negotiations about a hostage-for-prisoner swap and a ceasefire reportedly stuck, and Israel continuing its military campaign, Gaza's humanitarian crisis has reached unprecedented levels. The UN estimates that at least a quarter of the strip's 2.2 million residents are "one step away from famine". Meanwhile, Israeli restrictions on aid access and a breakdown of public order in Gaza have made relief distribution increasingly difficult. The U.S., Jordan and other countries have been airdropping food, an action humanitarian organisations have declared highly inefficient. In a Thursday evening speech, President Joe Biden said the U.S. will set up a temporary port on the Gaza coastline to deliver more supplies. But absent a ceasefire, say Crisis Group experts Mairav Zonszein and Tahani Mustafa, the trickle of aid making it into Gaza will not stave off the catastrophe millions of Palestinians are facing.
HAITI Gang violence in Haiti has rapidly escalated over the last week, with criminal groups launching coordinated attacks on government buildings and storming prisons, in a bid to overthrow Prime Minister Ariel Henry's government. The attacks began last week, when Henry went to Nairobi to salvage a UN-backed international mission that would involve the deployment of around 1,000 Kenyan police officers, along with personnel from other countries, to help restore order in Haiti. Henry has been unable to return to the country. Crisis Group expert Diego Da Rin says the international mission now urgently needs to move ahead as Haitian security forces are overwhelmed, and the gangs are inching closer to gaining complete control of the capital Port-au-Prince.
SAHEL Military leaders from Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso Wednesday announced the formation of a joint force to combat jihadist insurgents. This step comes after the three countries formed a mutual defence pact, the Alliance of Sahel States, last September and withdrew from the regional bloc ECOWAS at the end of January. All three countries have struggled to contain jihadist violence, which has worsened significantly in recent years. Crisis Group expert Jean-Hervé Jezequel says rebuilding a regional security approach definitely makes sense, though details of the joint force are unclear. In any case, authorities in the three countries should consider establishing a political track, possibly including talks with some militant groups, as a military-focused approach is unlikely to bring stability to the Sahel in the long run.
MEXICO Gunmen assassinated two mayoral hopefuls in Maravatío, Michoacán state, Monday. Both were set to run in general elections scheduled for 2 June, the run-up to which has been marred by violence throughout the country. In 2024 alone, 33 political figures, including ten candidates for office, have been killed nationwide. Crisis Group expert Falko Ernst says this year's polls could be the bloodiest in Mexican history. Insufficient protection measures by the government have let criminal groups shoot it out for institutional influence and public contracts, largely with impunity.
PALESTINE Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh and his government submitted their resignations Monday to President Mahmoud Abbas. In his announcement, Shtayyeh highlighted the "urgent need for Palestinian-Palestinian consensus based on national unity" in light of the war in Gaza and escalating violence in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Crisis Group expert Tahani Mustafa says the cabinet reshuffle is meant in part to appease calls by the U.S. and others for a "revitalised" Palestinian Authority uniting Gaza and the West Bank under a single post-war government, a suggestion that Israel has repeatedly ruled out. Yet continued rule by Abbas and his entourage will militate against factional reconciliation and political renewal, something the fragmented Palestinian scene sorely needs.
SUDAN U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken Monday announced the appointment of Tom Perriello as special envoy for Sudan. In this role, Perriello will be tasked with advancing efforts to end the war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Crisis Group expert Shewit Woldemichael says a special envoy was urgently needed after growing calls for Washington to put more weight behind efforts to resolve the conflict in Sudan. Perriello will have his work cut out as multiple attempts to mediate between the warring parties have yielded few results. The country's humanitarian crisis continues to worsen after more than ten months of fighting.
PAKISTAN The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples Party announced at midnight Wednesday they would join forces to form a government, following disputed 8 February elections in which, according to provisional results, they finished second and third, respectively. The top vote getter was Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, though it did not win enough parliamentary seats to name its own cabinet. PTI supporters, who allege rigging in various locations and insist on a recount, were outraged at the other parties' preemptive action. Protests are in the offing, says Crisis Group expert Samina Ahmed, and they could turn ugly. Lacking a strong popular mandate, the incoming government will struggle to make hard decisions needed to kickstart a moribund economy and counter rising militant threats.
RWANDA-DR CONGO With M23 rebels threatening Goma, the capital of North Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the U.S. put out a statement Sunday calling on the insurgents to stand down amid the worsening violence. The statement also "condemned" what Washington and Kinshasa, along with the UN and others, say is Rwandan support for the M23, including by means of Rwandan troops stationed on Congolese soil. Kigali issued a strongly worded response, accusing Kinshasa of harbouring Rwandan rebels. Crisis Group expert Richard Moncrieff says international stances on Rwanda's actions in the DRC appear to be hardening somewhat, with the U.S. leading the charge. But concerted pressure on Kigali and Kinshasa will be needed to see the beginnings of a new regional peace deal.
UNITED NATIONS The U.S. vetoed a Security Council resolution tabled by Algeria calling for a ceasefire in Gaza on Tuesday. It also floated its own draft, cautioning against an Israeli offensive in Rafah, the city in southernmost Gaza where over a million civilians are trapped. Crisis Group expert Richard Gowan says the U.S. may have introduced the draft to deflect attention from the veto, which provoked anger worldwide. But Washington is nonetheless signalling for the first time that there are limits to its support for Israel's campaign at the UN.
ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN An Azerbaijani attack Tuesday killed four Armenian soldiers along the two countries' heavily militarised border. Baku stated it conducted the attack in response to Armenian provocations at the border earlier this week, which resulted in wounding one of its border guards, a claim Yerevan denied but said it would investigate. This incident ended a period of relative calm following Azerbaijan's lightning offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh last September. Crisis Group expert Olesya Vartanyan says it deals a blow to the prospect of thawing relations between Baku and Yerevan after talks late last year had yielded progress. Word that the two countries' leaders may meet at this weekend's Munich Security Conference may suggest they are looking to restore quiet.
DR CONGO South Africa announced Monday the deployment of 2,900 soldiers to the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) mission supporting Kinshasa in fighting M23 rebels in the eastern province of North Kivu. Some of these troops have already engaged in combat. Violence is surging in the region, with clashes between the M23 and government forces intensifying around Sake town, forcing thousands to flee to Goma, the provincial capital nearby, and Minova in neighbouring South Kivu. On Thursday, Pretoria announced the first two fatalities among its soldiers. Absent a diplomatic path to end the conflict, says Crisis Group expert Richard Moncrieff, the SADC forces are unlikely to turn the tide.
LEBANON Clashes escalated this week between Israel and Hizbollah, raising fears that their exchange of fire may blow up into full-scale war. On Wednesday, rockets launched from southern Lebanon struck an Israeli military base in Safed, killing a soldier and wounding eight others. Israel retaliated with airstrikes across southern Lebanon, which claimed the lives of a senior Hizbollah commander, two Hizbollah fighters and ten civilians. Crisis Group expert David Wood says serious incidents like this week's risk propelling the conflict toward a disastrous confrontation - even if both parties seem for now to prefer to avoid that outcome.
COLOMBIA Ahead of a UN Security Council visit, Colombia reached an agreement with the ELN, the country's largest remaining insurgency, that will see a bilateral ceasefire extended for another six months and an end to kidnapping for ransom. The ceasefire has reduced clashes between the guerrillas and the state, said Crisis Group expert Elizabeth Dickinson. But more is needed in the coming weeks, including better monitoring of compliance on both sides, to ensure that civilians reap the benefits.
EL SALVADOR Salvadorans headed to the polls on 4 February for presidential and congressional elections, with President Nayib Bukele seeking an unconstitutional immediate re-election. Bukele has proclaimed that he won with an overwhelming majority and world leaders have congratulated him. But a collapse in the tallying means there are still no official results, leading to allegations of fraud aimed at making sure Bukele's party, Nuevas Ideas, has full control of Congress. Crisis Group expert Pamela Ruiz says Bukele's win was not surprising, given the broad support for his security policy, which has significantly lowered gang violence throughout the country. As manual counts in Congressional votes begin, electoral authorities must ensure transparency, including allowing independent press outlets to broadcast tallies, to put allegations of cheating to rest.
GAZA-ISRAEL Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday rejected the terms of a Hamas-proposed ceasefire, saying the military would continue its offensive in Gaza until it achieves "total victory". He ordered Israeli troops to prepare for a push into Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, which has become a last refuge for more than half of the strip's residents. Crisis Group experts Mairav Zonszein and Tahani Mustafa say the prospect of expanding the ground offensive into Rafah is alarming, leaving Palestinians in Gaza, already suffering a humanitarian catastrophe, with no way to escape the fighting. Even if Israel deals a blow to the militants there, its war aims of eradicating Hamas and freeing the more than 100 hostages still held captive in the strip will likely remain elusive.
SAHEL The military regimes in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger announced Sunday they will be leaving ECOWAS, the West African economic bloc. Crisis Group expert Jean-Hervé Jezequel says the move comes as a shock: it shows how deep the rift between the three Sahelian states and other governments has become following the July 2023 coup in Niamey. If the trio of regimes goes on to scrap regional trade and travel agreements, the lives of tens of millions of people will be disrupted. To avoid further escalation, the two sides should start discussions about mitigating the ramifications of this decision as soon as possible.
UNITED STATES An armed drone hit Tower 22, a facility used by the U.S. military in far north-eastern Jordan on the Syrian border, killing three U.S. servicemembers Sunday. It followed a series of strikes and counterstrikes involving the "axis of resistance" - Iran-linked militant groups - and the U.S. military in the Middle East as Israel's campaign in Gaza continues. The White House said it believes an assemblage of Iraqi groups launched this particular attack, adding that the U.S. response "won't just be a one-off". Crisis Group expert Brian Finucane says restraint is advisable, since Washington is not the only actor with a vote on whether the exchanges keep escalating. A ceasefire in Gaza is the best way to make sure they do not.
VENEZUELA Last week, the government-controlled Supreme Court upheld a ban on opposition figure Maria Corina Machado running for office. Machado won an opposition primary in October, making her the main challenger to President Nicolás Maduro in the election due sometime in 2024. The ban threatens the vote's validity, setting back prospects of an exit from Venezuela's protracted political and humanitarian crisis. The opposition called it a violation of government commitments under October's Barbados agreement, which laid out conditions for the polls, while the U.S. announced it would begin reinstating sanctions it had lifted thereafter. But all is not lost, says Crisis Group expert Phil Gunson, as long as the opposition, backed by outside allies, sticks to contesting the election rather than boycotting it.
ISRAEL-GAZA The International Court of Justice on Friday delivered an interim ruling calling on Israel to take steps to prevent genocide in Gaza and allow in humanitarian aid, stopping short of calling for a ceasefire. The ruling came as the Israeli army this week intensified its assault on Gaza, encircling Khan Younis, the second-largest city in the enclave, killing hundreds of Palestinians. On Monday, 24 Israeli soldiers were killed in the deadliest incident for Israel since 7 October. Crisis Group expert Tahani Mustafa says Israel's military operations in Khan Younis are deepening a humanitarian catastrophe. The Palestinian death toll since the start of the war has now surpassed 26,000.
UKRAINE Russian missiles hit Ukraine's two largest cities, Kyiv and Kharkiv, killing at least six people on Tuesday. The attacks came two days after Russian-installed authorities in the occupied city of Donetsk claimed Ukrainian artillery had killed at least 26 people in a suburban market. Amid uncertainty about whether Washington and Brussels will make good on their aid pledges, says Crisis Group expert Simon Schlegel, Ukraine will likely shift to a more defensive posture and extend its fortifications along the front lines.
ETHIOPIA-SOMALIA Somalia continues to lobby allies to increase pressure on Ethiopia to stop it from following through with a 1 January agreement with Somaliland, whose declaration of independence Mogadishu does not accept. Landlocked Ethiopia signed a memorandum of understanding with Somaliland to lease land on its coast for naval facilities, in exchange for recognition. On Sunday, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, an Ethiopian rival, vowed to support Somalia in what Mogadishu terms a plot by Addis Ababa to "annex" its territory. Crisis Group expert Omar Mahmood says the development is ratcheting up tensions at a delicate time in the Horn of Africa, threatening continued Ethiopia-Somalia cooperation on crucial matters such as fighting the Al-Shabaab insurgents.
IRAN Tehran this week launched missiles into Iraq, Syria and Pakistan, striking what it alleged were bases used by groups implicated in attacks in Iran as well as high-profile killings of Iranian and allied commanders outside the country. Baghdad and Islamabad denounced the strikes, with the former rejecting Tehran's claim to have hit an Israeli intelligence-linked site near Erbil and the latter denying Iran's assertion it had targeted militants. On Thursday, Pakistan launched retaliatory strikes on what it claims were separatist militant hideouts in Iran. The brazenness of Iran's actions, says Crisis Group expert Ali Vaez, shows the government is stinging at having suffered successive setbacks. Yet its countermeasures could end up exacerbating risks to Iran's security while damaging ties with key neighbours.
SUDAN The army Tuesday announced it is suspending its participation in mediation efforts led by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), accusing the East African bloc of violating Sudan's sovereignty by inviting Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, leader of its foe the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces to an extraordinary summit in Uganda Thursday to discuss the Sudanese crisis. Crisis Group expert Shewit Woldemichael says the setback for IGAD is another blow to peace efforts, after separate talks between the warring parties in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia broke down last month. World and regional powers need to make a coordinated push for peace, as the conflict is spreading in Sudan's east, worsening an already dire humanitarian crisis.
TAIWAN On 13 January, Taiwan elected Lai Ching-te as its next president, marking a historic third term for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. Lai has pledged to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen, taking a moderate approach toward China, but Beijing has painted Lai as pro-independence. Crisis Group expert Amanda Hsiao says China's response to Lai's election has been measured so far, but Beijing could turn up the heat on Taipei around his inauguration in May. To avoid escalation, Beijing should roll back its military pressures on Taiwan, Taipei and Washington should keep signalling commitment to the status quo that has underwritten cross-strait peace and security for decades, and all three parties should clearly communicate their expectations, intentions and concerns in the lead-up to the transition.
ECUADORA wave of gang violence erupted in Ecuador this week after prominent gang leader Adolfo Macías escaped from prison, prompting riots in jails across the country that spread to nearby cities. On Tuesday, gunmen stormed a TV station, briefly holding hostages while on the air. The same day, President Daniel Noboa declared an "internal armed conflict", ordering the military to go after 22 criminal gangs he labelled terrorists. Crisis Group expert Glaeldys González Calanche says the government first needs to regain control of prisons as it works to contain the situation, which is likely to escalate further.
GAZA-ISRAELAs Israel continues its offensive in Gaza, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken travelled to the Middle East this week, where he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Blinken reiterated calls to protect civilians in Gaza and outlined plans for the strip's post-war governance led by a "revitalised" Palestinian Authority. Crisis Group experts Mairav Zonszein and Tahani Mustafa say Blinken's visit is unlikely to change the war's course as Israel's leadership looks committed to pursuing its objective of dismantling Hamas. Absent U.S. support for a permanent ceasefire, the humanitarian catastrophe in the strip is likely to worsen.
MYANMAROn 4 January, the military's last remaining base in Laukkaing, capital of the Kokang self-administered zone in northern Shan State on the Chinese border, surrendered to the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, leaving all of the zone under the ethnic armed group's control. The deal to surrender the city was facilitated by China, without a shot fired. More than 2,300 troops were stationed there at the time. Crisis Group expert Richard Horsey says it is the most significant ground the military has given up in decades, one of a string of humiliating losses across northern Shan in recent weeks that have emboldened its opponents. On 12 January, a ceasefire brokered by China was announced for northern Shan. If it holds, which is not certain, it allows the armed groups the space to consolidate their gains, while preventing even more serious losses for the military.
ETHIOPIA-SOMALILAND Ethiopia announced Monday it has agreed to lease a 20km stretch of Red Sea coastline from neighbouring Somaliland for a naval base. In exchange, Somaliland is to get shares in Ethiopian Airlines. Hargeisa says the deal also includes acknowledgement of Somaliland as a sovereign state, which would make Addis Ababa the first capital to recognise its 1991 declaration of independence from Somalia. Mogadishu reacted furiously, with President Hassan Sheikh Mahamud saying: "Not an inch of Somalia can or will be signed away by anybody". Crisis Group expert Will Davison says Ethiopia's commitment to recognising Somaliland appears tentative, meaning the lease may fall through. But for the time being the announcement has ratcheted up tensions in the Horn of Africa, a region already roiled by several conflicts.
IRAN Two bombs shook the city of Kerman Wednesday morning, during ceremonies commemorating Qassem Soleimani, the Revolutionary Guards commander killed in a 2020 U.S. drone strike in Iraq. Authorities said 84 people died in the explosions, while over 200 others were injured. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei vowed a "harsh response" to what he called the "terrorist attacks", which were subsequently claimed by Islamic State or ISIS. The government may have little choice but to respond strongly, says Crisis Group expert Ali Vaez, given the high death toll and the bombings' timing and place. It may retaliate against ISIS in some way and crack down domestically. If Tehran attempts to link the Kerman attack to Israel, it could fuel Middle East tensions that are already combustible with the Gaza war continuing.
LEBANON An Israeli strike Tuesday killed Saleh al-Arouri, deputy chair of Hamas's political bureau. Crisis Group expert David Wood says the assassination represents a significant escalation of the post-7 October clashes between Israel and Hizbollah - and not just because Hamas is the Shiite party's ally. It occurred in Beirut's southern suburbs, where Hizbollah has numerous offices and many of its supporters live, an area far away from the previously accepted conflict zone near the Israeli border. Hizbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah announced Wednesday that the killing would not "go unpunished". Fears are mounting that the group will retaliate severely, but it may opt for more restraint, in keeping with its efforts over the past three months to avoid large-scale conflict with Israel.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGOOver 43 million Congolese are set to go to the polls next Wednesday to elect a new president as well as parliamentary, provincial and local representatives. The electoral commission is struggling to deliver voting materials to polling stations, with the government calling for Angolan and UN assistance. Meanwhile, a campaign meeting in Kongo Central province turned violent this week. Crisis Group expert Richard Moncrieff says the authorities seem determined to avoid delaying the elections. Yet thousands of polling stations may not have what they need to function, increasing the chance of disputed results.
GAZA-ISRAEL On Tuesday, the UN General Assembly passed a nonbinding resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. The U.S. had vetoed a UN Security Council ceasefire resolution the previous Friday. Crisis Group experts Tahani Mustafa and Mairav Zonszein say the General Assembly vote reflects converging global public opinion regarding the Gaza war, with the U.S. increasingly isolated in its support for Israel. Palestinians in Gaza are facing a humanitarian catastrophe as Israel continues its bombardment amid the collapse of the strip's health care system and the outbreak of infectious disease. The Gaza death toll now stands at over 18,000.
YEMEN The Houthi rebels have fired missiles at several cargo vessels, after briefly seizing one in November, raising concerns about the security of shipping lanes in the Bab al-Mandab, the strait connecting the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea. The Houthis have signalled their intent to continue these attacks, mostly targeting Israel-bound or Israel-linked commercial ships, as long as Israel continues its war in Gaza. Crisis Group expert Ahmed Nagi says the escalation in the Red Sea threatens to expand the conflict to Yemen. It could also undermine Saudi-Houthi talks aimed at ending Yemen's own eight-year war.
GAZA-ISRAEL After a "humanitarian pause" broke down last Friday, Israel's military pressed its offensive further into southern Gaza this week, while heavy fighting continued in the north as well. On Wednesday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the humanitarian system in Gaza is on the verge of collapse and, for the first time since 1989, invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter, forcing the Security Council to discuss a course of action. Crisis Group experts Tahani Mustafa and Mairav Zonszein say a ceasefire is urgently needed as millions of Gaza residents are running out of options to escape the war and are at acute risk of disease and starvation.
SUDAN Talks between Sudan's armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia were suspended indefinitely this week after reportedly reaching a deadlock. After more than seven months of war, the country's humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate, with millions displaced and over half the population in need of aid amid mounting reports of war crimes. With both parties seemingly bent on military victory, says Crisis Group expert Shewit Woldemichael, the war is likely to spread. Urgent efforts are needed to bring the parties back to the negotiating table before another opportunity to end the war is squandered.
VENEZUELA-GUAYANA In a referendum Sunday, voters in Venezuela approved their country's claim to the oil-rich Essequibo region in Guyana, rejecting the International Court of Justice's jurisdiction in the territorial dispute. Two days later, President Nicolás Maduro proposed that parliament pass a bill creating a Venezuelan province in Essequibo and ordered the state oil company to make plans for tapping its hydrocarbon riches. Guyana responded by putting its armed forces on full alert. Crisis Group expert Phil Gunson says Maduro seeks to shore up nationalist support prior to next year's presidential election with his bellicose rhetoric. Caracas may think twice, however, before acting militarily as it has virtually no international support for its claims, even among its traditional allies.
CLIMATE Delegates gathered in Dubai Thursday for the 28th annual UN Climate Conference, where peace and security issues appear on the agenda for the first time. The hosts will ask participating nations to sign a Climate, Relief, Recovery and Peace Declaration and to pledge funds in support. Crisis Group expert Andrew Ciacci says the document is an important first step in raising awareness of the inequities war-torn countries face in dealing with climate change. But without concrete financial commitments, the effort will remain largely symbolic.
GAZA-ISRAEL Israel resumed its air and ground operations in the Gaza Strip Friday, after a seven-day "humanitarian pause" it had agreed to with Hamas. It blamed Hamas for the renewed fighting, though both sides had violated the truce. Israeli planes dropped flyers in southern Gaza warning residents to move toward Rafah on the Egyptian border. During the "pause", Hamas released 110 of the hostages it took in its 7 October attacks on Israel, while Israel freed 240 Palestinians from prison. Israel also allowed vital aid into Gaza, but not in sufficient quantities. Crisis Group experts Tahani Mustafa and Mairav Zonszein say the imperative now, given the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe and human suffering to date, is to pursue a permanent ceasefire.
SIERRA LEONE An unknown number of armed men attacked military barracks, prisons and an armoury in the capital Freetown Sunday. At least twenty people were killed, including thirteen soldiers, while 1,890 prisoners escaped from jail. The government says the attacks were a failed coup attempt. After restoring calm, authorities imposed a nationwide curfew. The incidents came five months after President Julius Maada Bio won re-election amid concerns in the West about the vote's transparency. Crisis Group expert Rinaldo Depagne says the episode is the latest illustration of a striking years-long trend in West Africa whereby electoral controversies expose the victors to the threat of violent overthrow.
DR CONGO Presidential candidates kicked off a month-long campaign Sunday. Incumbent President Felix Tshisekedi is seen as the front runner, in part because the opposition did not throw its weight behind a single challenger. The campaign comes amid a surge of fighting in the eastern DRC, where M23 rebels now occupy much of North Kivu province, drawing close to its capital Goma. Crisis Group expert Richard Moncrieff says the election, set for 20 December, faces myriad logistical challenges on top of mounting security concerns. Inflammatory rhetoric from the candidates heightens the risk of electoral violence in urban centres.
GAZA-ISRAEL A four-day humanitarian pause between Israel and Hamas went into effect Friday morning, marking the first break in seven weeks of devastating conflict in Gaza. The Qatari-mediated deal involves the release of at least 50 of the estimated 240 hostages in Gaza in exchange for 150 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, as well as allowing for more aid to cross into the strip from Egypt. Crisis Group experts Mairav Zonszein and Tahani Mustafa say the temporary truce offers much-needed respite to Palestinians in Gaza suffering shortages of basic necessities after weeks of Israeli bombardment, but it is not nearly enough. All sides should now focus on turning the pause into a permanent ceasefire.
KOREAN PENINSULA Pyongyang launched a satellite into orbit Wednesday after two failed attempts earlier this year. In response, South Korea suspended parts of a five-year-old military agreement with North Korea, vowing to resume aerial surveillance along the border. North Korea, for its part, immediately stated that it would no longer be bound by the agreement at all and announced plans to send more troops and military equipment to the border. Crisis Group expert Chris Green says the reconnaissance satellite will be a technological breakthrough for the North, if it functions as intended, one that markedly raises Pyongyang's surveillance capacity. Meanwhile, the inter-Korean military agreement's collapse is likely to bring the opposing forces into closer proximity, elevating the risk of cross-border clashes.
GAZA-ISRAEL Israel pushed on with its ground operations in the Gaza Strip for a third week, with the army laying siege to a major hospital it claimed (without yet presenting clear evidence) to be a Hamas command centre. Some 7,000 people are reportedly trapped inside. The humanitarian situation in Gaza is increasingly desperate, with water, food and fuel very hard to find. The death toll among Palestinians is well over 11,000; Israel reports that 50 of its soldiers have been killed. A ceasefire is urgent, say Crisis Group experts Tahani Mustafa and Mairav Zonszein, as is diplomacy to secure the release of the hostages held by Hamas. The signs, however, point to protracted war and even worse conditions for civilians in Gaza.<_o3a_p>
SUDANThe Rapid Support Forces (RSF) appeared to make major gains against the Sudanese army amid horrific reports of killings of civilians, looting and mass displacement in Darfur. Fighting between the two sides since April has devastated the country. Yet diplomacy has moved at a languid pace, says Crisis Group expert Shewit Woldemichael, with the warring parties waiting months before reconvening for talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia three weeks ago. The RSF is now expected to continue its offensive in regions that have been quiet so far. Outside actors should push the parties to reach a durable ceasefire before war engulfs all Sudan. <_o3a_p>
U.S.-CHINAPresidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met in San Francisco Wednesday for the first time in over a year. Crisis Group expert Amanda Hsiao says the most significant outcome is resumption of military-to-military communications, which Beijing had suspended following then-U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan in August 2022. The two leaders made gestures toward lowering the temperature around Taiwan, but actual de-escalation will require more concerted diplomacy and action. The meeting has helped rebuild mutual good-will that, while modest, could serve as a buffer should tensions flare once more. <_o3a_p>
AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN Pakistan this week continued the forcible deportation of thousands of Afghans after an ultimatum lapsed on 31 October for "illegal foreigners" to leave the country voluntarily. Islamabad cited alleged Afghan militant attacks near the border to justify the decision. The new rules apply to an estimated 1.7 million Afghans who are living in Pakistan without documentation. But millions of others may also be affected. Crisis Group expert Ibraheem Bahiss says Afghan authorities, already struggling to deal with one of the world's largest humanitarian crises, are not prepared for an influx of returning refugees. Pakistan should urgently reconsider its repatriation policy to avoid further destabilising the region.
GAZA The Israeli army this week continued its bombardment and ground operations inside Gaza, advancing into Gaza City and leading tens of thousands of Gazans to flee south. After a month of war, the death toll in the strip has surpassed 10,000. Meanwhile, the future of governance in Gaza remains unclear. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Wednesday voiced support for the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank taking over the enclave. Israel, for its part, announced plans to manage security in the strip for an indefinite period. Crisis Group expert Tahani Mustafa says neither option looks feasible. In any case, the immediate need is a ceasefire to stave off further devastation and civilian suffering.
MYANMAR Ethnic Kokang and Ta'ang armed groups, along with allied forces, launched an offensive against regime troops last week in northern Shan State. They seized several strategic towns, severed key trade routes to China and overran numerous hilltop bases. Crisis Group expert Richard Horsey says it is a moment of jeopardy for the junta ruling the country since 2021. While the armed groups are not part of the anti-coup resistance, their military success has encouraged opposition attacks in other parts of the country. The regime will want to respond decisively to avoid further emboldening its opponents, likely with serious humanitarian consequences. Regime or military collapse is still a distant prospect, however.
BANGLADESHOpposition forces including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) called a three-day blockade this week, attempting to disrupt road, rail and river transport, following clashes last Saturday between police and BNP protesters that left at least four dead. The BNP is demanding that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina step down prior to January 2024 elections, so that a technocratic caretaker cabinet can administer the polls. Authorities arrested Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and other leading BNP figures following last Saturday's "grand rally", accusing them of complicity in violent acts. Crisis Group expert Tom Kean says this crackdown has deepened polarisation in the country, lowering the chances of compromise between the parties before the elections and heightening the risk of further loss of life.<_o3a_p>
GAZAIsrael continued its bombardment of the Gaza Strip this week, also staging multiple ground incursions, following Hamas's attacks on Israel on 7 October. The death toll among Palestinians now tops 9,000, including more than 3,700 children. Crisis Group President and CEO Comfort Ero says world leaders should work urgently to conclude a ceasefire. There is no easy answer for how to deal with Hamas. But, in the long run, levelling much of Gaza, killing thousands of innocent Palestinians and risking regional war will not make Israel safer. <_o3a_p>
MEXICOHurricane Otis tore through the Pacific coastal city of Acapulco last week, leaving at least 46 people dead, 58 others missing and residents scrambling to find food and potable water. The storm had grown to category-five strength at unprecedented speed, reducing the time citizens had to prepare for its approach. Authorities are still assessing the extent of the damage. The government's aid response has been insufficient, says Crisis Group expert Falko Ernst, providing the area's powerful criminal groups with the opportunity to fill many gaps. In the short term, elements of organised crime could be handing out supplies; in the medium term, they may find it easier to recruit new members from among the ranks of jobless youth, whose prospects for legal employment the hurricane's effects have also battered.<_o3a_p>
DR CONGO Fighting intensified this week between M23 rebels and pro-government forces, shattering a fragile six-month calm, with clashes occurring within 20km of the North Kivu provincial capital, Goma. On Tuesday, Kinshasa accused Rwandan army units of mounting an incursion into North Kivu to support the M23. According to the UN, over 100,000 people have been displaced since battles resumed in early October. Crisis Group expert Onesphore Sematumba says the latest round of combat, coming just weeks before elections slated for 20 December, will compromise the vote in this troubled area, stymie efforts to reach a ceasefire and add to the struggles of the East African Community force that deployed to contain the violence.
ISRAEL-GAZA The Israeli army this week conducted multiple ground incursions into northern and central Gaza, claiming to strike a series of Hamas targets in preparation for a wider offensive. Meanwhile, the situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate, with more than a million people displaced and food, water and fuel in short supply as Israeli air and artillery strikes intensified throughout the strip, flattening entire neighbourhoods and causing thousands of civilian casualties. Crisis Group expert Mairav Zonszein says it is unclear whether a ground offensive could dislodge Hamas from Gaza, and even if it were to, what the day after would look like. It would also likely exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in the strip and significantly raise the risk of a regional conflict.
MEXICO A criminal group killed thirteen police officers on Monday in El Papayo, a coastal town north of Acapulco, Guerrero. Two other officers are missing. The ambush was the latest in a string of increasingly aggressive attacks on security forces in this southern Mexican state. Just days prior, the Guerrero state attorney's office had instructed its personnel to halt all activities due to insecurity. Crisis Group expert Falko Ernst says the government lacks effective strategies for quelling the violence, enabling organised crime to broaden its sway. Rank-and-file police often pay the price. In the past five years, more than 2,000 have lost their lives.
COLOMBIAThe Colombian government Tuesday signed a three-month ceasefire with a dissident faction of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), known as the EMC. The accord comes at a crucial moment, just ahead of the 29 October local elections, and includes a provision to ensure the vote moves ahead without armed interference. Unlike past ceasefires, says Crisis Group expert Elizabeth Dickinson, this agreement focuses on civilian protection, including key commitments to safeguard the rights of children, ethnic communities and other vulnerable populations. It is vital that communities start to feel the impact of de-escalation in their daily lives.
IRAQ Iran-backed militias conducted drone strikes Wednesday on the Ain al-Assad and Harir air bases in the Anbar and Erbil provinces, respectively, lightly injuring a number of U.S. soldiers stationed there. The U.S. military reported additional attacks Thursday on its facilities in Iraq and Syria. Angry about U.S. support for Israel in the Gaza war, the Iran-aligned armed groups in Iraq have threatened to keep targeting U.S. assets. Crisis Group expert Lahib Higel, says their attacks are likely to continue.
SOUTH CHINA SEAThe Philippine military called out Beijing Sunday for "dangerous and offensive manoeuvres", saying a Chinese warship cut across the bow of a Philippine vessel near Thitu island, the Philippines' largest outpost in the Spratlys, a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea. Beijing insisted its ship's actions were "lawful and legitimate". The incident followed a standoff last month that pitted a Philippine resupply mission against the Chinese coast guard over the Second Thomas Shoal. Crisis Group expert Georgi Engelbrecht says the incident is another reminder that the Sea is full of flashpoints. With Manila becoming more assertive with its own patrols, further escalation may not be a matter of if but when.
GUATEMALA Indigenous, student and civil society organisations have set up more than 100 roadblocks as part of a growing national strike demanding respect for the 2023 election results. The strike was called by Indigenous authorities, the 48 Cantones of Totonicapán, to compel the resignation of officials who they see as attacking the elections' integrity, including by casting doubt on Bernardo Arévalo's victory in the presidential race. The president-elect has denounced these officials' efforts as a "slow-motion coup". Crisis Group expert Pamela Ruiz says the protests bespeak widespread indignation. Most have been peaceful, but demonstrators say provocateurs have infiltrated some in attempts to spark violence that would bring a harsh crackdown.
ISRAEL-GAZA Israeli troops massed around the Gaza Strip in seeming preparation for a ground invasion, days after Hamas launched its unprecedented assault inside Israel, killing some 1,200 people, many of whom were civilians, and taking numerous hostages. Crisis Group expert Tahani Mustafa says the Hamas attacks were likely a desperate attempt to bring about change in the status quo, a 17-year siege of Gaza that has made the enclave essentially unlivable. Now Israel's response - intense bombardment, along with cutoffs of electricity, fuel and food supplies, amounting to collective punishment on a massive scale - is creating a humanitarian catastrophe in the coastal strip. On Friday, Israel told the 1.1 million inhabitants of northern Gaza to move south. A ground invasion would doubtless make the situation far worse.
LEBANON-ISRAEL Hizbollah and Israel have been trading occasional fire over the Lebanon-Israel border since Sunday, the Gaza war's second day. Both sides appear keen to avoid escalation. But an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza could yet pull the Shiite Islamist group into the fray, as could rockets launched at Israel by Palestinian groups in Lebanon that bring Israeli retaliation. Crisis Group expert Heiko Wimmen says a Gaza ceasefire is the only sure way to forestall these scenarios. In the meantime, Hizbollah should impress upon its Palestinian allies, and Western countries upon Israel, that opening a second front is in no one's interest.
ARMENIA More than 100,000 ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh have sought refuge in Armenia following Azerbaijan's mid-September offensive that ended the enclave's de facto self-rule. Beyond providing them with food, shelter and health care, says Crisis Group expert Olesya Vartanyan, it is vital to plan for the future. Not only are the new arrivals traumatised by war, but many also speak a dialect that people in Armenia cannot understand. Yerevan will likely require outside aid and expertise to help them integrate. Authorities should take care that programming is gender-responsive, meeting the particular needs of women, children and the elderly.
HAITI The UN Security Council authorised a new multinational mission in Haiti Monday. Crisis Group expert Diego Da Rin says specialised foreign forces, which could deploy within three months, will likely help police reduce the unprecedented ferocity of gang violence in the country as well as ease the flow of humanitarian aid. But it remains crucial that acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry reach an agreement with a broad cross-section of the opposition to form a transitional government with proper checks and balances. In the absence of such an accord, many Haitians may see the mission merely as a means for Henry and his allies to strengthen their hold on power.
TÜRKIYE The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) bombed police headquarters in Ankara on Sunday, the first time it has hit the Turkish capital since 2016. The group is likely trying to demonstrate resilience with the attack; it has been under significant pressure from the Turkish military on the battlefield. Ankara retaliated immediately with a wave of arrests inside Türkiye as well as airstrikes on PKK and allied targets in northern Iraq and northern Syria, straining ties with Washington. The U.S. said it shot down an armed Turkish drone Wednesday flying close to its troops in Syria. Ankara denied the drone belonged to the Turkish armed forces. Crisis Group expert Berkay Mandıracı says the four-decade conflict will now likely escalate further with the Turkish military doubling down on trying to weaken the PKK and the latter pushing back.
KOSOVOHeavily armed Serbs attacked police Sunday in Banjska, a northern Kosovo village, and then occupied a monastery, leading to a day-long standoff. A policeman and three of the assailants were killed. Prime Minister Albin Kurti accused Serbia of backing the attack; Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić denied involvement and blamed Kurti for provocations. Crisis Group expert Marko Prelec says the military-grade weapons seized from the attackers indicate Serbs in northern Kosovo, where they are in the majority, are preparing for a fight. With neither Kurti nor Vučić likely to make unilateral concessions, negotiations are the best bet for averting major escalation.
NIGERFrench President Emmanuel Macron announced Sunday that France would withdraw its troops from Niger and recall its ambassador. Relations between Paris and Niamey have soured since a junta deposed President Mohamed Bazoum in July. Coup leaders in Niger have tapped into growing anti-French sentiment to shore up popular support, says Crisis Group expert Jean-Hervé Jezequel. But France's departure from the country also means the military will have a hard time avoiding accountability should it fail to maintain security in the coming period.
YEMENA drone strike Monday killed three Bahraini soldiers stationed near the Saudi-Yemeni border. The soldiers belonged to the Saudi-led coalition forces fighting the Houthi rebels. Bahrain blamed the Houthis for the attack, while the coalition condemned it, asserting the right to respond. Without acknowledging the strike, the Houthis accused the coalition of breaking the de facto truce, which has largely held after formally lapsing almost a year ago. The incident is concerning in light of recent advances in Houthi-Saudi ceasefire talks, says Crisis Group expert Ahmed Nagi, but neither side appears inclined to escalate.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC-HAITI The Dominican Republic last Friday shut its borders with Haiti, escalating a dispute over construction of a canal by farmers on the Haitian side. The canal taps into the Massacre River, which runs along the northern border, to irrigate the drought-stricken Maribaroux plains. The Dominican government claims that digging it violates a 1929 treaty on shared use of the river waters. Crisis Group expert Diego Da Rin says the border closure could significantly harm both countries' economies at a time when living conditions in Haiti have already deteriorated amid rampant gang violence and rising hunger.
MALI Fresh fighting broke out Sunday between Malian forces and a coalition of Tuareg rebels who claim to have temporarily seized two army bases in Lere, a town in the northern Timbuktu region. Clashes have intensified in recent weeks amid the withdrawal of MINUSMA, the UN stabilisation mission in the country, after ten years of deployment. Neither side stands to benefit from resuming hostilities, says Crisis Group expert Ibrahim Maiga. A return to dialogue is in the best interest of both the Malian state and the rebel groups, which signed a peace agreement with Bamako in 2015.
UNITED NATIONS World leaders attended the UN General Assembly for its annual high-level week in New York. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to both the Assembly and the UN Security Council, attempting to rally stronger support for Kyiv in fending off Russia's aggression, but the main theme of the gathering was economic development, says Crisis Group expert Richard Gowan. As Zelenskyy huddled with non-Western leaders, lobbying them to take a harder line against Moscow, Western leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, focused on addressing the economic concerns of the so-called Global South.
COLOMBIAThe government released a new counter-narcotics strategy Saturday, aimed at helping small farmers find alternatives to growing coca as well as improving law enforcement. Days later, the UN reported that Colombia's coca crop had reached record levels in 2022, helping drive the price down dramatically. Crisis Group expert Elizabeth Dickinson says the government has a unique opportunity to help farmers stop planting coca, thus following through on President Gustavo Petro's promises to shift the focus of anti-drug efforts off the rural poor onto crime bosses.
NORTH KOREA-RUSSIANorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un travelled to Russia for unexpected talks Wednesday with President Vladimir Putin. The two affirmed North Korean-Russian friendship but made no concrete announcements. After two failed satellite launches this year, says Crisis Group expert Chris Green, North Korea is likely seeking technological assistance. It may also be hoping that Russia will admit more North Korean workers. Putin accepted an invitation to visit Pyongyang, a sign of closer relations that will unsettle Washington and Seoul. The U.S. threatened additional sanctions on Moscow should the two countries make a deal for North Korea to send weapons to Russia in order to aid its war effort in Ukraine.
SUDANAn airstrike on a market in the capital Khartoum Sunday, carried out by the Sudanese air force, killed over 40 civilians, one of the highest single-incident death tolls since war broke out between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in April. Meanwhile, attacks by all sides on residential areas intensifed in the Darfur and Kordofan regions. Crisis Group expert Shewit Woldemichael says outside actors now leading competing peace initiatives urgently need to coordinate diplomacy to end the fighting.
GABONBrice Oligui Nguema, leader of the junta that toppled long-time President Ali Bongo last week, was sworn in as interim president Monday, promising elections but giving no date for military rule to end. The coup in Gabon is the latest in a string of putsches in former French colonies in West Africa. It comes barely a month after a group of generals took power in Niger. Crisis Group expert Pauline Bax says the reasons for Gabon's coup are markedly different from the causes of the earlier military takeovers. Nonetheless, the putsch signals that popular support for governing elites is declining in West Africa, leading some to see the military as a viable alternative.
SYRIADeadly clashes between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and allied Arab militias continued this week in north-eastern Syria. Fighting broke out after the SDF detained the (Arab) head of the Deir al-Zor Military Council, its local affiliate formed by the SDF in 2016. The initially isolated clashes expanded as Arab tribes reacted to reports that the SDF had killed or wounded dozens of civilians from the Council head's community. Crisis Group expert Heiko Wimmen says the violence can be seen as a failure of the SDF's governance approach since it took control of Deir al-Zor in 2019, when it sidelined local actors and largely neglected the area's security and economy.
UKRAINEPresident Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov Sunday, following allegations that the ministry has mishandled repeated cases of corruption. Reznikov himself is not accused of wrongdoing and will become Ukraine's ambassador in London. Zelenskyy named Rustem Umerov, the trusted head of the state property fund, as Reznikov's replacement. Crisis Group expert Simon Schlegel says Kyiv is eager to signal that it is fighting corruption in state institutions and that the sacrifices by the population and Western support are brought to good use.
GUATEMALAThe Supreme Electoral Tribunal on Monday officially declared Bernardo Arévalo of the Movimiento Semilla party winner of the 20 August presidential runoff. Hours earlier, the electoral registry, a body within the Tribunal, announced that Semilla's legal status was being provisionally suspended in response to a judicial order following accusations of irregularities in gathering signatures for the party's formation. Two days later, the Board of Directors of Congress refused to recognise Semilla as a party. Arévalo said the party's cancellation was legally void and vowed to appeal the decision. Crisis Group expert Pamela Ruiz says domestic and international actors monitoring the risk of unrest should keep an eye on legal attacks on Semilla and other attempts to weaken Arévalo before he takes power on 14 January.
RUSSIAYevgeny Prigozhin, head of the mercenary Wagner Group, was buried in St Petersburg Tuesday after his plane crashed in the Tver region last week, killing him and all the company's other top figures. The incident came two months after Prigozhin organised an armed rebellion, marching on but stopping short of Moscow. The circumstances of his death have become a topic of widespread speculation. Absent its leaders, Wagner has an uncertain future. Crisis Group expert Oleg Ignatov says if Wagner emerges from this episode diminished, it will inevitably affect the Kremlin's operations and ambitions in Africa and other regions where Moscow has relied on the group to advance its interests.
ZIMBABWEPresident Emmerson Mnangagwa on Saturday was declared the winner of last week's election, granting him a final five-year term in office. The main opposition party was quick to reject the result, alleging massive irregularities in the vote and demanding fresh elections. Election observers, notably from the Southern African Development Community, also criticised the conduct of the polls, pointing to curbs on freedom of assembly and bans on opposition campaign rallies. Crisis Group expert Nicolas Delaunay says the irregularities, coming on top of the government's patchy human rights record, are likely to hamper Harare's drive to re-engage with international partners and secure the removal of sanctions.
ECUADOR Pedro Briones, a local organiser for the Citizen Revolution party, was shot dead Monday, the fourth assassination of a political figure in the space of three weeks as 20 August elections draw near. Presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was killed last week; a legislative candidate and a mayor were gunned down before that. Six Colombians with alleged ties to organised crime have been arrested in the Villavicencio assassination. Villavicencio was an outspoken advocate of tough approaches to drug trafficking, corruption and other illicit activity. Crisis Group expert Glaeldys Gonzalez Calanche says the spate of murders highlights the salience of criminal violence as a political issue. It is likely to benefit candidates who promote heavy-handed security policies.
NIGER A group of West African countries met this week to discuss strategy for military intervention in Niger, after the junta the ignored an ultimatum the nations had set demanding reinstatement of President Mohamed Bazoum. Bazoum was deposed in a coup on 26 July. The West African bloc would prefer negotiations as a means of restoring democratic government but failing that is considering force. Authorities in Burkina Faso and Mali, who themselves seized power in military takeovers, have vowed to come to the Nigerien junta's defence should external actors try to dislodge it. Crisis Group expert Ibrahim Yahaya Ibrahim says outside powers concerned with a peaceful resolution to Niger's crisis should press urgently for dialogue so as to avert an armed conflict.
COLOMBIASecurity forces stepped up operations against the Gulf Clan and other criminal armed groups Monday, leaving twenty dead in clashes, three days before a formal ceasefire with the largest leftist insurgency, the National Liberation Army (ELN), went into effect. Crisis Group expert Elizabeth Dickinson says the government seems keen to regain a military advantage over armed organisations even as it pursues dialogue. It may signal a long-awaited alignment in Bogotá's strategy: seeking concessions from these groups using both force and negotiations.
LEBANONFighting erupted this week between factions in Ain al-Hilweh, a Palestinian refugee camp near the southern city of Sidon. The clashes, which pit forces loyal to the Fatah party against an array of Islamist-leaning groups, have killed at least twelve and displaced 300 families. Some link the gun battles to unrest in the West Bank, where the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority is cracking down on a new generation of militants. Others suspect that Hizbollah and elements of Hamas are egging on the Islamists in order to weaken Fatah. Crisis Group expert Heiko Wimmen says the confrontation continues a worrying trend whereby tensions in occupied Palestine manifest among Palestinians in Lebanon.
PAKISTANA suicide bomber struck an Islamist party's election campaign gathering in the Bajaur district near the Afghan border Sunday, killing 54 and injuring more than 200. Islamic State Khorasan Province (IS-KP), the area branch of ISIS, took responsibility. Crisis Group expert Jerome Drevon says the attack is likely connected to the conflict between IS-KP and the Afghan Taliban, who are friendly with the Pakistani party that was holding the rally. The Taliban have lately been dealing serious military blows to IS-KP in Afghanistan.
ECUADOR President Lasso declared a 60-day state of exception across Ecuador's prison system, in the provinces of Manabi and Los Rios, and in the city of Duran in response to raging violence. The mayor of Manta port city was gunned down, three days of clashes between gangs in the country's main prison in Guayaquil killed at least 31 inmates and armed men terrorised citizens in Esmeraldas and Guayaquil. Crisis Group expert Glaeldys Gonzalez says the government is limited to combating the criminal groups with the states of exception - which have not yielded effective results in the past - until new general elections are held. The groups are exploiting the government's limited capacity by expanding operations, confronting their rivals, and seizing strategic drug trafficking sites, all the while increasingly targeting local officials and politicians.
LIBYA The ongoing political crisis took a new turn on Tuesday after the House of Representatives approved a roadmap that sets the stage for the appointment of a supposed unity government next month. The ambition of unifying the country under a single executive and thereby ending rule by two parallel governments since early 2022 has its merits. But Crisis Group expert Claudia Gazzini says the move will face opposition from factions allied to the Tripoli government of Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dabaiba, which could mobilise in protest. The UN and Western capitals also have not expressed support for the House's decision, raising the question to what extent the new government, if indeed appointed, will enjoy international recognition.
NAGORNO-KARABAKH Armenia and Azerbaijan continue to engage in high-level dialogue under U.S., European Union and Russian auspices as the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh under Azerbaijan's blockade worsens each day, with severe shortages and hardship for local Armenians. The latest round of talks on Tuesday in Moscow concluded without any tangible results. Crisis Group expert Olesya Vartanyan says calming the escalating crisis and achieving lasting agreements is an urgent task, not least given the worsening humanitarian situation. Without a diplomatic breakthrough and an end to the blockade, tensions will continue to mount along the front lines amid repeated deadly incidents, any one of which could potentially escalate into a larger conflict with significant civilian casualties.
KENYAAt least six people have been killed and dozens arrested this week as opposition supporters in the capital Nairobi and cities across the country protest proposed increases in taxes, including on fuel, and more generally the rising cost of living. The government says the hikes, contained in its Finance Bill, will help it pay down debt, but the opposition has denounced them as inflationary when many Kenyans are already struggling financially. Politics raises the stakes: opposition leader Raila Odinga continues to reject President William Ruto's 2022 election victory. Bipartisan talks about the Finance Bill, among other issues, have stalled, and Kenya's High Court has suspended the legislation ending a legal challenge. With tensions between government and opposition running high, says Crisis Group expert Meron Elias, the unrest could very well intensify if the two sides do notresume talks.
PERUTens of thousands marched in the capital Lima and other departments Wednesday, while others blocked highways around provincial towns, calling on President Dina Boluarte to step down. Riot police fired tear gas at protesters carrying rocks and bottles; six demonstrators and two officers sustained injuries. Unrest has persisted in the country since December, when left-wing ex-President Pedro Castillo was arrested after illegally trying to dissolve Congress. Many protesters want closure of Congress, early general elections, work on a new constitution and Castillo's release. Crisis Group expert Glaeldys Gonzalez Calanche says the turmoil has deeper roots, however, in Peru's fragmented party system and widespread distrust in the main democratic institutions.
UNITED NATIONSOn Monday, Russia pulled out of the Black Sea grain deal, the crucial initiative launched in mid-2022 to allow Ukraine to resume shipping that had been stymied by a Russian naval blockade. The move sent jitters through global markets, bumping up grain prices. Crisis Group expert Richard Gowan says Moscow may be hoping to pressure Western states into easing obstacles to Russian agricultural exports and unblocking Russian assets. Its rejection of the grain deal comes right after it blocked a UN Security Council mandate authorising humanitarian aid to Syria. Having used the UN as a space for compromise with the West, Russia is taking a harder line as its war in Ukraine drags on.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLICHundreds of Wagner Group personnel flew out of the capital Bangui last week, a departure some speculated was tied to the Kremlin's attempt to rein in the private military company following its aborted mutiny in Russia in late June. Wagner mercenaries have been operating in the country since 2017, pursuant to an agreement between Bangui and Moscow. If a redeployment is under way, it appears to be limited, says Crisis Group expert Charles Bouessel. Russia has assured Central African authorities that its military assistance - Wagner is helping the army fight insurgents - will continue. Nonetheless, the news raises several questions, for instance who will now control the Wagner contingent in the country and what will happen to the economic assets the mercenaries have acquired.
NATOAlliance leaders met this week in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius for their second summit since Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine. Their ranks are now poised to grow by one, as NATO on Monday accepted Sweden's application to join, which Türkiye had previously held up, objecting to Stockholm's policies toward groups Ankara classes as terrorist. Crisis Group expert Olga Oliker says Sweden's historic reversal in seeking a NATO berth (alongside Finland, which has already joined) is a direct result of Russia's war in Ukraine: Stockholm and NATO capitals see Moscow's aggression as threatening all Europe. As for prospective Ukrainian membership, the alliance deferred with a carefully worded, if not unexpected, statement Tuesday promising Kyiv an invitation "when allies agree and conditions are met" even as it pledged continued aid to Ukraine.
ROHINGYA REFUGEESSix Rohingya living in camps in Bangladesh died last week in violence involving rival militant groups, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO). The RSO killed five ARSA members in a gunfight, according to Bangladeshi police, after ARSA murdered a refugee community leader. Crisis Group expert Tom Kean says the shootings are the latest escalation in a growing turf war among ARSA, the RSO and other factions. Insecurity has become a major problem in the camps, at least as big as the ration cuts that the UN has been forced to make due to declining international funding. Refugees increasingly fear for their own safety.
ISRAEL-PALESTINE The Israeli military on Monday launched its largest-scale offensive in the northern West Bank in years, deploying thousands of soldiers and conducting multiple airstrikes in Jenin. The operation killed at least twelve Palestinians, wounded 50 and forced 500 families to flee. Militants in Gaza fired rockets the next day. Crisis Group experts Tahani Mustafa and Mairav Zonszsein say this significant escalation may be the first in a series of increasingly routine incursions, which could mark a new and more violent stage in the conflict. The armed groups Israel hopes to deter are unlikely to back down because their emergence was driven by despair, anger and hopelessness at the status quo, including Israel's open commitment to entrench its control of occupied territory.
THAILAND After the progressive opposition Move Forward Party secured the most seats in May's general elections, the new Thai parliament convened to select a new speaker - Wan Muhamad Noor Matha, a veteran politician who ran unopposed. The new speaker will now convene a joint session with the 250-member military-appointed senate to elect the next government. Crisis Group expert Matt Wheeler says despite securing the most seats, Move Forward Party's leader Pita Limjareonrat faces legal and political hurdles in his quest to lead the next government. Street protests can be expected if the courts disqualify Pita from holding office.
VENEZUELA In a major blow to the prospects for a competitive, free and fair 2024 presidential election, the comptroller's office controlled by the Maduro government announced that María Corina Machado - the current opposition frontrunner - is barred from holding public office for fifteen years. Crisis Group expert Mariano de Alba says the arbitrary decision confirms that the government is in no mood to allow a competitive election after the unfair presidential poll in 2018 deepened Venezuela's political crisis and led to U.S. economic sanctions. The possibility of a negotiated agreement to improve electoral conditions in return for partial sanctions relief appears increasingly unlikely.
KENYA Suspected Al-Shabaab militants killed five villagers in Lamu county, just south of Somalia, last Saturday, raising the death toll in such cross-border attacks to at least 30 in the past month. The dead include soldiers and police, but also civilians. The killings followed Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki's visit to Lamu, during which he vowed to enhance security measures in the area. Crisis Group expert Meron Elias says Al-Shabaab has likely stepped up its incursions into Kenya because it is under pressure in Somalia, where the government has launched an offensive against the insurgency.
UGANDA Unknown assailants brutally murdered 44 people, most of them children, at a school close to the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last week. Six other students were kidnapped. Ugandan officials blamed the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a rebel group also known as Islamic State Central Africa Province, for the atrocity. The group has kept mum about the school attack, though the Islamic State did claim an ambush Wednesday that killed four Ugandan soldiers. In 2021, Kampala sent troops into the eastern DRC to track down the militants, who have been based there for some two decades. Crisis Group expert Richard Moncrieff says better coordination among regional intelligence services is needed to rein in the ADF.
UNITED STATES A UN special rapporteur, law professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, released a 23-page report Monday expressing "serious concerns" about conditions for the 30 men still held in the U.S. military's detention centre at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The U.S. opened the facility in 2002 to house people captured in its globe-spanning war on terrorism. Many prisoners have been there for twenty years; nineteen have never been charged with a crime. Ní Aoláin said "every single detainee" shows evidence of "deep psychological harm". She also claimed many are subject to "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment". The Biden administration said it disagreed "in significant respects" with some of her findings. Crisis Group expert Michael Wahid Hanna says the administration made the right decision in opening the jail to the UN special rapporteur's scrutiny. It was a step toward much needed transparency in the war on terror. The administration should move as quickly as possible to close the facility.
HONDURASAn apparent riot took at least 46 women's lives in a jail Tuesday. Most of the women burned to death in a fire and others died of gunshot wounds. President Xiomara Castro sacked the security minister, accusing prison authorities of "acquiescence" in the unrest, which she blamed on the criminal gangs prevalent in the country. Crisis Group expert Pamela Ruiz says it was the fourth such mass-casualty incident in Honduran jails since 2003, but the first in a women's penitentiary. Castro has restored military control of prisons, in a step back from promises to put civilian police in charge of the penal system.
PALESTINEA string of violent incidents this week raised tensions in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The Israeli army staged a major raid in Jenin refugee camp Monday, meeting stiff Palestinian resistance including an improvised explosive device. The fighting left six Palestinians dead and 92 wounded; seven Israeli soldiers were also injured. The army entered the camp to arrest suspects in an Israeli settler's killing in May. On Tuesday, Palestinian gunmen shot five settlers dead in retaliation for the raid, prompting settler attacks on nearby villages in which another Palestinian was killed. Meanwhile, says Crisis Group expert Tahani Mustafa, Israel announced it will build 1,000 new housing units in the West Bank, a further expansion of the settlement project that portends more turmoil to come.
SOMALIAAt least 26 people were killed Tuesday amid firefights in Garowe, capital of the Puntland federal member state. Crisis Group expert Omar Mahmood says the violence is linked to uncertainty about the date for forthcoming state elections and the number of parties that will compete. Opposition groups suspect the incumbent state president, Said Abdullahi Deni, of trying to secure an extension of his mandate via constitutional amendments. Government and opposition will need to reach agreement on the electoral cycle to prevent further violence.
HAITICARICOM, a body of Caribbean nations, convened Haitian politicians and civil society leaders in Jamaica this week for talks aimed at resolving the country's political crisis. Haiti's political forces have been at odds over how to structure a transitional government since President Jovenel Moïse's assassination in July 2021, even as rampant gang violence renders life intolerable for much of the population. Outside powers stress that Haitian political consensus is necessary before they might consider sending troops to help bring the gangs to heel. Crisis Group expert Diego Da Rin says the meetings were somewhat hopeful, rekindling dialogue between acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry and opposition groups.
INDIANine people died Wednesday in new clashes between the Kuki and Metei ethnic groups in the north-eastern state of Manipur, bringing the death toll in this strife to over 100 since May. The majority Metei are seeking recognition as a tribal community, a special status that would give them certain government benefits. The minority Kuki oppose this idea. Crisis Group expert Praveen Donthi says the fighting threatens to escalate to the level of a civil conflict, with Manipur divided into ethnic enclaves. The state government, headed by a Meitei, has not been neutral, meaning it is not well placed to convene urgently needed peace talks.
UKRAINEOfficials in Kyiv accused Russia of blowing up a small dam in Donetsk Monday, a week after the explosion breaking apart the huge Kakhovka hydro-electric plant on the Dnipro river. Both dams sit in territory occupied by Russia after its all-out invasion in 2022, at least some of which Ukraine hopes to retake in its long-awaited counteroffensive. The Kakhovka dam's collapse inundated dozens of towns, many of which are in an active war zone, complicating a reliable count of casualties and the Ukrainian aid response, which is further hampered by continuing Russian attacks. Russia, meanwhile, has seemingly done little in the way of rescue in areas under its control. Crisis Group expert Simon Schlegel says the humanitarian and ecological toll is massive and mounting.
U.S.-CHINA The U.S. Navy on Sunday released footage of a Chinese warship cutting in front of a U.S. destroyer transiting the Taiwan Strait the previous day, which the U.S. called an "unsafe interaction". A similar incident involving U.S. and Chinese fighter jets had occurred the previous week. In the current political climate, a collision would produce a political crisis that would set bilateral relations even further back, says Crisis Group expert Amanda Hsiao. The message that such shows of resolve are risky and can lead to unintended consequences should be sent to Beijing through as many channels as possible.
COLOMBIA Audio recordings leaked on Sunday of Colombia's former Venezuela Ambassador Armando Benedetti accusing President Gustavo Petro of accepting $3.4 million in questionable circumstances for his presidential campaign. Congress the following day paused debates on Petro's social reform program to allow investigation into Benedetti's allegations. Crisis Group expert Elizabeth Dickinson says the scandal stands to complicate Petro's efforts to enact promised reforms, as well as the total peace agenda aimed at dialogue with armed and criminal groups, with potentially dramatic consequences for populations exposed to persistent armed violence and social need.
LIBYA The presidents of Libya's rival assemblies, who met in Morocco this week, failed to sign off on electoral legislation negotiators on Sunday announced was ready for adoption. Passing these laws would have been a critical first step toward holding the country's long-delayed presidential and legislative elections. Crisis Group expert Claudia Gazzini says this outcome should not come as a surprise, as disagreements persisted over longstanding controversies such as criteria to stand in the presidential election and, more broadly, over the very notion of holding a vote at all.
EL SALVADOR The NGO Cristosal released a report Monday highlighting maltreatment of accused gang members in the country's jails. It said 153 people have died in custody since last March, when President Nayib Bukele launched a campaign of mass arrests. Of the dead, 29 bore signs of torture, such as strangulation and beating. Crisis Group expert Ivan Briscoe says harsh prison conditions do not resolve the deep issues driving gang membership and criminal activity. But Bukele is unlikely to halt his crackdown, which has reduced violence sharply and remains popular.
LIBYA Tripoli-based authorities ordered drone strikes twice in the past week outside the western city of Zawiya, saying they are targeting smugglers. Crisis Group expert Claudia Gazzini says politics may also play a role, with the country still divided between rival governments, one led by Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dabaiba in Tripoli and another by parliament in Tobruk. The strikes hit armed groups tied to Ali Bouzriba, an MP seeking to oust the premier. Dabaiba is trying to stay in power by cutting a deal with Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, who nominally backs parliament at present.
SUDAN Battles continued between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, despite a nominal ceasefire extension. More than 1.9 million people have fled the fighting, which has expanded and implicated various parties, particularly in Darfur. Talks sponsored by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia have yet to yield tangible results. Crisis Group expert Shewit Woldemichael says unless Sudanese, African and other foreign actors put in concerted effort to end the conflict soon, Sudan will become yet another failed state with serious security implications for its neighbourhood and beyond.
INDIAIndia this week hosted a G20 working group meeting on tourism in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-administered Kashmir. Pakistan condemned the meeting being held in the disputed territory, accusing India of instrumentalising its G20 presidency for political purposes, while China, Türkiye, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Oman skipped it. India revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special autonomy status in 2019. Crisis Group expert Praveen Donthi says the Modi government wanted to project peace and normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir but deadly militant attacks and insecurity persist across the region, as made evident by the stringent security measures that surrounded this meeting.
RUSSIAAuthorities on Tuesday reported that "saboteurs" from Ukraine had launched a raid into Russia's Belgorod region and had deployed reinforcements to repel the invaders. While Ukraine denied involvement, its officials openly say the two combat groups, reportedly comprised of Russian citizens, believed to have conducted the operation are part of its defence forces. Crisis Group expert Oleg Ignatov says that as Kyiv plans counteroffensive operations, Ukraine hopes to divert Russia's attention and resources from other parts of the frontline while demonstrating that Russian authorities are now unable to defend its borders and Ukraine can wreak havoc on Russian territory using relatively limited resources.
THAILAND In a surprise outcome, the opposition and progressive Move Forward party became Thailand's largest party in parliament in Sunday's elections, securing 152 seats. The other main opposition party Pheu Thai won 141 seats, while military-backed parties secured fewer than 80. Crisis Group expert Matt Wheeler called the result a political earthquake, and said any effort by the establishment to prevent Move Forward from forming the next government, via the appointed senate or the judiciary, will invite a popular backlash that could see renewed mass protests.
TÜRKIYE A run-off presidential vote will take place on 28 May after neither incumbent President Erdogan nor the main opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu secured the threshold of 50 percent of votes on Sunday, although the ruling party and its allies secured a majority in parliament. Crisis Group expert Nigar Goksel says the two presidential contenders are likely to present themselves as the patriotic choice with national unity issues, such as how to deal with Türkiye's large refugee population and pro-Kurdish political parties and armed groups, dominating the discourse.
INDIA India's Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday announced clashes between the Kuki and Meteicommunities that killed 60 and displaced over 35,000 in the country's north-eastern Manipur state had ceased. Crisis Group expert Praveen Donthi says longstanding tensions, fuelled by the growing influx of Chin refugees from neighbouring Myanmar, who share close ethnic links with the Kukis, boiled over last week over Metei demands that they be recognised as a tribal community, which the minority Kuki oppose. While the deployment of central security forces has put an end to the violence, deepening distrust between the communities could still lead to further outbursts.
IRAN Iran's lead nuclear negotiator on Tuesday maintained that the 2015 agreement could still be salvaged if the U.S. and Western allies showed "credible political will". Crisis Group expert Ali Vaez says that five years after former U.S. President Trump withdrew from the deal, and more than two years since negotiations to restore it began under the Biden administration, neither Washington nor European partners are likely to be satisfied with its restoration, even if Tehran were to concede on the demands that led to deadlock last year. A narrower agreement, or shift toward a regional non-proliferation strategy, may be a more feasible option.
ISRAEL-PALESTINE Israeli air strikes on Tuesday killed five Islamic Jihad commanders and at least eight civilians, launching an exchange of heavy fire that, despite Egyptian efforts to mediate a ceasefire, marks the conflict's gravest escalation in almost a year, with one Israeli and around 30 Palestinians dead. Palestinian groups in Gaza had last week fired rockets into Israel after Islamic Jihad member Khader Adnan on 2 May died in Israeli custody following a prolonged hunger strike. Crisis Group experts Mairav Zonszein and Tahani Mustafa say that while the over sixteen-years-long siege on Gaza continues, the cycle of violence is bound to carry on.
KOREAN PENINSULAThe U.S. seems to be moving ahead with plans for a South Korean port visit by a nuclear ballistic missile submarine, as agreed last week during South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol's White House meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden. The two presidents issued a declaration reaffirming the U.S.-South Korea alliance, which Biden promised to back up by enhancing "the regular visibility of strategic assets" on the peninsula. North Korea denounced the statement as "hostile and aggressive"; China warned it could put the region on a "dangerous path". Crisis Group expert Chris Green says Beijing may be about to punish Seoul, presumably economically, for inching too close to Washington. Pyongyang will likely also feel compelled to respond, at a minimum with missile tests.
PERUThe Inter-American Commission on Human Rights released a report Wednesday decrying lethal force in the state's response to mass protests running from last December through 23 January. Demonstrators were calling for early elections following former President Pedro Castillo's ouster. But the report identified deeper grievances, including Indigenous peoples' and farmers' demands to redress various forms of inequality. It also pointed to particular types of violence directed at women during the unrest, recommending that reparations address the gendered impact of abuses. Together with Amnesty International's findings published last week, says Crisis Group expert Glaeldys Gonzalez Calanche, the report highlights the flaws of Peruvian democratic institutions and helps advocates seeking justice for victims of state violence.
SUDAN Fighting persisted between the army and paramilitary forces this week, including in the capital Khartoum, despite another round of declared ceasefires. Mediation attempts have failed thus far, though they continue. Refugees continue to flee across borders amid a mounting humanitarian crisis. For now, says Crisis Group expert Shewit Woldemichael, both sides appear intent on gaining the upper hand on the battlefield before any negotiations. But neither is poised to win, leaving the civilian population caught in the crossfire. Mediators should be sure to coordinate their efforts, as more than one track seems to be emerging.
BURKINA FASOMen in military uniform killed dozens of people in the north-central Yatenga province, authorities said Monday, as they announced an investigation into the deaths. Survivors buried 136 bodies - including 50 women and 20 children, as well as 66 men - on Thursday. The country's north is wracked by conflict between the army and groups of jihadist militants, one of several such wars across the Sahel. The government has armed volunteers to help it battle the insurgents. All the warring parties have increasingly targeted civilians of late, says Crisis Group expert Mathieu Pellerin, including the jihadists but also members of the security forces and volunteers. The latter abuses are causing Ouagadougou's strategy to backfire, as they deepen the population's distrust of the central state and feed the insurgencies.
HAITIMaria Isabel Salvador, the new UN special representative for Haiti, stressed the urgency Wednesday of stopping the country's "vicious circle of violence", in reference to the criminal gangs fighting for control of the capital Port-au-Prince and other cities. She was briefing the UN Security Council two days after angry Port-au-Prince residents burned thirteen suspected gang members to death. With the police overwhelmed, says Crisis Group expert Renata Segura, citizens are increasingly organising "self-defence groups", prompting fears of more such vigilantism.
SUDANA series of announced ceasefires broke down this week, in another worrying sign that rival military leaders Abdelfattah al-Burhan and Muhammad "Hemedti" Dagalo are digging in for protracted war. The UN has recorded over 450 deaths - likely a severe undercount - in fourteen days of fighting mostly in urban areas across the country. Tens of thousands of refugees are fleeing to Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan; thousands of Sudanese have also left by boat or plane from Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast. Many more, however, remain trapped in neighbourhoods the belligerents have turned into combat zones. Crisis Group expert Shewit Woldemichael says those left behind need life-saving provisions, including food, drinking water and medical supplies. Delivering humanitarian aid is urgent, as is mediation to end the conflict.
GULFQatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced that they will resume full diplomatic relations more than two years after the signing of the January 2021 Al-Ula agreement, which formally ended the intra-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) confrontation. Crisis Group expert Anna Jacobs says the announcement follows a long period of high-level dialogue and visits, including a visit by UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to Doha during the World Cup in November. The restoration of ties means that all former blockading states (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the UAE) have now resumed diplomatic ties with Qatar or announced their intention to. It is a positive step for GCC unity, even if tensions and competition remain a reality.
NORTH KOREALeader Kim Jong-un this week reaffirmed Pyongyang's intention to launch what the country calls a "military reconnaissance satellite" in the coming months. Kim stated the importance of launching the satellite for "securing real-time information" about the military activities of "hostile forces" and implied the launch could be timed to coincide with U.S.-South Korea military drills in June that mark the 70th anniversary of their alliance. Crisis Group expert Christopher Green says that while North Korea has a genuine need for intelligence on alliance military activities in South Korea, it won't be met by a satellite launch. Rather, a satellite launch is a way of testing intercontinental ballistic missile technology.
SUDANDeadly fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted in the capital Khartoum and spread to cities and towns countrywide. Millions of civilians are caught in the crossfire and fast running out of basic necessities in a burgeoning humanitarian disaster. Crisis Group expert Shewit Woldemichael says the hostilities have pushed the country toward full-blown civil war. The combat could quickly slide into a sustained war that risks rippling through Sudan's restive peripheries - embroiling countless armed groups and communal militias. The immediate priority must be achieving a humanitarian ceasefire, while all national, regional and international actors must remain united in rejecting the war.
ISRAEL-PALESTINEIsrael decided Tuesday to close Jerusalem's Holy Esplanade to non-Muslim visitors for the remainder of Ramadan, which is due to end on 20 April. This plaza, where al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock are located, is also sacred to Jews as the site of the ancient Temples. Jewish Temple Mount activists, emboldened by Itamar Ben-Gvir, national security minister in Israel's far-right government, hope to undermine a decades-old understanding limiting the frequency and nature of their visits to the Esplanade. Past Israeli governments have stopped Jewish visits entirely as the Muslim holy month drew to a close, in order to lower tensions. The present cabinet's welcome choice to follow suit shows that it, too, understands how sensitive the site is, says Crisis Group expert Mairav Zonszein. Events last week, when Israeli forces attacked Palestinians in al-Aqsa, prompting rocket fire at Israel from Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, may also have played a role in the decision. It is in all parties' interest to avoid additional friction that could lead to multi-front cross-border conflict.
MYANMARRegime aircraft bombed and strafed a village in Kanbalu township in Myanmar's north-western Sagaing Region Tuesday morning, reportedly destroying several buildings and killing dozens, including many civilians. Forces fighting the regime, a junta that deposed a democratically elected government in 2021, had invited locals to the opening of a "people's administration office" in the village, which the resistance controls. A rescue worker told reporters the death toll could top one hundred. The regime acknowledged ordering the attack but said it hit only "terrorists". Crisis Group expert Richard Horsey says the strike is part of a strategy: the regime is committing war crimes to mete out collective punishment - deliberately targeting non-combatant residents of conflict zones - and thereby to intimidate people throughout the country who oppose military rule.
UNITED STATESMedia outlets discovered a trove of alleged classified U.S. intelligence assessments on a gaming website Saturday. The photographed documents, many of which appear to be from the Pentagon or the CIA, cover a range of highly sensitive issues. Most concern the war in Ukraine, including estimates of Kyiv's fighting capacity in resisting Russia's all-out invasion, while others touch on related matters, such as alleged Egyptian plans to transfer arms to Moscow. Still others show evidence of U.S. spying on allies such as Israel and South Korea. Federal authorities arrested a young air national guardsman Thursday in connection with what they are treating as a major security breach. Crisis Group expert Michael Wahid Hanna says at least some of the papers seem to be authentic, though others have clearly been doctored. In any case, the news is embarrassing for Washington, which must now reassure allies that may become wary of intelligence sharing, particularly given the suspect's low rank. The breach may also trigger greater Congressional scrutiny of how some U.S. partners are approaching the war in Ukraine as well as further questions about U.S. military assistance to Egypt, straining Washington's relations with those countries.
SUDAN Signatories of the December framework agreement postponed for the third time signing a final deal for the transition to civilian rule, delaying the ambitious timeline agreed in March. Crisis Group expert Shewit Woldemichael says the delay is a result of disagreement between army chief and de facto head of state General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Sovereign Council deputy and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) leader Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo "Hemedti" over the timeline for the RSF's integration into the regular forces and the terms of command and control of the integrated army. Reform of the security sector is one of the thorniest issues a civilian transitional government will have to manage. Rising tensions between the two forces in recent weeks fanned fears of an internecine conflict within the military before both leaders reached an agreement to de-escalate the situation.
TAIWAN Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy in the U.S. on Wednesday as Taiwan's defence ministry reported that it was "closely monitoring" Chinese navy vessels passing through the Bashi Channel south of the island. Maritime authorities in China's Fujian province also announced a patrol operation to inspect cargo vessels transiting the Strait. Taiwan said it would not comply. Crisis Group expert Amanda Hsiao says China's measured response so far is likely due to a number of factors, including that the meeting taking place in the U.S. was meant as a compromise by Taipei and Washington and that former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-Jeou was visiting China. An overly belligerent response would undercut Beijing's message to Taiwan that economic exchange and dialogue with the mainland will deliver benefits and so Taiwanese citizens should vote for Ma's opposition Kuomintang party, which favours closer ties with Beijing, in the upcoming election set for January 2024.
YEMEN All eight members of the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), the government's executive body representing a range of anti-Huthi groups, met in person for the first time in six months in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh. The meeting took place as ceasefire talks between the Saudis and the Huthis have made some progress, and follows a breakthrough China-brokered deal between Tehran and Riyadh - who support opposing sides in Yemen's war - to restore diplomatic relations after seven years. Crisis Group expert Ahmed Nagi says this meeting is significant for two reasons. Firstly, the Saudis aim to brief PLC members on a possible ceasefire agreement resulting from their ongoing negotiations with the Huthis. Secondly, Riyadh is attempting to overcome the many rifts among the PLC's associated factions.
KENYAProtests in Kenya again turned violent on Monday and Thursday, with police firing tear gas and water cannons at crowds in the capital Nairobi, and officers reportedly shooting one protester dead in the country's third-largest town Kisumu. Police are also investigating the death of two people during clashes in Nairobi's informal settlement of Kibera. Authorities had violently repressed demonstrations last week after opposition leader Raila Odinga, who lost to President Ruto in elections last year, called for bi-weekly protests against what he perceives as a stolen election, the high cost of living and the new government's policies. Crisis Group expert Meron Elias says the protests are costing the country millions of dollars each day and could be the first major domestic challenge for Ruto, who has put economic recovery at the top of his agenda.
EL SALVADORThis week marked one year since El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele imposed a state of exception as part of a crackdown on gang violence. Amid record low murder rates, Bukele boasts gang members are being locked up and will spend decades behind bars. Rights organisations have documented over 65,000 people detained, many of them arbitrarily, while 111 people have died in detention. A recent University Institute of Public Opinion poll indicates that while a vast majority of Salvadorans feel safe with the state of exception, many were unaware constitutional guarantees had been suspended and expressed concern at authorities' lack of transparency. Crisis Group expert Pamela Ruiz says President Bukele will likely continue capitalising on Salvadorans' feeling safer and homicide reductions to outweigh concerns of arbitrary arrests and deaths.
ISRAELIsraeli President Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday announced controversial anti-democratic legislation would be delayed following months-long protests and a nationwide strike. Hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets to protest the government's planned overhaul of the judicial system, which would notably allow parliament to supersede Supreme Court decisions and control judicial appointments. The crisis also threatened the ruling coalition, as Netanyahu on Friday fired his defence minister after he suggested postponing the overhaul. While the delay indicates that the protests - along with U.S. pressure - are powerful, says Crisis Group expert Mairav Zonszein, Netanyahu is preoccupied with his survival and seems intent on pursuing the legislation at a later date. Meanwhile, the government continues its control and dispossession of the Palestinians, about which the Israelis taking to the streets are not protesting.
HAITIThe UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called Tuesday for urgent international action to redress growing displacement in Haiti, amid ever sharper fighting among heavily armed criminal gangs in Port-au-Prince and elsewhere. At least 160,000 people have been driven from their homes as gangs battle for turf. Gangs now control almost the entire capital, with Haitian security forces in disarray. Outside powers remain reluctant to intervene, in light of past failures and the lack of broad political consensus in the country. External backing for Interim Prime Minister Ariel Henry is a major sticking point, says Crisis Group expert Diego Da Rin, as that support has allowed him to avoid serious power-sharing negotiations with his opponents. If this impasse endures, a UN peacekeeping operation may be the only way to reduce violence that has become intolerable for the vast majority of Haitians.
U.S.-ETHIOPIAThe U.S. State Department said Monday it had determined that Ethiopian and Eritrean troops, as well as allied Amhara fighters, committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during the conflict in and around Tigray from 2020 to 2022. It also said Tigrayan forces were responsible for war crimes. The statement came shortly after Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to Ethiopia, during which he commended the federal government and Tigrayan representatives' commitment to a peace deal signed late last year. Addis Ababa rejected the U.S. announcement as "inflammatory" and "selective", partly because it levelled fewer allegations at the Tigrayan side. Crisis Group expert Will Davison says the statement's timing may indicate U.S. plans to resume suspended aid to Ethiopia even as it presses for accountability for the war's horrors. The government is likely to keep blocking a UN investigation that might buttress such calls.
YEMENClashes reignited Monday in the Harib district of Marib, the northern province where most of the country's oil deposits lie. The Huthi rebels have been trying to take Marib from forces aligned with the internationally recognised government since early 2020. A de facto truce has prevailed in the last six months. When the Huthis attacked anew, they made progress in the western Harib mountains, before their local adversaries sent reinforcements to the front. Dozens of civilians fled to other areas, fearful of the conflict spreading. Crisis Group expert Ahmed Nagi says the renewed fighting is particularly significant, coming just after the deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to start restoring diplomatic relations. Some had hoped that detente would quiet the war in Yemen, where Riyadh backs the government side and Tehran the rebels. The Huthis' escalation is likely a signal that the deal is not important to them as well as an attempt to break the stalemate in their own negotiations with the Saudis.
IRAN-SAUDI ARABIAChina brokered a deal between Tehran and Riyadh that commits both to a principle of non-interference and sets out a roadmap to better ties. The pair agreed to two months of further dialogue before reestablishing diplomatic relations and reopening embassies. Crisis Group expert Anna Jacobs says the deal is a big step forward. While it does not solve the various points of friction between the two countries, Saudi-Iran rapprochement should help mitigate some of these proxy conflicts and promote de-escalation in key conflict areas, such as Yemen. It also suggests greater commitment to resolving differences through diplomacy.
MEXICOFollowing the abduction of U.S. citizens in Mexico, calls are gathering steam stateside to double down on heavy-handed responses to organised crime, including by designating some cartels as foreign terrorist organisations (FTO) and taking military action in Mexico. Crisis Group expert Falko Ernst says such policies are unlikely to help. The U.S. already has in place most of the FTO tools to combat organised crime, especially as concerns freezing assets, while billions of dollars spent on force-based policies in recent decades have failed to curb the drug supply. Instead, the U.S. could dent demand by investing in addiction prevention and hampering criminal groups' ability to purchase American guns, while supporting Mexico to tackle its region-specific conflicts.
PAKISTANFormer Prime Minister Imran Khan's supporters clashed with police attempting to execute an arrest warrant issued by an Islamabad court after Khan's repeated refusal to appear before the court. Police used tear gas and water cannons against party activists attacking law-enforcement personnel outside Khan's residence, injuring 59 police officers. The Lahore High Court then temporarily suspended the police operation. Crisis Group expert Samina Ahmed says with Khan insisting that the Sharif government intends to assassinate him, the heightening tensions bode ill for the upcoming 30 April elections in Punjab province and raise the prospect of further violent unrest.
GEORGIAThe ruling Georgian Dream party withdrew a controversial foreign agents bill this week after it triggered large-scale protests in the capital Tbilisi, which police violently dispersed. Critics and protesters argued the draft law would impinge on civil liberties and was akin to a similar Russian law. Crisis Group expert Olesya Vartanyan says the government has backed down for now in response to growing public anger, widespread unrest and its fear of losing power. Criticism from the U.S. and European Union has also played a role, as Tbilisi cannot afford to isolate itself from its Western partners and thereby risk increasing its vulnerability to Russia, which maintains security and military personnel in the two breakaway regions Moscow recognised in 2008.
SOMALILANDAround 185,000 people have fled the town of Las Anod in Sool region after deadly fighting erupted last month between Somaliland armed forces and Dhulbalhante clan militias, killing over 200 people. The latest violence started after Dhulbahante representatives declared they did not recognise Somaliland's administration and wanted to be part of Somalia, demanding the withdrawal of Somaliland forces. Crisis Group expert Omar Mahmood says the continued violence is highly worrying, as it aggravates a precarious humanitarian situation. It also risks a wider conflagration, which could draw in outside actors like Puntland, Somalia or Ethiopia.
SOUTH KOREA-JAPAN South Korea announced a plan to respond to a November 2018 court ruling that ordered two Japanese companies to compensate Koreans forced to work in its factories during the colonial period. Seoul intends for the remaining victims to be compensated by Korean companies that benefited from Japanese reparations paid when the two states normalised ties in 1965. Crisis Group expert Christopher Green says given Russia's war in Ukraine, ongoing tensions with China and an increasingly assertive North Korea, it is not surprising that the U.S. and its allies have welcomed a deal that portends improved relations between South Korea and Japan. But the plan - which its many critics argue absolves Japan of responsibility for historic wrongs - has stoked considerable controversy and opposition in South Korea. Protests are almost certain to hamper President Yoon Suk-yeol's implementation of the deal, and may even come to define his presidency.
KASHMIR (INDIAN-ADMINISTERED)Indian authorities have rearmed the Village Defence Group, a Hindu militia first formed in the 1990s, in a remote part of Jammu and Kashmir, the mountainous territory divided between Indian and Pakistani administration and claimed by both countries. The action comes after several killings of local minority Hindus for which police blame Muslim insurgents. Though Muslim militants are not as numerous as in previous decades, they have been attacking non-Muslim minorities following moves by New Delhi to take away the region's semi-autonomy, suppress civil rights, imprison Muslim politicians and restaff the administration with Hindu civil servants. Muslims suspect that these policies aim to alter the region's demographic balance in Hindus' favour. Crisis Group expert Praveen Donthi says the militia's reappearance is an ominous development that could fan inter-communal animosity, recalling the violence of the past but this time aided by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party government.
ISRAEL-PALESTINEHundreds of Israeli settlers attacked the Palestinian towns of Huwara, Burin and Einbus in the northern West Bank Sunday night, in the largest of a string of such assaults in recent years. The mob, demanding revenge for two Israelis killed by Palestinians on a West Bank highway earlier that day, torched houses and cars and beat residents with metal rods and rocks. A Palestinian was also shot dead. Though these towns are in Area B, a part of the West Bank under Israeli security control, Israeli soldiers largely stood by during the rampage. Of the ten suspects who were arrested, nine were released (though two are now in administrative detention.) Israeli and Palestinian Authority officials had met earlier Sunday in Aqaba, Jordan to discuss resuming security cooperation. Crisis Group experts Tahani Mustafa and Mairav Zonszein say the confluence of events illustrates disturbing patterns: settlers enjoy virtual impunity for violent acts, and the open sympathy of members of Israel's new far-right government, while meagre diplomatic efforts serve to reinforce the status quo of deepening Israeli control of the occupied Palestinian territories.
NIGERIAThe electoral commission declared Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress winner of the 25 February presidential election, which took place amid logistical and technological difficulties as well as voter intimidation and other violence. The two main opposition parties, the Peoples Democratic Party and Labour Party, say the vote tally is fraudulent and demand that it be annulled. They have decided to lodge their protest in court rather than in the streets, in accordance with an agreement they signed before the balloting. Tensions were high right after the poll, says Crisis Group expert Nnamdi Obasi, but they have subsided substantially despite widespread disillusionment with the election's conduct and outcome. Six of the 36 state governments have filed suit at the Supreme Court asking it to void the election.
CAMEROONDeadly hostilities have intensified between government forces and Anglophone rebels as both sides increased their military activities. The uptick in attacks is being partly fuelled by the stalled peace initiative, which Canada announced last month and the government quickly denounced. Crisis Group expert Arrey E. Ntuisays the Canada-led facilitation is delayed but not dead. Separatists have not retracted their commitment to the process, though they have intensified their military campaign for an independent Southern Cameroon. Government forces likewise have increased actions to contain them. President Biya fears talks may be perceived by the public as an admission that the army has failed to defeat Anglophone militants.
CHINA-JAPANThis week, Japanese and Chinese senior officials revived a security dialogue mechanism that had been moribund for four years. Both Beijing and Tokyo used the discussion to air a long list of security concerns in the relationship. Of core concern for China is Japan's decision to significantly bolster its defence spending and counter-strike capabilities, the tightening U.S.-Japan security alliance, and what this portends for Japan's role in a Taiwan Strait crisis, says Crisis Group expert Amanda Hsiao. Deep distrust remains in the relationship, but such discussions can be useful for reducing the chances of miscalculation, particularly as the two sides regularly encounter each other around the disputed Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands.
IRANThe International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reportedly discovered uranium enriched to 84 per cent at one of Iran's nuclear facilities. As senior IAEA officials visited Tehran seeking clarifications, Iran maintained that it has not undertaken enrichment above 60 per cent. Crisis Group expert Ali Vaezsays the IAEA's discovery comes as relations between the agency and Tehran are already strained over the lack of progress in a long-running safeguards investigation into past activities at undeclared sites, as well as modifications at Iran's Fordow facility that the IAEA said had not been disclosed in advance. With talks to revive the nuclear deal in deep freeze, the accumulating tensions between Tehran and the IAEA will raise alarm in Western capitals and Israel about Iran's advancing nuclear program, and sets the stage for a showdown at the IAEA's Board of Governors meeting that begins on 6 March.
COLOMBIAGovernment and National Liberation Army (ELN) negotiators began a second round of talks in Mexico, hoping to continue discussions on a wide agenda for peace as well as a possible ceasefire. Crisis Group expert Elizabeth Dickinsonsaid that the negotiations are likely to move forward slowly, even as the urgency of the humanitarian situation continues. The Petro government last week signed ceasefire protocols with a faction of dissidents of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Yet despite dissidents' ceasefire with the government, they are still fighting the ELN in Arauca and Nariño, with devastating fallout for civilians.
TUNISIAAuthorities continued their crackdown on opponents as police detained multiple individuals, including an official of the largest opposition party An-Nahda, a prominent lobbyist and others linked to the media, judiciary and labour sectors. Crisis Group expert Michaël Ayarisays the arrests are widely seen as an orchestrated campaign by President Saïed, who faces declining popularity following the recent legislative elections, which saw the lowest voter turnout ever. A growing number of opposition figures and former officials face trials on various charges and Saïed is stepping up his harsh public discourse, accusing opponents of an assassination plot against him and blaming them for inflation and shortages. His crackdowns risk further political polarisation that could lead to violence.
UKRAINERussia continues its campaign of missile strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure, albeit at a decreased frequency and intensity since January. With temperatures gradually rising above freezing and a decline in unscheduled power cuts, Ukraine may just have dodged the worst of the humanitarian winter crisis. Crisis Group expert Simon Schlegelsays that in the east, Russian activity along the front line suggests an offensive may be in the offing. Yet so far, Moscow has been unable to amass a force strong enough to punch through Ukrainian defensive lines. Russian forces have advanced around Bakhmut city in Donetsk but they have suffered an unsustainably high rate of attrition and for now Ukrainians hold the main road out of the city. With Moscow unlikely to field a significantly superior land force anytime soon, Ukraine's Western partners voice concern that it could resort to intensified air strikes.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGOThousands took to the streets of Goma, capital of North Kivu province, on Monday to protest the perceived inaction of an East African force in beating back the M23 rebels threatening the city. The force, which deployed in November, is composed of Kenyan, Burundian, Ugandan and South Sudanese soldiers. Protesters say it is reluctant to tackle the M23 because the insurgents are backed by Rwanda, with which the troop-contributing nations want to keep good relations. The M23 is the strongest of several rebel groups in North Kivu and adjacent provinces, some of which are Congolese but others of which are from the DRC's neighbours, giving each of those countries its own distinct interests in the multifaceted conflict. Regional diplomats held an extraordinary summit last Saturday, but it did little to ameliorate the complex, interlocking dangers in the DRC's east. Crisis Group expert Onesphore Sematumbasays the Goma protest underscores the depth of popular frustration as the intense fighting nearby continues to displace civilians.
SOMALILANDClashes between the Somaliland army and local forces in the town of Las Anod killed at least 30 this week. Tensions in Las Anod have been rising since late December, when Somaliland forces cracked down on protesters decrying the unclaimed assassination of a local politician, but Crisis Group expert Omar Mahmoodsays the roots go much deeper. Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991. Its claim is unrecognised internationally, however, and contentious in parts of the territory it administers. Las Anod and its environs are predominantly inhabited by the Dhulbahante clan, which generally has resisted Somaliland's authority and leaned toward Somali unity. Somaliland forces pulled back from Las Anod in early January, and Dhulbahante representatives flooded in for a heralded meeting to chart their political future. This week's violence came at that meeting's conclusion, when the clan members called on Somaliland to respect their desire to be part of Somalia. Fighting is likely to continue, given the two sides' contrasting political stances, and could spread beyond Las Anod's vicinity.
SYRIAThe number of known deaths from the massive earthquakes that shook north-western Syria and southern Türkiye climbed over 23,000 Friday, including more than 4,000 in Syria. The quakes hit a swathe of the country, but damage was greatest in the north west, the last area held by rebels fighting the regime in Damascus. Crisis Group expert Dareen Khalifasays the situation is catastrophic. North-western Syria is besieged, for all intents and purposes. Local rescue workers have received no help, as donors are reluctant to provide direct support to the area. UN humanitarian aid was very slow to trickle in - the first trucks arrived from Türkiye only on Thursday - and will likely remain inadequate to meet the scale of need. North-western Syria's population has tripled since the civil war began, as Syrians displaced by fighting elsewhere seek refuge; now the quakes have uprooted many of these people once more.
TÜRKIYEAs of Friday, authorities had confirmed 20,000 people dead in Türkiye due to the earthquakes, with the toll expected to rise much higher in the coming weeks. The epicentre of the first quake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, was in the southern province of Kahramanmaraş. More than 12,100 buildings collapsed or were severely damaged there and in nine other provinces - an area whose population is over thirteen million. The government declared a three-month state of emergency in these ten provinces, as rescue teams began despairing of finding survivors in the rubble, amid winter snows and temperatures dropping well below freezing. Some 7,000 rescue workers from 75 foreign countries have come to help. Crisis Group expert Berkay Mandıracısays this calamity is by far the deadliest in the contemporary Turkish state's almost 100-year history. The government is under huge pressure, with many painting its response as slow and over-centralised. Critics also say the government has allowed shoddy construction practices and failed to conduct proper building inspections. The quakes are likely to deepen political polarisation, with elections slated in May, and certainly will add considerably to socio-economic strains in the country.
HAITIHooded police officers on motorcycles brought the capital Port-au-Prince to a standstill late last week, blocking streets, torching cars and breaching security barriers at the airport as well as at acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry's residence. Crisis Group expert Diego Da Rin says it is the latest sign of brewing rebellion among Haitian police, who feel the authorities have left them ill-equipped and unprotected in fighting the criminal gangs that control much of the country. At least ten officers were killed in the week preceding the riots. Henry has promised the police upgraded gear and weaponry, but continuing attacks on police stations are a dark omen for the force's future. Calls for an international mission to rein in the gangs may now grow louder.
IRANThe government confirmed a drone attack Sunday on what it described as a defence ministry workshop in Isfahan. There were no reported injuries, and officials said the damage was minimal. In a subsequent letter to the UN Security Council, the foreign ministry pinned responsibility on Israel, whose role has also been widely hinted at in Western media reports. Crisis Group expert Ali Vaez says Iran's initial response could come in the form of renewed attacks on Iraq-based Kurdish separatist groups that Tehran claims are working with foreign powers. The incident, which follows a pattern of Israeli operations targeting Iranian military facilities and personnel, also raises the risk of retaliation at a time when Iran's government is facing continued domestic discontent and increasingly confrontational relations with the West over its repression of protests, military cooperation with Russia and advancing nuclear program.
ISRAEL-PALESTINEU.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders Tuesday, reaffirming support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict amid a deeply disquieting escalation of violence. In the worst incidents over the preceding week, the Israeli army killed ten Palestinians in the West Bank town of Jenin and a Palestinian shot seven Israelis dead in Neve Yaakov, a settlement in occupied East Jerusalem. Crisis Group experts Mairav Zonszein and Tahani Mustafa say invocations of a two-state solution ring hollow, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new far-right government opposes one and peace negotiations have been moribund for years. Meanwhile, Netanyahu's government is promising to build more settlements in the occupied territories and Palestinian politicians are diverted by infighting over who might succeed President Mahmoud Abbas, two of several factors that not only augur poorly for restarting talks but also suggest the situation could get much worse.
PAKISTANA suicide bomber attacked a mosque inside a government compound Monday, killing 101 people, the vast majority of them police officers. The mosque is located in Peshawar, capital of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where security forces are battling the Pakistani Taliban insurgency. The Pakistani Taliban first claimed, but later denied, responsibility for the bombing. Crisis Group expert Samina Ahmed says militant operations have surged since the Afghan Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021, where Pakistani Taliban leaders enjoy safe haven. The number of attacks in Pakistan has spiked in the last two months, after the insurgents called off a ceasefire due to deadlock in talks with authorities.
PERUCongress rejected two proposals to hold snap elections this week, amid mounting anger among protesters who have pressed for them since former President Pedro Castillo's ouster in early December. Forty-seven people have been killed in clashes with police since then, including, for the first time, a demonstrator in the capital Lima last week. According to a recent survey, 73 per cent of the public supports holding a vote in 2023 to help defuse the crisis. Castillo's successor Dina Boluarte, who has come under sharp criticism from protesters as the death toll climbs, backs organising fresh polls, as well as empowering the next Congress to overhaul the 1993 constitution. Crisis Group expert Glaeldys Gonzalez Calanche says Congress seems disconnected from citizens' demands, threatening further upheaval.
ARMENIA-AZERBAIJANThe EU on Monday announced its plan to establish a civilian monitoring mission in Armenia that will conduct routine patrols with the aim of fostering stability along the border with Azerbaijan, including in the areas that have witnessed hundreds of casualties since the 2020 war. Crisis Group experts Olesya Vartanyanand Zaur Shiriyevsay the mission is a bold step to help prevent tensions spiralling into renewed conflict and get EU-mediated peace talks back on track. The mission, however, would enjoy better prospects of success if the EU can secure Baku's cooperation and agreement on regular meetings to discuss incident prevention.
BURKINA FASOThe government on Monday formally requested French military forces - some 400 soldiers operating in the country since 2018 as part of efforts to combat jihadist groups - to leave the country within a month. Crisis Group expert Rinaldo Depagnesays this decision was motivated by several reasons. The government wants the country to defend itself and promote a patriotic spirit, to look for new external partners to get easier access to military equipment and to satisfy its political base. The announcement followed protests in the capital Ouagadougou against the presence of French forces.
CAMEROONCanada last week announced an agreement between the Cameroonian government and several Anglophone separatist groups to engage in a peace process facilitated by Canada to end the brutal conflict ongoing since 2017. The Cameroon government's spokesperson, however, denied that Canada was assigned the role of facilitator. Crisis Group expert Arrey E. Ntuisays discreet, low profile consultations between the parties have been ongoing for about two months. The formal announcement of the peace process was supposed to mark a rare, positive step by the parties aimed at ending one of the world's most neglected conflicts. The surprise rebuttal from Yaoundé highlights divisions within the government and that intense diplomatic effort is required to secure Cameroon's support.
DR CONGOThe Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for a blast at a church in Kasindi city in the country's east on Sunday, which killed at least fourteen people and wounded dozens. Crisis Group expert Onesphore Sematumbasays the blast was almost certainly conducted by the ISIS affiliate Allied Democratic Forces, a Ugandan-origin, multinational jihadist group which operates in DR Congo's Ituri and North Kivu provinces. The church attack is only one of a number of recent atrocities, and more than a year of joint Ugandan and Congolese army operations seem to have done little to dent its operational capacity.
LIBYAThe speaker of Libya's House of Representatives, Aghila Saleh, on Wednesday announced that UN-backed talks between his Tobruq-based parliament and the rival Tripoli-based assembly had reached a dead end. The objective of those talks, ongoing for the past eight months, was to amend a draft constitution that - if approved by the assemblies - was meant to chart a roadmap toward elections and unify a country that has been divided into two parallel executives since last February. Crisis Group expert Claudia Gazzinisays the announcement is not necessarily bad news. The talks between representatives of the two assemblies were controversial from the outset, and participants did not appear to be willing to negotiate in good faith. The UN envoy now has an opportunity to chart a fresh roadmap toward elections in consultation with Libya's politicians.
TUNISIAThousands of protesters gathered in the capital Tunis on Saturday, the twelfth anniversary of the departure of the autocrat Ben Ali, to rally against current President Kais Saied's power grab and deteriorating economic conditions. Crisis Group expert Michael Ayarisays many citizens describe their daily lives as unbearable amid shortages of essentials, the rising cost of living, crumbling state institutions, increasing corruption, spreading delinquency and a country drained of its best-skilled workers due to legal and illegal migration to Europe. Saied is increasingly isolated and the worsening economic situation could fuel new popular protests, further polarise political elites and cause violence.
AFGHANISTANAn explosion near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the heart of downtown Kabul on Wednesday injured at least 40 people, according to a nearby hospital. Taliban officials claimed that only five people were killed but the death toll may rise. Crisis Group expert Graeme Smithsays the Islamic State's local branch, the Islamic State Khorasan Province, claimed the attack. The group is broadening its recruitment beyond traditional supporters in the eastern provinces to benefit from anti-Taliban sentiment in other parts of the country. Still, overall violence remains at low ebb during the winter months, and it's unclear whether armed resistance against the Taliban will gain traction when the weather improves enough to allow fighters greater mobility.
ARMENIA-AZERBAIJANAzerbaijani-supported activists maintained a blockade of the only road that connects Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia. In the entity's main town of Stepanakert, which is home to roughly half of the mountainous enclave's Armenian population of 120,000, food shelves are bare and locals queue for hours to buy scarce goods from nearby villages. Schools have shut due to a lack of food, and residents say they can no longer find painkillers, much less medication for diabetes, cancer and other illnesses. Crisis Group's expert Olesya Vartanyansays the urgent humanitarian situation comes amid an ongoing crisis in talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan and after their failure to sign a peace deal in 2022. If the sides do not find a way to resume contacts, the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh is likely to continue to deteriorate.
ETHIOPIAFulfilling a key clause of the November peace deal, the Tigray People's Liberation Front has begun surrendering heavy weapons to federal forces. Crisis Group expert William Davisonsays this is another important step that will bolster a still fragile peace process. Critically, the truce is holding, aid is entering Tigray, and the federal government is restoring services, indicating that federal-Tigray relations are improving. But outstanding challenges remain, including the continued presence of Eritrean troops in Tigray and Amhara region's control of the disputed Western Tigray area.
COLOMBIAPresident Petro on 31 December announced a six-month ceasefire with six armed groups, including National Liberation Army (ELN), two Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) dissident groups and two post-paramilitary groups. The ELN, however, denied a ceasefire had been agreed, prompting the government to clarify that it will be discussed in the ongoing peace negotiations with the group but other armed groups had agreed. Crisis Group expert Renata Segurasays the episode marks the government's first major misstep in the current peace process with the ELN, although no lasting damage may have been done. As most violent altercations in Colombia are between criminal organisations, and not between the state and armed groups, securing the buy-in of the other actors is an important development that could offer immediate relief to conflict-ridden areas.
ISRAEL-PALESTINENational Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir became the first minister in almost five years to enter Jerusalem's Holy Esplanade (the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount complex). The move, which the Palestinian Authority called an "unprecedented provocation" and Hamas labelled crossing a "red line", sparked international condemnation, including from Israeli friends the U.S., Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. Crisis Group expert Mairav Zonszeinsays Ben-Gvir did not enter the compound for religious reasons, nor as a message aimed at Hamas. Rather, he sought to set a precedent for further change to the historic status quo. As an epicentre of friction in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with violent clashes as recently as May 2021, any Israeli effort to change the status quo or claim sovereignty over the Holy Esplanade almost certainly will trigger violence far beyond Jerusalem.
UKRAINEUkrainian artillery struck a Russian military base in occupied Makiyivka, a suburb of Donetsk, on New Year's Eve. A Ukrainian Army Telegram channel said that some 400 mobilised Russians had been killed, while Russia this week admitted 89 had died. Crisis Group expert Simon Schlegelsays the strike, which was conducted using the U.S.-supplied HIMARS system, marks the highest number of Russian fatalities in a single incident that Moscow has admitted since the war began. The subsequent blame game among Russian military observers points to persistent disciplinary and logistical problems that may be leading Russian commanders to concentrate large numbers of troops, even within range of Ukrainian artillery.
AFGHANISTANThe Taliban authorities announced Tuesday that they would ban women from attending university "until further notice". Damaging as this misogynistic policy will be to Afghan women, says Crisis Group expert Graeme Smith, it will also hinder the country's economic recovery from decades of war. Afghanistan already suffers from shortages of female health care workers, teachers and other professionals, many of whom fled after the Taliban's 2021 takeover for fear of precisely this sort of draconian measure. This move will compound these problems; it may also bring new sanctions. With the Taliban signalling that they will keep the country isolated, international donors should focus on rebuilding livelihoods in order to minimise the population's suffering.
PERUProtests rocked the country for a second week as Congress approved interim President Dina Boluarte's proposal to hold early elections in April 2024. Boluarte assumed office on 7 December in the wake of her predecessor and running mate Pedro Castillo's bungled attempt to dissolve the legislature. Lawmakers impeached Castillo for this illegal gambit; he now faces eighteen months in pretrial detention. (Mexico has offered him asylum and granted it to his family.) Unrest has persisted in several southern regions following the legislators' decision. Crisis Group expert Glaeldys Gonzalez Calanchesays many Peruvians remain deeply dissatisfied with the country's political institutions. They are demanding Boluarte's resignation, snap polls in 2023 and justice for the 27 people killed in clashes with police since Castillo's ouster.
SUDANThis week marked the four-year anniversary of the popular uprising that unseated Sudan's long-time president, Omar al-Bashir, coinciding with a deadline for reaching an agreement to form a civilian government after fourteen months with the military in charge. On 5 December, the military concluded an initial framework deal with a civilian coalition. This agreement has significantly divided Sudanese political actors, delaying the conclusion of talks and inadvertently extending the military's de facto rule. Crisis Group expert Shewit Woldemichaelsays it is critical for all actors to make concessions during the next round of negotiations in order to reach a final accord that has broader legitimacy. The framework agreement, despite its flaws, is an opportunity to form an inclusive civilian government that should not be squandered.
U.S.-UKRAINEUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy got a warm reception in Washington Wednesday on his first trip outside the country since Russia's all-out invasion on 24 February. At a White House meeting, U.S. President Joe Biden affirmed Washington's continued support for Kyiv, including a Patriot missile battery, reiterating that the U.S. will back Ukraine in the war "as long as it takes". That evening, Zelenskyy spoke to a joint session of Congress, thanking the U.S. for its massive assistance to date. Displaying awareness of scepticism in the Republican caucus, he stressed that the aid was "not charity" but "an investment" in mutual security objectives - and also not enough. Crisis Group experts Olga Olikerand Michael Wahid Hannasay both presidents scored important political victories: Zelenskyy laid down markers for additional assistance Kyiv hopes to receive down the road, while Biden won a show of bipartisan unity behind his Ukraine policy. Congress will vote on a new aid package before January, when the Republicans will take over the lower house.
INDIA-CHINAIndian and Chinese troops clashed along the disputed border in Arunachal Pradesh state in the east last Friday, severely injuring around 30 Indian and likely as many Chinese troops. Both sides reportedly fought with non-lethal weapons such as sticks, nail-studded clubs and tasers to bypass agreements forbidding the use of firearms and blamed each other for the incident. Crisis Group expert Praveen Donthi says though face-offs are common between the troops along the disputed border known as the Line of Actual Control, this is the biggest since the deadly clash in June 2020. It does not portend well for relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors, which are already under severe stress, and marks the new normal of "no war, no peace" between the two powers.
KOSOVO-SERBIASerbs barricaded highways and border crossings in northern Kosovo in protest against the arrest of a former police officer suspected of taking part in attacks on election officials, and against the presence of heavily armed Kosovo police in Serb-majority areas. The EU and the U.S. embassies in Belgrade and Pristina called on protesters to remove the barricades. Crisis Group expert Marko Prelec says that the EU-led negotiations aimed at normalising the Belgrade-Pristina relationship and securing autonomy for Serb-majority areas in Kosovo continue, while both sides are resorting to unilateral acts on the ground in an attempt to improve their positions in the talks.
PERUAfter President Castillo attempted to shutter Congress and rule by decree, Congress impeached him and swore into office Vice President Dina Boluarte as his replacement. His removal sparked nationwide protests demanding the chamber's dissolution and general elections, which intensified this week with attacks on police stations and Boluarate declaring a 30-day state of emergency. Clashes between protesters and police have killed eighteen and injured hundreds. Crisis Group expert Glaeldys Gonzalez Calanche says the wave of violence comes at a time when citizens' confidence in Peruvian democracy and political actors has severely deteriorated as politicians have failed to address growing challenges, such as high levels of extreme poverty and unprecedented levels of food insecurity. Many see general elections and all-inclusive dialogue as the only exit from the crisis.
EL SALVADORPresident Bukele announced a military operation involving 10,000 police officers and soldiers against gangs in the country's most populous city of Soyapango. The operation, branded as a new phase of the government's security strategy, takes place under a state of emergency imposed in March in response to a sudden uptick in gang violence. Crisis Group expert Tiziano Bredasays that the operation, while unlikely to lead to a permanent weakening of gangs, is designed to be a public display of the government's power and control. Unless it is coupled with efforts to improve services and offer opportunities to youth targeted by gang recruitment, such heavy-handed methods are unlikely to yield anything but a temporary reprieve in violence.
SAUDI ARABIAChina's President Xi commenced his first visit to the kingdom since 2016. The three-day trip is aimed at boosting and diversifying economic ties beyond oil. Crisis Group expert Anna Jacobssays Xi's visit symbolises Riyadh's desire to diversify its relations amid an increasingly multipolar world order and tensions with the U.S. The latter stem from the kingdom's concerns over Washington's commitment to its security and U.S. disquiet over Saudi Arabia's human rights record and prosecution of the war in Yemen. Ties further frayed following the OPEC+ decision to cut oil production, which Washington saw as helping Russia mitigate the impact of sanctions. The U.S. will be closely observing agreements made during Xi's visit, especially those related to defence, arms sales and nuclear power.
SOUTH SUDANAt least 10,000 civilians in Kodok - the capital of Fashoda county, in Upper Nile state - are at risk of attack by Nuer militia forces from northern Jonglei state. Aided by several Sudan People's Liberation Army-In Opposition (SPLA-IO) soldiers, the militias since early October have repeatedly targeted the local ethnic Shilluk population, displacing tens of thousands. The local Shilluk militia, the Agwalek, has fought the Nuer militia forces. Crisis Group expert Ferenc David Markosays the state government has declared it cannot resolve the crisis, while the small UN peacekeeping force in Kodok is severely understaffed and may fail to deter an attack. The federal government has deployed limited armed forces, but it remains unclear if they are willing, or even able, to protect civilians. External stakeholders, including regional and donor powers, should press Juba to intervene to prevent further bloodshed, while the UN should reinforce the area with more peacekeepers and provide protection for humanitarian relief.
UKRAINE-RUSSIARussian authorities accused Ukraine of attacks on three Russian air bases near the cities of Saratov, Ryazan and Kursk on Monday and Tuesday, which killed three people and damaged several aircraft in Russia's strategic bomber fleet. Kyiv acknowledged the attacks but did not take direct responsibility. Crisis Group expert Simon Schlegelsays the strikes once more reveal that Ukraine has long-range capabilities that Russian intelligence seemed to be unaware of and its air defence unprepared for. Whether Kyiv can use such capabilities repeatedly to eventually shift the military balance remains unclear.
ISISThe Pentagon said Wednesday former Syrian rebels had killed Abu al-Hasan al-Hashemi al-Qureishi, the top leader of ISIS, in a mid-October operation in Daraa province in southern Syria. ISIS had released an audio recording earlier that day announcing his death. Crisis Group expert Jerome Drevon says al-Qureishi's demise is another setback for the jihadist group, whose previous chief was killed in February, and which has largely gone underground since losing its last territorial seat in 2019. Yet ISIS remains resilient in Syria, particularly in the centre and north east, where it conducts regular raids while accumulating resources and strengthening its support networks.
PALESTINE Nine Palestinians were killed this week in confrontations with the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank. An Israeli soldier was badly injured when a Palestinian (later shot dead) rammed into her with his car. A total of 211 Palestinians and nineteen Israelis have lost their lives in Israeli-Palestinian violence in 2022 to date, making it the conflict's deadliest year since 2006. Beyond the daily violence and indignities of the occupation, several factors are contributing to the heightened tensions, says Crisis Group expert Tahani Mustafa. Among them are stepped-up Israeli raids, arrests and killings of Palestinians and the bleak prospects for positive change on the ground, given the potential for a new far-right Israeli government with an openly annexationist agenda.
SOMALIAAl-Shabaab fighters stormed a hotel in Mogadishu Sunday night, initiating a siege that lasted until the following evening. At least eight civilians, a police officer and five militants died. The Islamist insurgency has ratcheted up its attacks in the Somali capital, mounting a lethal assault on another hotel in August and killing more than 100 people in a bombing of a busy intersection in October. The latest hotel siege is worrying evidence of the militants' continued ability to strike the city, says Crisis Group expert Omar Mahmood, even in districts heavily guarded by security forces. It comes amid a fresh government offensive aimed at rooting Al-Shabaab out of rural areas in central Somalia.
COLOMBIAThe government this week reopened peace talks with its last remaining leftist insurgency, the National Liberation Army (ELN). The talks are the centrepiece of President Petro's plan to seek "total peace" through dialogue with all armed and criminal groups. Crisis Group expert Elizabeth Dickinsonsays that there are enormous expectations riding on the negotiations in conflict-affected communities, both to lower violence and to set the tone for a broader de-escalation. Colombia's conflict is no longer a fight between the state and armed groups but rather between rival groups, who fight amid and atop the civilian population. The government's focus on initial humanitarian agreements with these armed and criminal groups could be a first step toward reducing the devastating impact.
IRANThe government's crackdown on nationwide anti-government protests continues, especially in Kurdish-majority regions. Tehran also began enriching uranium to 60% as its fortified Fordow plant and promised to install more advanced centrifuges in response to a censure vote at the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors. Crisis Group expert Ali Vaezsays relying on brute force to suppress protests has only deepened domestic anger and mobilised sweeping international condemnation. The lack of progress on resolving outstanding safeguards concerns deepens the impasse around Iran's nuclear activity. Combined with an array of Western sanctions over Tehran's arms provision to Russia, the trend lines across intersecting domestic, nuclear and regional fronts give ample reason for concern in the weeks ahead.
ISRAEL-PALESTINEUnclaimed bombings at two bus stops in Jerusalem during Wednesday's rush hour killed one Israeli teenager and wounded at least eighteen. Crisis Group expert Mairav Zonzseinsays the attacks take place against a backdrop of heightened tensions and volatility. For months Israel has conducted raids in the northern West Bank, which is witnessing its deadliest wave of violence since the Second Intifada. In recent weeks there has been an uptick in Palestinian attacks on Israelis, just as Knesset members are in the process of assembling Israel's most far-right government ever. The explosions signal a more organised effort to target civilians that will likely provoke a harsher Israeli response, perpetuating a deadly cycle of violence.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGOTens of thousands of villagers in North Kivu province have fled fighting between M23 rebels and the Congolese army in the past week. The UN estimates that 188,000 people have been displaced since the M23 launched an offensive on 20 October. Battles are so intense that humanitarian agencies are unable to aid many of those in need. Congolese authorities continue to accuse neighbouring Rwanda of backing the insurgents, a charge Kigali denies. As the rebels draw closer to Goma, North Kivu's capital, Crisis Group expert Onesphore Sematumbasays African-led diplomacy is badly needed to avert the humanitarian catastrophe that would follow the city's fall.
TÜRKIYEA bomb went off Sunday in Istiklal Street, a bustling commercial avenue in Istanbul, killing six and injuring 81. No one has claimed responsibility, but authorities quickly blamed the PKK, the Kurdish insurgency that has been battling the Turkish army for decades, and the YPG, its Syrian affiliate (though they did not exclude an ISIS connection). Police arrested a woman, charging her with detonating the explosives. Ankara also excoriated Washington, which is backing the YPG in its fight with ISIS in Syria. The Turkish government sees the YPG as an extension of the PKK; it believes that the group's quasi-autonomy in Syria is encouraging Kurdish militancy in Türkiye. Crisis Group expert Berkay Mandıracısays the attack raises public expectations that Ankara will carry out a wider incursion into northern Syria to roll back the YPG.
UKRAINERussia launched more than 90 missiles at Ukraine on Tuesday, and sent in several drones, in what was likely its largest single aerial attack since its all-out invasion in February. The projectiles hit several power plants, plunging parts of Kyiv and other cities into darkness amid the winter chill. What seems to have been a Ukrainian air defence rocket - fired during the Russian barrage - landed in Poland, killing two. Warsaw and its NATO allies responded by urging calm. Russian bombardment continued later in the week, taking at least two Ukrainian lives. Crisis Group expert Olga Olikersays the incidents underline not only the war's human costs but also its escalatory risks: when Moscow mounts such massive air assaults, the odds of a stray missile, Russian or Ukrainian, hitting a third country go way up.
U.S.-CHINAPresidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping spoke for three hours Monday in their first in-person meeting since assuming leadership of their respective nations. The meeting, held on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia, produced agreement to resume dialogue on a variety of issues, including guiding principles for the bilateral relationship and global challenges such as climate change, economic problems and food insecurity. Crisis Group expert Amanda Hsiaosays the meeting marked a positive shift in tone, signalling willingness on both sides to find ways to prevent U.S.-Chinese competition from spiralling into conflict. Plenty of differences remain, including over Taiwan, but the meeting was a step in the right direction.
ARMENIA-AZERBAIJANForeign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan met in Washington, DC, this week for bilateral talks following border clashes in September that killed almost 300 military personnel and civilians and injured over 550. Crisis Group expert Olesya Vartanyan says the meeting shows the two sides are back on track in their discussions on a potential peace deal. Armenia, which proposed that the talks take place in Washington, is seeking a foreign guarantor to ensure the potential agreements are implemented, as its traditional backer Russia appears ineffective in preventing Azerbaijani attacks both in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the border while it continues its war in Ukraine. While the talks are a positive step, the sides appear a long way off from meeting the end-of-year deadline for a peace deal.
COP27The 27th annual UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27) kicked off on Sunday in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh. The Egyptian presidency is determined to focus on drumming up greater financial support for states struggling with the effects of climate change. Crisis Group expert Champa Patel says it is critically important that there is also a focus on how climate-financing mechanisms can reach the most vulnerable who are affected by both conflict and climate-related stresses. Our analysis shows that countries affected by both climate change and conflict receive on average only one third of the climate financing collected by countries free from conflict, with the most violent countries of all receiving only one fifth. In order to protect the most vulnerable, effective climate adaptation requires understanding the specific ways in which climate stressors exacerbate conflict risks.
PAKISTANFormer Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Imran Khan was shot and wounded in a botched assassination attempt in Punjab's Wazirabad city on 3 November. The attack, which claimed the life of one PTI supporter and wounded several party leaders, came during Khan's "long march" to Islamabad to demand snap elections. Crisis Group expert Samina Ahmed says the attack has sparked protests countrywide and more violence could be on the cards. Khan has vowed to continue protests until the coalition government agrees to early elections and has blamed the government and a senior military officer for the assassination attempt, significantly heightening tensions between Khan and the Pakistani military, the country's most powerful institution.
BLACK SEAThis week, Russia briefly suspended its participation in the Black Sea grain deal - the set of agreements permitting Ukraine to export its harvest by sea. Moscow made the move after a Ukrainian drone attack on its fleet in Sevastopol but relented after Kyiv offered assurances that food delivery ships would not be used for military purposes. Russia may also have wanted to deflect criticism that it was cutting food supplies to poor countries in Africa and the Middle East. Moscow has engaged in stop-start cooperation in humanitarian programs before, says Crisis Group expert Richard Gowan, such as in Syria. It may make further threats to block the exports in order to gain concessions from Kyiv and the West.
BRAZILWorkers' Party candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won the presidential run-off Sunday, in a result swiftly recognised by Washington and key Latin American capitals. Outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro has not formally conceded defeat, but on Tuesday evening he ordered the administrative transition to proceed, curbing speculation that he would contest the outcome through formal channels. Such questions had been mounting as supporters of the far-right incumbent blocked more than 200 roads and railways throughout the country. Though protests may continue, says Crisis Group expert Ivan Briscoe, the rapid outside recognitions of Lula's victory were important in heading off a possible constitutional crisis, as was the authorities' smooth handling of the tally and the public acceptance of the result by prominent Bolsonaro backers, including São Paulo's governor.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO M23 rebels took several towns in North Kivu province last week, reportedly advancing to positions kilometres away from Goma, the region's capital and commercial hub. Congolese authorities, who claim that neighbouring Rwanda backs the insurgents, expelled the Rwandan ambassador and recalled their own from Kigali following the fighting. Kigali denies the accusations, and charges Kinshasa with harbouring perpetrators of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Crisis Group expert Onesphore Sematumba says regional mediation is urgently needed to defuse the Congolese-Rwandan tensions, which threaten to expand the wars in the country's troubled east.
ETHIOPIA African Union peace envoy Olusegun Obasanjo announced Wednesday evening that federal and Tigray regional leaders had agreed to a "permanent cessation of hostilities" at talks in the South African capital Pretoria. The deal comes after a fresh federal offensive, backed by Eritrean and Amhara regional troops, had raised fears of even greater bloodshed, including mass civilian casualties, in Tigray. It provides for Tigray's forces to disarm and to cede the region's highways and airports to federal control. For its part, the federal government has promised a restoration of services and "unhindered" shipments of humanitarian aid to Tigray, which it has blockaded since late 2020. Crisis Group expert Alan Boswell says the truce is desperately needed, but it remains too early to tell how committed the parties are to carrying out the deal's terms.
KOREAN PENINSULAA test-fired North Korean ballistic missile landed near South Korean waters Wednesday, just over 55km east of the coastal city of Sokcho. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol denounced the "provocation", as the South's military, vowing to respond "firmly", fired three air-to-ground missiles into seas near the North. Pyongyang later shelled a "buffer zone" near the maritime border, explicitly violating a September 2018 inter-Korean military agreement. Crisis Group expert Chris Green says the North Korean actions, in concert with U.S.-South Korean military exercises that are also under way, are fostering an atmosphere of escalation that will not lead to war but does raise the risk of miscalculation.
SOMALIA Two car bombs blew up outside the education ministry building in Mogadishu last Saturday, killing more than 100 people, mostly passers-by, and injuring some 300 more. The country's main Islamist insurgency, Al-Shabaab, took responsibility, accusing the ministry of waging a "war on minds" with a curriculum the group considers un-Islamic as well as "recruiting students" to counter its activities. It was the deadliest Al-Shabaab attack in the capital since 2017. Crisis Group expert Omar Mahmood says the bombings show Al-Shabaab's continued reach months into a renewed government offensive. The group will likely conduct more such operations as the government's campaign expands.
CHADThe government brutally repressed protests last Thursday organised by civil society and opposition groups calling for a return to civilian rule, killing at least 50, wounding 300 and arresting 500, as authorities suspended seven opposition parties. Prime Minister Kebzabo announced a curfew in the capital N'Djamena and Moundou, Doba and Koumra. Crisis Group expert Enrica Piccosays the unrest followed the conclusion of the national dialogue earlier this month, which extended the Transitional Military Council by two years, maintained its leader Mahamat Déby as head of state and permitted him to run for president at the next elections. The outcomes heighten fears among many Chadians of a dynastic power grab and risk further fuelling tensions, which may presage further protests and, in turn, government repression.
IRANMarking 40 days since 22-year-old Mahsa Amini's death following her detention by morality police, thousands of protesters marched in the capital Tehran and locations countrywide, including Amini's hometown Saqqez in the Kordestan region. The same day, the U.S. issued a third batch of sanctions in response to the government's ongoing crackdown and Germany announced that there would be no "business as usual" with Tehran. Crisis Group expert Ali Vaezsays the state's coercive response is likely to further fuel anti-government sentiment and deepen the country's social, economic and diplomatic isolation.
KOREAN PENINSULANorth and South Korea traded warning shots across their disputed maritime border on Sunday, after what was purportedly a North Korean merchant vessel crossed the shared Northern Limit Line. South Korea's navy acknowledged its ships pursued the North's vessel back over the line. Crisis Group expert Chris Greensays cross-border incursions of this kind do not yet form a pattern of North Korean behaviour and it is too early to state categorically that the incident was intentional. It must be seen, however, in concert with rising rhetorical tensions and in the context of the rapid pace of Pyongyang's missile testing this calendar year. If the maritime border incursion was indeed an intentional provocation by the North, it suggests further and more serious inter-Korean clashes may lie ahead, with the contested West Sea once again an area of particularly acute risk.
ETHIOPIAFederal and allied forces this week continued their advance into Tigray, capturing Shire city on the north-western front as well as Alamata and Korem on the southern front. The war has suspended what was previously only a trickle of humanitarian aid into Tigray. Crisis Group expert William Davisonsays further Tigrayan resistance is highly likely despite the losses they have endured, and there is a real danger of atrocities against civilians by Ethiopian and Eritrean troops and their allies. The federal government may also make greater demands of Tigray's government, such as disarming its forces and surrendering its leaders, which the latter are likely to reject, boding ill for African Union-brokered peace talks scheduled for 24 October.
LEBANONParliamentarians this week failed for the third time to elect a new president ahead of the expiry of incumbent Michel Aoun's term on 31 October. Should Aoun's successor not be appointed in time, Lebanon will plunge into yet another presidential vacuum, almost certainly creating constitutional uncertainty and even more political polarisation. Crisis Group expert David Woodsays that the political drama will distract attention from what should be Lebanon's main priority, namely addressing the country's crippling socio-economic crises as living standards continue to nosedive for most Lebanese. While political elites bicker, angry citizens have held up banks demanding access to their money, cholera has returned for the first time since 1993, and boats with Europe-bound migrants aboard continue to depart from the coast.
UKRAINEThe Russia-installed head of Kherson region on Wednesday said the Russian military would evacuate up to 60,000 civilians out of Kherson city, amid reports that Russian forces there face a precarious military situation with Ukrainian forces continuing their counteroffensive. Forcibly deporting civilians from occupied territories to the territory of the occupying force can constitute a war crime under the Geneva Convention. Crisis Group expert Simon Schlegelsays the civilians will have to rely on ferries for the risky crossing of the Dnipro River as road and rail bridges toward the Russian rear are damaged. At the same time, Russia continues missile barrages and drone attacks across Ukraine, targeting energy infrastructure with the aim of wearing down Ukrainians by creating an unlivable situation.
ISRAEL-PALESTINETensions and violence continue to rise in the Israeli-occupied West Bank amid near-daily incursions by Israeli security forces, particularly in the northern cities of Jenin and Nablus, and surrounding areas. Over 100 Palestinians have been killed this year in altercations, and Israeli security services report a significant uptick in Palestinian shooting attacks. Crisis Group expert Tahani Mustafasays the West Bank has not seen this level of violence between Israeli forces and Palestinians since the Second Intifada in the early 2000s. Israel's current strategy has proved counterproductive, with Palestinian paramilitary groups becoming more organised and more active over the last year, drawing in young Palestinian men who see no future in the evolving situation, while Palestinian leaders are embroiled in infighting over who will succeed ailing President Mahmoud Abbas. In this political uncertainty, chances of more widespread violence can only increase.
MYANMARRegime leader Min Aung Hlaing has moved to exert his authority over the military-established Union Solidarity and Development Party ahead of next year's planned elections, says Crisis Group expert Richard Horsey. At the party's conference last week, nearly a dozen leaders including the chair were replaced with Min Aung Hlaing loyalists. At the same time, the regime continues its persecution of the winners of the 2020 elections, with Aung San Suu Kyi convicted on corruption charges on 12 October - her thirteenth conviction since the coup in February 2021. She was sentenced to three years' imprisonment, meaning that she now has to serve a total of 26 years, with a series of further charges still pending.
PAKISTANThousands of residents of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Swat Valley took to the streets to protest the return of Pakistani Taliban militants to the region, demanding protection from extortion and a surge in militant attacks that have killed local politicians and police personnel. Crisis Group expert Samina Ahmedsays locals are angered by the state's complicity in allowing the Pakistani Taliban to return. Although there is no official acknowledgement, the group's return was likely part of their ongoing negotiations with Islamabad conducted under the aegis of the Afghan Taliban. Without preconditions and oversight, their resurgence threatens a return to the dark days of the past when they ruled the region and imposed their harsh version of Islam on Swat's society.
BRAZILFormer President Luiz Inácio "Lula" da Silva on Sunday won more votes than any candidate in history, surpassing President Bolsonaro by over 6 million ballots. Gaining 48 per cent of support, however, was not enough to secure the overall majority needed to avoid a run-off. The elections showed that despite the challenges Brazil has faced in recent years, bolsonarismo is strong. Not only did the incumbent president fare much better than polls had suggested, his party won six new seats in the Senate and 22 in the House of Representatives. Crisis Group expert Renata Segurasays if Lula prevails in the second round as predicted, Bolsonaro might refuse to accept the results and his supporters could take to the streets. Even in the event of a smooth transition of power, Brazil is highly polarised and the new administration will face an opposition that will be much more active than anything Lula saw during his previous terms in office.
KOREAN PENINSULAFollowing a series of missile launches in late September, North Korea on Tuesday fired what appeared to be an intermediate-range ballistic missile that flew over Japan for the first time since 2017. The missile flew some 4,500km, marking the longest flight of a North Korean missile. Crisis Group expert Chris Greensays Pyongyang's decision to launch the missile over Japan on an extended trajectory marks a notable step-change compared to the recent spate of missile launches, all of which fell in nearby waters after flying 650km or less. Although the North Korean foreign ministry blamed the U.S. and South Korea, saying that its launch was simply a response to allied military exercises, by acting without any regard for the people or territory of Japan and much less for shipping or aviation, the country's leadership has demonstrated that it is clearly now in escalatory mode.
YEMENThe six-month-old UN-brokered truce expired on 2 October but has yet to collapse. Negotiations are ongoing after the government accepted and the Huthis rejected an updated UN proposal. The Huthis made new demands relating to the disbursement of salary payments to the defence and interior ministries. They want these funds, alongside civil service salaries in areas they control, to be deposited in a U.S. dollar account they control. Crisis Group expert Veena Ali-Khansays violence is yet to exceed levels seen during the truce itself and the UN may still be able to secure a truce extension. The current deadlock appears to be part of a Huthi bargaining strategy, based on their perception of relative strength, to reap greater economic benefits from an extended truce. But the longer the impasse drags on, the greater the risk that hostilities will resume and possibly trigger renewed escalation, thereby diminishing Yemenis' hopes for a nationwide ceasefire.
BALTIC SEATwo explosions Monday damaged the Nord Stream pipelines, which carry Russian natural gas to European markets, causing leaks into international waters off a Danish island. Russia had switched off the pipelines earlier in September amid tensions with the West over its war in Ukraine. European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg both described the blasts as "sabotage". The press quoted unnamed European leaders pointing the finger at Moscow, which denied any role, suggesting instead that Washington had most to gain from damaging the pipelines. Crisis Group expert Giuseppe Famà says the incidents will not only add immediate pressure on European gas prices but also cast Nord Stream's future into doubt as Europe strives to diversify its energy supply sources in order to curb its dependence on Russia.
IRANAnti-government protests entered their third week, amid widespread outrage at the 16 September death of Mahsa Amini, 22, in police custody. Severe restrictions on internet access make it difficult to fully assess the scope of unrest, but it appears to be nationwide, as Iranians voice multiple longstanding grievances. Security forces have cracked down hard, killing at least several dozen, and injuring or arresting many more. The government's repressive response has brought broad international condemnation, including fresh U.S. sanctions. Crisis Group expert Naysan Rafati says the iron fist may suppress the mass expression of dissent, but there is little sign the government is willing to address the underlying causes.
RUSSIARussians continued to leave the country, packing flights and lining up for hours at crossings into countries such as Georgia, to escape President Vladimir Putin's order mobilising 300,000 men for the front in Ukraine. The mobilisation order, like Moscow's announcement that it was annexing partly occupied Ukrainian territory, is an escalation, says Crisis Group expert Olga Oliker, but also evidence that Russia's war effort is struggling. European countries should let fleeing Russians apply for asylum rather than barring the door, as many are doing at present, both for humanitarian reasons and to degrade Russia's war machine. They should also take steps to relieve the burden of receiving the Russians on front-line countries within and outside the European Union.
UKRAINERussian President Vladimir Putin signed "treaties" Friday to annex four eastern Ukrainian territories, following the Kremlin's sham referendums in occupied parts of those regions, which it said yielded over 95 per cent support for absorption into Russia. The four regions are Donetsk and Luhansk, parts of which have been under Russian-backed separatist control since 2014, as well as Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, portions of which Russia occupied after launching its full-scale invasion in February. Any voting that took place was coerced, often at gunpoint. In a speech, Putin vowed to use any and all means to hang on to the Ukrainian lands. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, meanwhile, blasted the annexation as a violation of international law's most basic principles. The bigger Russia's provocations, says Crisis Group expert Alissa de Carbonnel, the more important it will be for the West to react with the balance of resolve, unity and prudence that has marked its response to date.
ETHIOPIAFighting between a federal coalition and Tigray forces continues to escalate. After Eritrea called up some reservists to support Ethiopian forces last week, Tigray's government on Tuesday claimed Eritrea launched a "full-scale" offensive across multiple border crossings in the north. Crisis Group expert William Davison says a decisive military blow will probably not be landed anytime soon and external actors' concerted diplomatic efforts may not bring a breakthrough, meaning this phase of the destructive civil war could well become protracted. It could also morph into even more of regional conflagration with the involvement not only of Eritrean forces, but also Sudanese armed actors should the fighting become focused on the disputed Ethiopia-Sudan border, where Eritrean troops are present and Amhara region has taken over a large area that used to be under Tigray's administration.
RUSSIAPresident Putin announced mobilisation in Russia for the first time since 1941, when Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union. The Defence Ministry is planning to mobilise at least 300,000 soldiers for the war with Ukraine. Crisis Group expert Oleg Ignatov says mobilisation is a major escalation by the Kremlin, driven by fear of defeat in Ukraine, and points to Russian determination to escalate the conflict rather than seek its end. Since launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has faced consistent shortages of personnel, but it is not clear that mobilisation will be sufficient to solve its problems, which also include logistics and equipment gaps, as well as a motivated Ukrainian military supplied by the West. Thus far, the order has led to widespread but relatively small-scale protests in Russia as well as evasion and attempts to leave the country by those subject to the order.
UNITED NATIONSWorld leaders met for the first full-scale in person session of the UN General Assembly in New York this week. There was an inevitable focus on Russia's war on Ukraine. Many non-Western leaders, such as Senegalese President Sall, called for immediate negotiations to end the war. But their European counterparts, including Ukrainian President Zelenskyy appearing by video link, emphasised that Russia is not at present ready for real talks. U.S. President Biden had tough words for Russia too, but also spoke at length on the need to address poorer countries' concerns over food price increases. Crisis Group expert Richard Gowan says that Biden and other Western leaders' focus on food security was well calibrated to appeal to the Global South, and UN members are likely to condemn any effort by Russia to annex Ukrainian territory in the weeks ahead.
AFGHANISTANThe Taliban and Pakistani forces clashed on Wednesday in the eastern border province of Paktia as the Taliban accused Islamabad of erecting a military post on the border. Crisis Group expert Graeme Smith says tensions between the sides have been simmering for months and have occasionally escalated into armed clashes. Pakistan has grown frustrated with the sanctuary that Afghanistan's new rulers have afforded the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), which is orchestrating a deadly cross-border campaign in Pakistan. Islamabad and the Taliban also disagree over the Durand Line, which the Taliban rejects as the official border and Pakistan continues to fence. The skirmishes take place as Taliban also battles the Islamic State's local branch and armed resistance forces in the north.
ARMENIA-AZERBAIJANIn the first large-scale escalation since the 2020 war, fighting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani troops this week killed at least 135 Armenian and 77 Azerbaijani soldiers. The hostilities erupted along multiple parts of the border and included heavy Azerbaijani shelling and drone strikes reaching civilian settlements and key towns inside Armenian territory. Crisis Group expert Olesya Vartanyan says that the ceasefire that was agreed on the second day of fighting remains fragile and could easily collapse into renewed clashes with Azerbaijani forces potentially taking over more territories inside Armenia.
IRANThe International Atomic Energy Agency expressed ongoing concern around the lack of Iranian engagement on an investigation into past activities at undeclared sites. 23 out of the 35 members comprising the agency's Board of Governors on Wednesday supported a statement by the U.S., UK, France and Germany urging Iran to resolve all outstanding safeguards issues. Crisis Group expert Ali Vaez says the fate of the investigation has been a key sticking point in efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Iran's demand for the probe to be closed runs counter to the IAEA's mandate, and the continued impasse makes the deal's revival unlikely before the U.S. midterm elections, if at all.
BURKINA FASOAn improvised explosive device targeting a supply convoy travelling between the northern towns of Bourzanga and Djibo killed at least 35 civilians on Monday. The al-Qaeda-affiliated Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) group - a coalition of four jihadist groups formed in 2017 - has imposed a blockade on Djibo and frequently targets convoys seeking to deliver supplies. Crisis Group expert Mathieu Pellerinsays this attack stands out because it specifically targets civilians as opposed to the army. If JNIM conducted the attack, its motivations may be varied. The group may have sought to kill suspected informants linked to the army, show that the state's strategy of escorts cannot secure local populations, or signal to authorities that despite the recent surrendering of a JNIM unit in the area, the group retains its ability to launch deadly attacks.
HAITIThousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Port-au-Prince and other cities on Wednesday to demand de facto Prime Minister Ariel Henry's resignation and to protest against mounting insecurity, chronic fuel shortages, and soaring prices of goods. Crisis Group expert Renata Segurasays these protests and a series of demonstrations held during August might indicate the reversal of a downward trend in the number of protest actions over the past year. Demonstrations are likely to continue in the run-up to 17 October, when a general strike is planned and by which time Henry must update the UN Security Council on the process of finding an agreement to overcome the political stalemate that has reigned since the assassination of then President Jovenel Moïse in July last year.
TÜRKIYE-GREECEPresident Erdoğan accused Athens of militarising what should be demilitarised Eastern Aegean islands, threatened to "do what was necessary", and warned of a "heavy price" should Greece harass Turkish F-16 fighter jets. The latter warning follows Ankara's accusation that Greece in August used the Russian-supplied S300 air defence system to lock on to Turkish jets in the region. Ankara appealed to the U.S. over the incident. Crisis Group expert Nigar Gökselsays the war of words between both sides has been escalating for several months. Aside from the dispute over the sovereignty and alleged militarisation of islands close to Türkiye, irregular migration flows and Ankara's energy exploration activities around Cyprus have recently fueled the harsh rhetoric. Tensions could further increase ahead of scheduled general elections in both countries in 2023.
ETHIOPIA Federal troops and Tigray regional forces returned to front-line fighting in Amhara-Tigray border areas last Wednesday, shattering the March ceasefire. This week federal forces conducted an airstrike on Tigray's capital Mekelle and Tigray forces launched an offensive in northern Amhara region. Fighting spread on Thursday to north-western Tigray, with Tigray's authorities saying Eritrea's military was part of a major federal offensive, and fronts also opened on Tigray's southern boundary with Amhara and on the Ethiopia-Sudan border. Crisis Group expert William Davison says the return to hostilities follows the hardening of positions on both sides in recent weeks, notably over whether the African Union or Kenya should lead the peace process and Tigray's demand that the federal government lift a blockade before talks begin. With the risk that fighting protracts into a period of sustained conflict, the UN, African Union, European Union and U.S. envoys should press both sides to de-escalate. Neither is likely to achieve their political objectives on the battlefield.
LIBYA Armed groups supportive of Sirte-based Prime Minister Fathi Bashagha tried to enter Tripoli on Saturday in a failed attempt to remove the rival interim government led by Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dabaiba. Pro-Dabaiba units managed to repel the attack, leaving 32 dead and around 160 wounded. Crisis Group expert Riccardo Fabiani says that while violence has subsided, tensions between the two camps remain high. A lack of domestic consensus on a way out of the political crisis that was sparked by the appointment of the rival government in March 2022, combined with the absence of a new UN special representative for Libya who could help mediate, risks fuelling a new round of violence in the near future.
UKRAINE The Ukrainian army on Monday announced the beginning of a counter-offensive around the southern city of Kherson, which Russia occupied in early March. Kyiv cautioned against expectations of a swift breakthrough. Crisis Group expert Simon Schlegel says while Ukrainian forces have spent weeks targeting Russian supply lines with artillery and sabotage operations in preparation for the attack, it is unclear whether they possess the necessary advantage in troops and firepower to retake Kherson. At the same time, Russian forces also face significant challenges. More than 20,000 Russian soldiers occupying the western bank of the Dnipro River are reliant on bridges in their rear that are damaged and under frequent artillery fire, complicating their ability to resupply or retreat.
MALIThe last French soldiers left Mali Monday, as Paris relocated the bulk of the force carrying out Operation Barkhane, its counter-terrorism mission in the Sahel, to Niger. French troops had been fighting Islamist militants in Mali since 2013. Paris decided to withdraw them as its ties to Malian leaders frayed, following two coups in Bamako in 2020-2021 and the government's decision to employ Russian Wagner Group mercenaries in its battle with the jihadists. Crisis Group expert Richard Moncrieff says the rupture with Paris comes amid trouble in Bamako's relations with other Western powers engaged in the country, including as part of the UN mission, and with neighbouring countries leading efforts to persuade the authorities to move toward elections.
MEXICOThe government dispatched army units to Ciudad Juárez, on the U.S. border, following an explosion of criminal violence on 11 August that left eleven people dead, nine of them civilians. The killing began as a prison riot involving rival criminal groups and spilled out into the streets, with members of the Los Mexicles organisation shooting seemingly haphazardly at nearby establishments, including a radio station and several convenience stores. Crisis Group expert Falko Ernst says the events underscore the dilemmas Mexican policymakers have faced for decades in dealing with organised crime. Security responses are certainly necessary but in themselves have proven inadequate to stop the proliferation of criminal groups that feed on social ills like inequality and lack of alternative livelihoods.
PALESTINEThe death toll from Israel's bombardment of Gaza on 5-7 August rose to 49, with numerous civilians, including seventeen children, among the dead. The escalation occurred after Israeli security forces arrested an Islamic Jihad cell leader in the West Bank town of Jenin on 2 August. The group vowed retaliation, which Israel said it attacked to preempt. In response, Islamic Jihad fired more than a thousand rockets at Israel, but the projectiles caused no Israeli casualties, with many intercepted by Israeli air defences and some falling in Gaza itself. Crisis Group expert Tahani Mustafa says the hostilities, while of shorter duration than previous rounds involving Hamas, show that the threat of longer, deadlier exchanges is ever present as long as the coastal strip remains under siege, with its population trapped and impoverished.
U.S.-IRANEuropean Union-facilitated efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal are continuing after the U.S., Iran and other parties convened in Vienna earlier this month for four days of negotiations, in which some of the remaining gaps narrowed. Crisis Group expert Ali Vaez says the seeming new momentum in the talks is a marked change from what previously appeared to be near-total deadlock. But disagreements over the scope and viability of U.S. sanctions relief mean that success is far from assured.
DR CONGO A confidential UN Group of Experts report that was leaked on Thursday reportedly provided evidence of Rwandan military operations on Congolese soil since November 2021 and the Rwandan army's alleged support to the M23 militia, a Tutsi-led group that re-emerged late last year. It also reported that the Congolese military fought alongside the FDLR, a remnant of the Rwandan Hutu militia responsible for the 1994 genocide. Crisis Group expert Nelleke van de Walle says these revelations could further increase tensions between Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame who have been at loggerheads for months, accusing each other of supporting rebel groups. Regional mediation efforts have so far not been able to de-escalate the situation. Solving the diplomatic rift between the two neighbours is also high on the agenda of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who will visit both the DRC and Rwanda next week.
IRAN Negotiators of the U.S., Iran and the 2015 nuclear accord's other signatories resumed talks in Vienna on Thursday in the latest effort to revive the deal. Crisis Group expert Ali Vaez says since that last meeting in March, when the technical provisions of a deal were nearly complete, gaps have widened on key issues of sanctions relief, guarantees and IAEA investigation into past activities at undeclared Iranian nuclear facilities. That the parties are convening again implies at least some headway has been made on the remaining issues, but it is unclear if the bottom lines of the U.S. and Iran can be reconciled. The past weeks have demonstrated what an alternative to a revived deal looks like: more U.S. sanctions and more Iranian nuclear escalation.
NAGORNO-KARABAKH Azerbaijan this week launched a new military operation following a significant build up of its forces near the front lines in recent weeks. Baku's forces on Wednesday advanced near the main road that connects the entity with Armenia and along two other front lines, while launching drone attacks that de facto authorities in Stepanakert said killed two of its soldiers and wounded 19. Baku reported at least one of its soldiers was killed on the same day. Crisis Group expert Olesya Vartanyan says the flare up in areas that have remained largely calm since the 2020 war has raised fears in Yerevan and Stepanakert of a broader Azerbaijani offensive in the coming days to seize more territory. Baku may be attempting to force Armenia to soften its position on a number of issues in the ongoing negotiations to settle the post-war issues, including Armenia's demand for Nagorno-Karabakh to be assigned special political status.
SOUTH SUDAN South Sudan's leaders are debating this week a controversial proposal to extend their time in power beyond February 2023, when the 2018 peace deal's transitional period was supposed to end after national elections that have yet to be scheduled are unlikely to occur any time soon. Earlier this month, the U.S. announced it had withdrawn funding for the ceasefire monitoring body in the country, citing a lack of progress on the peace deal provisions. Crisis Group expert Alan Boswell says the looming end of the peace deal is ratcheting up political tensions in the country and forcing the parties to negotiate new timelines for elections and other key promises they've made, such as for a new constitution and unified national army.
TAIWAN Reports this week indicated that U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi will lead a delegation to visit Taiwan next month. Pelosi would be the highest-ranking U.S. lawmaker to embark on a trip to Taiwan since a former speaker of the house visited the island in the 1990s. Crisis Group expert Amanda Hsiao says given U.S. military warnings against the trip, the risks of a Taiwan visit by Speaker Pelosi are evident. Even if China does not respond with escalatory measures immediately, the visit would exacerbate existing tensions and contribute to Beijing's perception that it must respond resolutely down the line to make clear its determination to bring Taiwan under its control and deter what it sees as Washington's chipping away at the status quo.
UKRAINE After its capture of Luhansk region late last month, Russia continues operations to bring the remainder of Donetsk region under its control, while Ukraine has announced plans for a counter-offensive to liberate the Black Sea coast. This week, Kyiv's forces attempted to cut off the southern Russian-occupied city of Kherson from supplies and stepped up their attacks. Crisis Group expert Simon Schlegel says a large-scale counter-offensive would come with the risk of heavy battlefield losses that could blunt Ukraine's defensive capacity.The announcement on Friday of a grain deal between Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN - which could allow Ukraine to export grain stuck in its ports via the Black Sea - might lead decision makers in Kyiv to wait and see before undertaking a major southern operation. The resumption of food exports could prove crucial for Ukraine's battered economy as well as global food security, but would rely on a fragile truce in the Black Sea, something Ukraine might be hesitant to jeopardise.
BRAZIL Marcelo Arruda, a local official from the leftist opposition Workers' Party, was shot dead Saturday on his fiftieth birthday by a supporter of right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro is running for re-election in October against the Workers' Party candidate, Luiz Inácio "Lula" da Silva. The gunman, a federal prison guard, had been asked to leave Arruda's birthday celebration at a sports club because he was shouting pro-Bolsonaro slogans. Crisis Group expert Ivan Briscoe says the killing is a deeply worrying sign that the president's backers may disrupt the election with violence, particularly because Bolsonaro has repeatedly cast aspersions on the voting system's integrity.
HAITI Rampant gang violence and runaway inflation have combined to produce a growing socio-political emergency in Haiti. Over the last week, more than 50 people have been killed in gun battles between rival criminal organisations in the capital Port-au-Prince and other major cities where the state has lost its grip. Meanwhile, food prices have shot up by 52 per cent in the last year, putting some 1.3 million people "one step away from famine", according to a World Food Programme official. The UN renewed its political mission in the country Friday, despite protests from Haitian civil society groups that have come to distrust outside intervention. Many say it is time for Haitian-led solutions to the country's problems, Crisis Group expert Renata Segura points out, but with the state virtually collapsed and deep polarisation impeding the formation of a new government, the scenarios are grim.
UNITED STATES As part of his first Middle East visit as president, Joe Biden travelled to Saudi Arabia Friday for bilateral meetings, including with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and a summit with the Gulf Cooperation Council countries plus Egypt, Jordan and Iraq. The visit reflects a pivot from his campaign rhetoric describing the kingdom as a "pariah" following the murder of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Crisis Group expert Michael Wahid Hanna says the trip was hastened by the spillover effects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Concerned about soaring energy prices and Riyadh's overall approach to Moscow, the Biden administration is keen to tamp down tensions despite criticism for seeming to forsake its pledges to centre human rights. The domestic political costs could be notable or minimal depending on whether the visit produces concrete achievements on energy production, human rights, regional security and/or normalisation with Israel.
U.S.-SYRIA A spokesperson for U.S. Central Command said a U.S. airstrike Tuesday killed Maher al-Agal, whom the Pentagon calls the top ISIS commander in Syria. One of Agal's lieutenants died the next day of his injuries. The strike occurred in Jindayris, a town in the north west near the Turkish border. Crisis Group expert Dareen Khalifa says the significance of Agal's death should not be downplayed. Yet it may not disrupt the ISIS insurgency in Syria for long, as the group does not depend solely on individual leaders for operational effectiveness. Instead, it relies heavily on a network of decentralised cells that do not need specific orders from above to carry out their small-scale raids.
COMMODITIES A worldwide "cost-of-living crisis" drove 71 million people into poverty in the first three months after Russia invaded Ukraine, according to a UN Development Programme report released Wednesday. The UN classifies all those getting by on $3.20 per day or less as living in poverty. The rate of increase in poverty numbers is faster than that in the initial eighteen months of the COVID-19 pandemic and the attendant lockdowns. Crisis Group's President and CEO Comfort Ero says the Ukraine war's supply disruptions, as well as sanctions imposed on Russia, have exerted upward pressure on food and fuel prices, hitting poorer countries in eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East the hardest. Wealthier nations should marshal more of their resources to help those in need.
LIBYA A wave of protests aimed at the political establishment has swept cities controlled by the country's rival governments as Libyans vent their frustration with the lack of progress in unifying national institutions as well as difficult living conditions. Demands vary from place to place but include fresh elections, removal of foreign military personnel, action to counter inflation and improvement in public services. Crisis Group expert Riccardo Fabiani says the demonstrations show that Libya's stability remains as precarious as ever. To avoid a relapse into violence, international actors should renew their efforts to push the two political camps to agree on an electoral path forward.
PALESTINE Algeria hosted Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh Tuesday for their first face-to-face meeting since 2016. Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune hopes to unite Abbas's Fatah faction with Hamas before November's Arab summit in Algiers, which he intends to take up the question of Palestine. But the initiative faces major challenges, says Crisis Group expert Tahani Mustafa. Neither party has a pressing interest in reconciliation, with Hamas rising in popularity at the expense of Fatah, which is increasingly reliant on the West and Israel.
UZBEKISTAN President Shavkat Mirziyoyev declared a month-long state of emergency in Karakalpakstan, an autonomous area with the constitutional status of "republic", following deadly clashes between protesters and security forces last week. Eighteen people were killed and 243 injured in the unrest. The president also dropped proposed constitutional amendments that would have weakened Karakalpak autonomy and promised public consultations on the issue. With little media coverage of the incident, says Crisis Group expert Alissa de Carbonnel, it is hard to know exactly how the violence started and how serious the risk of a reprise may be.
ETHIOPIA-SUDAN The week saw worrying escalations in al-Fashaga, a swathe of fertile land disputed between Ethiopia and Sudan. First, Sudan accused the Ethiopian army of executing seven of its soldiers on Sudanese soil and displaying the bodies in Ethiopia; Addis Ababa heatedly rejected the account, claiming the soldiers were killed in a clash with a local militia on its side of the frontier. Then, on Wednesday, locals reported firefights as Sudanese units advanced on two villages held by Ethiopian troops. Khartoum denied any such operation, but reportedly took hold of a border town. The situation is highly dangerous, warn Crisis Group experts Alan Boswell and Will Davison. Al-Fashaga lies next to Tigray, the northernmost region of Ethiopia where the civil war that raged last year is still smouldering. The two cross-cutting conflicts - together with tensions over Ethiopia's huge new dam on the Nile - could further destabilise the Horn of Africa.
G7 Leaders at the Group of Seven summit in Germany vowed to "stand with Ukraine as long as it takes" in resisting Russia's invasion. They also pledged $4.5 billion to bolster global food security amid spikes in prices of food, fuel and fertiliser exacerbated by the war. The U.S. is to supply half this amount and has promised an additional $2.76 billion to follow. Crisis Group expert Champa Patel says the G7's attention to the commodity crisis is welcome but insufficient in its sole focus on emergency aid. The West should also do what it can to tackle supply chain disruptions to ease the flow of staple goods around the world.
IRAN-U.S. Following a visit to Tehran by the EU's top diplomat, Iranian and U.S. officials convened in the Qatari capital Doha Tuesday and Wednesday for indirect negotiations aimed at breaking a months-long impasse around reviving the 2015 nuclear deal. Multilateral talks paused in March with an agreement nearly ready, but political obstacles - chiefly, the U.S. designation of Iran's Revolutionary Guards as a foreign terrorist organisation and Iranian demands for economic guarantees - prevented it from going forward. Crisis Group expert Ali Vaez says the lack of a breakthrough in Doha shows that despite the benefits both sides would derive from a deal, neither appears to have the political will or the flexibility to concede on remaining issues of disagreement.
MIGRATION Authorities found 51 migrants dead of heat exhaustion, dehydration and related causes in the back of an airless lorry abandoned on an interstate highway near San Antonio, Texas, on Monday. Most of the migrants - men, women and children - were from Mexico and Central America. It is the deadliest single human smuggling incident in U.S. history, coming amid a surge of attempted border crossings. Crisis Group expert Tiziano Breda says the horrific incident illustrates the impossibility of suppressing northward migration in the Americas when Mexicans, Central Americans and others are willing to take such risks to escape increasing privation and violent crime in their home countries.
ECUADOR Nationwide protests against President Lasso's government led primarily by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) began on 13 June over rising prices of fuel, food and other basics. The violence escalated this week, resulting in four dead, more than 100 people detained and 120 police officers seriously injured. Crisis Group expert Nora Brito says CONAIE and other organisations met multiple times with government officials in 2021 but received no response to their demands. Lasso this week accused protesters of seeking only "chaos". With the president facing multiple challenges, including the economic effects of the war in Ukraine, inflation, institutional inefficiency, chronic inequality, corruption and an uptick in homicides, there is growing uncertainty about his future if he delays negotiations. If the two sides cannot reach an agreement, the government may increase repression or violent protests could prompt the military to pressure Lasso to resign.
GEORGIA Tens of thousands of protesters rallied in the capital Tbilisi on Monday in support of joining the EU. The protests followed the EU Commission's report that recommended the bloc postpone giving Georgia candidate status and instead offer a "conditional perspective" requiring the government to pass reforms aimed at making institutions stronger and more democratic. Georgia submitted its membership application in March following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Crisis Group expert Olesya Vartanyan says the protest was one of the biggest in Georgia's 31 years of independence, confirming the widespread public support for joining the EU. Protesters also expressed anger toward the political leadership, which they see as responsible for the political failures that led to the EU's decision.
SRI LANKA Amid the UN's warning of a "full-blown humanitarian crisis" and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's lament that the economy "faced a complete collapse", already waning hopes for root-and-branch political reform were dashed. After the opposition party Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) proposed a 21st amendment to the constitution aimed at abolishing the executive presidency - a key demand of the unprecedented island-wide protest movement - the speaker of the house on Tuesday announced the Supreme Court's ruling that any such amendment would require both a two-thirds parliamentary majority and approval through a referendum. The cabinet the previous day had approved a less far-reaching amendment in which the president would retain considerable powers. Crisis Group expert Alan Keenan says the failure of established institutions to respond positively to widespread demands for "system change" adds to growing risks that social tensions born of economic desperation could turn violent.
COLOMBIA Two outsider presidential candidates - leftist senator and former mayor of Bogotá Gustavo Petro and populist real estate magnate Rodolfo Hernández - face off in a second round vote to elect Colombia's next president on Sunday. Crisis Group's Elizabeth Dickinson says that the incoming president will face deep political polarisation and deep public anger at worsening living conditions, as well as a burgeoning conflict in the countryside. With much of the implementation of a 2016 peace agreement with former FARC rebels pending, the next four years will be decisive in determining whether Colombia can finally consolidate peace or whether people in rural areas continue to suffer worsening violence.
IRAQ Government formation efforts have now entered their ninth month with little progress on the horizon. In a dramatic announcement, Sadr, leader of the largest block in parliament, announced the withdrawal of his 73 MPs. Although their resignations are yet to be approved, the move has yet again taken Sadr's Shiite rivals by surprise. These parties are uneasy about a scenario in which Sadr does not participate in government, as he is likely to stir unrest in the streets through demonstrations. Crisis Group expert Lahib Higel says that despite the current deadlock, several options remain on the table. Parliament's recess will give Iraq's political elites another opportunity to agree on a consensus government. Sadr may consider an out-of-parliament opposition more advantageous to his populist legitimacy. And Sadr's Shiite rivals may try to form a two-thirds quorum to elect a president. That course, however, will require that the Sunni and Kurdish factions allied to Sadr consent. The last option is new elections.
SUDAN A land dispute between members of Gimir and Rezeigat Arab communities in Um Hereez village in Kulbus locality, West Darfur, escalated into fighting that killed at least 125 people and injured dozens, mostly Gimir, during the first two weeks of June. An estimated 50,000 people have been displaced to nearby villages, and at least 25 Gimir villages have reportedly been burnt and looted. Crisis Group expert Alan Boswell says the conflict has delayed a humanitarian assessment by UN OCHA in the region, including in Kereneik locality, where an earlier eruption of violence in May between Arab nomads and ethnic Masalit groups killed at least 179 people and displaced 125,000. Community leaders from both sides have established a committee to evaluate the affected areas and called for a de-escalation of violence.
IRAN In a 30-2 vote (with three abstentions), the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Board of Governors on Wednesday passed a resolution censuring Iran's lack of cooperation in answering agency safeguards concerns on activities at undeclared sites. Ahead of the vote, Iran vowed to respond harshly and set about installing advanced centrifuges and removing two cameras. On Thursday, it removed 27 IAEA cameras. Crisis Group expert Ali Vaez says the ramping up of nuclear activity and dialling down of international oversight underscores the urgency in reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, negotiations around which have stalled in recent months.
U.S.-LATIN AMERICA Leaders from countries in the western hemisphere met in Los Angeles for the ninth Summit of the Americas, where the rift between many Latin American countries and the U.S. was obvious. The U.S. decision to not invite Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua resulted in the presidents of Mexico and Honduras staying home in protest, while the presidents of El Salvador, Bolivia and Guatemala declined to participate for other reasons. Crisis Group expert Renata Segura says the polarisation was also evident in the summit's civil society forum. Many local activists lamented the missed opportunity to demand that governments engage productively with their respective opposition and guarantee free and fair elections. Local groups working with migrants also demanded that the focus be not solely on those arriving at the U.S. border, but rather on the millions of refugees from Venezuela and elsewhere who have fled to other countries within the region.
YEMEN The government and the Huthis on 2 June extended a UN-mediated truce for two months just hours before the deal's expiration. The ceasefire, which has been in place since 2 April, has led to a 50 per cent drop in civilian casualties. Crisis Group expert Veena Ali-Khan says while the truce extension is a crucial step toward the sustained reduction of violence, it does not necessarily bring both parties closer to a permanent deal to end the war. Some provisions - such as reopening the roads in and around Taiz, a government-held city besieged by Huthis where the situation remains volatile - are unfulfilled. Without progress in Taiz, the truce will remain fragile and may fail to kickstart talks toward a more formal ceasefire and political transition.
ISRAEL-PALESTINEThousands of right-wing Israelis marched waving Israeli flags through the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City Sunday. The annual demonstration marks the 1967 seizure of East Jerusalem, which Israel has occupied (along with the West Bank, Gaza and Golan Heights) in violation of international law ever since. The event attracts far-right youth, including Jerusalem and West Bank settlers who openly call for expelling Palestinians from the occupied territories. Chants included "Death to Arabs!" and "Shireen is dead!", a reference to Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, whom a CNN investigation has found was likely "shot dead in a targeted attack by Israeli forces" on 19 May. Last year, the march was one in a series of events in East Jerusalem prompting Hamas to fire rockets at Israel, helping set off an eleven-day war. It probably will not lead to escalation this time, says Crisis Group expert Laure Foucher. But the steady erosion of the status quo at Jerusalem's holy sites is a ticking time bomb, especially with diplomatic attention focused elsewhere.
SUDAN General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the ruling Sovereign Council, announced Sunday that he was lifting the state of emergency in place since the military grabbed sole power last October. Regular mass protests have taken place throughout the country since the coup, bringing a crackdown that has left nearly 100 dead, including two young men killed by security forces Saturday. The demonstrators call for full restoration of constitutional government in civilian hands. Burhan promised to free protesters now in jail as a prelude to talks with political parties about getting a transition to civilian rule on track. Rolling back the state of emergency was long a demand of the military's domestic and external critics, says Crisis Group expert Alan Boswell, but the generals have yet to show they are willing to step back from either repressive tactics or their dominant political role.
UKRAINE In a speech to Luxembourg's parliament Thursday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pleaded with Western countries to send higher-grade weaponry to help Ukrainian forces fight the Russian invasion. He said Russia is now in control of roughly 20 per cent of Ukraine's territory following this week's battles in the east. The U.S. announced Tuesday it was shipping advanced rocket launchers to Kyiv, and Germany said it would make its most up-to-date air defence system available. Crisis Group expert Simon Schlegel says the West should keep up its arms deliveries, while avoiding direct engagement of their own or allied forces in the war. But as Ukraine asks for heavier and more sophisticated weapons, Western partners should improve oversight of the transfers.
GEORGIA Breakaway territory South Ossetia's de facto president Anatoly Bibilov announced last Friday a referendum scheduled for 17 July on whether the region - which Moscow recognised as an independent state in 2008 - should accede to the Russian Federation. Bibilov was defeated in second-round elections earlier this month by Alan Gagloev, who will take over as de facto president next week. Crisis Group expert Olesya Vartanyan says that if the referendum goes ahead, the majority of the local population of some 30,000 people will certainly vote in favour of joining Russia. But whether Moscow promptly proceeds with annexation depends on its readiness to revise the status quo that has been in place for almost fourteen years and risk precipitating a new crisis in another post-Soviet state, which could divert its focus from the war in Ukraine.
LIBYA The political crisis took a violent turn on Tuesday when Fathi Bashagha, prime minister of the government that recently won a vote of confidence in the Tobruk-based parliament, entered Tripoli in a failed bid to install his government in the capital. Armed groups loyal to the Tripoli-based interim government of Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dabaiba opened fire, forcing Bashagha to retreat to the central city of Sirte, where he announced his government would be based instead. According to Crisis Group expert Claudia Gazzini, Bashagha's move can only deepen Libya's political crisis, which erupted on 1 March when Libya split into two rival governments following legal disputes on the validity of the parliament's confidence vote in favour Bashagha, whom the pre-existing Tripoli-based government refused to recognise as legitimate. It is likely that the two camps' positions will harden further, complicating UN-backed efforts to negotiate a way out of the impasse. To prevent a return to fighting, the two governments and their respective backers should embark on talks aimed at forming a new unity government.
UKRAINE Heavy fighting continued in the east, where Ukrainian forces appear to have escaped the threat of encirclement and Russian forces made small gains in the northern portion of Donbas, focusing their advances on Severodonetsk and Lysychansk - the two largest towns in Luhansk region under Ukrainian control. The Seversky Donets River, which Russian forces made a costly and failed attempt to cross last week, forms much of the front line. Crisis Group expert Simon Schlegel says Ukrainian forces lost their last toehold in the south of Donbas this week after the Azov Battalion holed up in Mairupol's Azovstal steel mill surrendered and nearly 1,000 of its fighters were transported to Russian-held areas where they face an uncertain fate. In the north, Ukrainian forces launched a series of successful counter-offensives. Most notably, Kyiv's forces reached the Russian border north of Kharkiv on Monday, winning Ukraine's second largest city a much-needed reprieve from Russian artillery bombardment.
COLOMBIA Militants of the post-paramilitary Gulf Clan armed group on 5 May declared an "armed strike" that shut down almost a third of the country for four days, in what they said was retaliation for the extradition to the U.S. of the group's captured former leader, known as Otoniel. Crisis Group analyst Elizabeth Dickinson said the strike was an alarming demonstration of the Gulf Clan's presence and control just ahead of presidential elections later this month. The Colombian state could do little to stop Gulf Clan partisans from patrolling rural areas, setting up illegal checkpoints, and threatening the population. This latest incident only adds to the urgency of addressing a deteriorating rural security situation by focusing more on protecting civilians. Colombia's next president will have to address this head on.
EGYPT Two attacks within one week in the northern part of the Sinai peninsula killed sixteen security forces personnel. The Islamic State claimed one of the attacks, which killed eleven soldiers and marked the deadliest assault in the region in four years. Crisis Group expert Riccardo Fabiani says the sudden spike in violence in the Sinai Peninsula comes after several months of relative calm. The lull in fighting had seemed to indicate that the Egyptian army's tactics were working and the resettlement policy for local residents, who were gradually allowed to return to their villages and take up housing in new residential units built by the army, could finally move forward. The latest episode, however, seems to show the limits of this containment strategy. For example, civil society groups have criticised the heavy-handed approach to resettlement. These attacks also jeopardise the army's progress over the past few years and risk prolonging the seemingly endless war against jihadism in the Sinai peninsula.
SRI LANKA The months-long crisis escalated sharply this week, as deadly violence ensued after government-backed thugs attacked the peaceful encampment of protesters in Colombo. Arson attacks followed on dozens of politicians' homes, including the residence of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa after he was forced to resign on Monday. Mahinda was replaced by Ranil Wickremesinghe - a former prime minister widely seen as close to the Rajapaksa family. Crisis Group expert Alan Keenan says after a turbulent week of unrest that killed at least nine people, Wickremesinghe's appointment offers some chance of at least temporary stability and a coherent economic policy. It will, however, anger the protest movement by dashing hopes of forcing President Rajapaksa's resignation and abolishing the executive presidency. Overall, short-term emergency action has trumped the demands for deeper political reform.
IRAQ The military on Sunday clashed with fighters of the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBŞ), an Iraqi Yazidi group affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in a village near Sinuni, a small town in the northern parts of Sinjar district. The fighting killed at least two Iraqi soldiers and two YBŞ militants, injured around a dozen civilians and displaced an estimated 3,000. Crisis Group expert Lahib Higel says the army operation came several weeks after a Turkish offensive against PKK fighters in the Kurdistan region, some of whom sought refuge in Sinjar. Another trigger was the near-completion of a concrete wall built by the government between Syria and Iraq to keep out what it calls "malign actors". While it is primarily referring to ISIS, the government intends for the wall to also restrict cross-border PKK movements and smuggling. The YBŞ has staged demonstrations against the wall and attacked federal forces in recent weeks.
SOMALIAAl-Shabaab on Tuesday raided a base operated by the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) in El Baraf, a town north of the capital Mogadishu. The ensuing firefight reportedly killed at least 30 ATMIS soldiers from Burundi, before Al-Shabaab temporarily took control of the facility. Crisis Group expert Omar Mahmood says the attack suggests Al-Shabaab is becoming emboldened, as this is their most significant attack on an AU base since at least 2019. It also comes as the mission is struggling to get off the ground after it was re-hatted from AMISOM earlier in April.
TURKEY President Erdogan on Tuesday announced a new policy to facilitate the voluntary return of one million Syrian refugees to Idlib province in Syria, where Ankara is overseeing the construction of thousands of new homes intended to house returnees. Crisis Group expert Nigar Göksel says the announcement comes amid rising anti-refugee sentiment among the population and across the political spectrum, including within both leftist and right-wing opposition camps, which has been particularly felt by Turkey's 3.6 million Syrian refugees and irregular migrants from Afghanistan who likely total hundreds of thousands. The deteriorating economy and manoeuvring in the run up to elections scheduled for June 2023 have heaped pressure on the government to expedite refugees' return, even as many voters and politicians blame the EU for getting Turkey in this predicament by not admitting its fair share of refugees.
ETHIOPIA Seventy-four trucks carried food and other vital supplies into Tigray Monday, the third UN convoy to reach the northern region since Addis Ababa declared a humanitarian truce on 24 March. Federal authorities had been blockading Tigray almost continuously since civil war broke out in late 2020. Meanwhile, as reported by the Associated Press, Tigray health officials released a study saying at least 1,900 children under five have died of malnutrition in the region since June 2021. Crisis Group expert Will Davison says vastly greater amounts of food aid are needed to stop this toll - which may be an undercount - from mounting further.
MOLDOVA Explosions of unknown provenance were reported Monday and Tuesday in Mayak, a village in the breakaway region of Transnistria. This region declared itself an independent republic in 1991. Its claim remains unrecognised, though Moscow has stationed troops there in support of the de facto leadership since 1992. A Russian commander said last week the Russian army might seek to establish a land bridge between Transnistria and the parts of southern Ukraine it presently occupies. Crisis Group expert Olga Oliker says there is no evidence as yet that the blasts are tied to the Ukraine war, but they illustrate the escalation risks inherent in that conflict.
RUSSIA-EUROPE Russian natural gas export monopoly Gazprom said Wednesday it would cut off supply to Bulgaria and Poland, citing the two countries' refusal to pay in rubles. In March, President Vladimir Putin ordered European Union customers to pay in the Russian currency, in a bid to blunt the impact of Western sanctions and to disrupt European efforts to reduce dependence on Russian energy imports. The Polish prime minister said the Kremlin is retaliating for Warsaw's own sanctions imposed Tuesday on Russian individuals and firms, including Gazprom. Crisis Group expert Alissa de Carbonnel says Moscow is seeking to exploit European states' varying degrees of vulnerability on energy security to weaken European unity and resolve in supporting Ukraine.
SUDANAid organisations serving displaced people in West Darfur said assailants hit the province's Kreinik town with heavy weapons Sunday, reportedly killing 168 and burning down numerous dwellings. Further attacks occurred over the week, driving the total death toll over 200. Tens of thousands have fled. Fighting in Darfur has been increasing since UN peacekeepers departed the region at the close of 2020, despite a peace deal including Khartoum and Darfurian rebels that October. Crisis Group expert Alan Boswell says authorities have shown little capacity or will to contain the violence since the peacekeepers left.
ISRAEL-PALESTINE Violence escalated significantly last Friday at occupied East Jerusalem's Holy Esplanade. Palestinian youths threw rocks and fireworks to which Israeli police responded by firing sponge-tipped bullets, tear gas and stun grenades, injuring 150 Palestinians; police also arrested nearly 500. Meanwhile, Gaza remained quiet, save for a few rockets fired from the territory that prompted retaliatory Israeli airstrikes. Crisis Group expert Mairav Zonszein says the Holy Esplanade remains a dangerous flashpoint, as Israel seeks to assert total control while Palestinians fear Israel will further limit their freedom of movement and confine them to closed-off areas to enable access by Jewish worshippers. While Israeli leaders have pledged to uphold the historic status quo and respect freedom of worship at the site, extremist Jewish groups - protected by the Israeli government - have incrementally eroded mutually accepted limitations at the expense of Palestinians seeking unhindered access to Al-Aqsa mosque, one of the holiest in Islam.
SRI LANKA Police on Tuesday fired on crowds in the central town of Rambukkana protesting fuel price increases, killing one and wounding more than a dozen. After domestic outrage and international condemnation, President Rajapaksa the next day promised an "impartial and transparent" inquiry. Crisis Group expert Alan Keenan says Rajapaksa's appointment of a new and smaller cabinet, which retains his brother as prime minister, has failed to placate what has become an unprecedented, multi-class and multi-ethnic protest movement triggered by the rapidly accelerating economic crisis. While many fear the president and his allies in the security forces may yet turn to widespread repression, so far they have pulled back each time they appear to be ready to escalate - likely in part so as not to jeopardise desperately needed financial help from the International Monetary Fund, with whom negotiations began on Monday.
THAILAND A unit of the Patani United Liberation Organisation (PULO) carried out a double bombing last Friday in southern Thailand's Pattani province that killed one civilian and wounded three police officers. The attack came two weeks after the Thai government and the main insurgent group, Barisan Revolusi Nasional Melayu Patani, agreed to seek political solutions based on public consultations and a reciprocal reduction in violence from 3 April to 14 May, as part of the resumption of talks after a two-year hiatus. Crisis Group expert Matt Wheeler says the attack signals PULO's displeasure at the current talks, from which it has been excluded. It also underscores the risk posed by spoilers and the importance of inclusivity to a successful peace process.
ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan held this week their first publicly announced telephone call in over 30 years. Crisis Group experts Olesya Vartanyan and Zaur Shiriyev say that the call is an important and much-needed milestone in the sides' bilateral engagement, especially following the eruption of deadly hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone last month. The call follows last week's talks in Brussels, where the parties agreed to prepare a comprehensive peace deal and work to set up a joint commission on demarcating their common border. While such efforts could lead to an important breakthrough, tensions persist on the ground and there has been no public sign of progress on setting up the Joint Border Commission ahead of the end of April deadline.
DR CONGO Following violent clashes in late March with security forces in the east that triggered massive displacement of civilians and a string of attacks since November that claimed many casualties, the M23 rebel group announced a unilateral ceasefire in early April. The group withdrew from many recently conquered territories while maintaining its positions on strategic hills. Crisis Group expert Onesphore Sematumba says the risk of renewed fighting remains real, as the group's unilateral announcement could be a strategy to consolidate its forces for another attack. Rebel and government troops remain just three kilometres apart and close to densely populated areas, which will likely feel the brunt of renewed clashes. Both parties should engage in talks aimed at a lasting bilateral ceasefire.
WESTERN SAHARA The Polisario Front this week severed diplomatic ties with Spain. Crisis Group expert Riccardo Fabiani says the move is a response to Spain resuming relations with Morocco and declaring its support for Rabat's "autonomy proposal" to settle the Western Sahara conflict. It also follows the decision of Algeria - the Polisario Front's chief supporter - to recall its own ambassador from Madrid. This diplomatic crisis is likely to further entrench Morocco and the Polisario's respective positions and reduce the already dim prospects of de-escalation and resumption of talks in the short term.
UKRAINE Signs emerged of an imminent Russian attack in the east after Moscow moved long convoys of military hardware from Kyiv and Ukraine's northern border into the Russian-controlled areas in the east, and appointed Aleksandr Dvornikov, a General with a reputation for brutality earned in Syria, as the invasion's new commander. Crisis Group expert Simon Schlegel says Russia will attempt to gain control over the entirety of Luhansk and Donetsk regions, the territories it claims are independent people's republics under its protection. This latest operation - if successful - might permit President Putin to portray the war as a victory and may also be aimed at encircling parts of the Ukrainian army stationed in the east. Ukraine's forces will employ some of the heavy weaponry freshly delivered by Western partners in their efforts to rebuff the attack.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE The U.S. imposed new sanctions on Russia Wednesday, including measures targeting its two largest banks and family members of President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other officials. In a speech announcing the penalties, President Joe Biden accused Russia of "war crimes" as reports emerged of gruesome killings in Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv from which Moscow recently withdrew its forces. Western sanctions are hurting the Russian economy, says Crisis Group expert Alissa de Carbonnel, and will be even more corrosive over the long term. But how much they are affecting the Kremlin's decisions is unclear. Although likely a long way off, the prospect of sanctions relief tied to specific Russian actions can serve as an incentive if and when substantive talks move ahead on ending the war and its atrocities.
MALI Human Rights Watch released findings Tuesday accusing Malian soldiers and Russian Wagner Group military contractors of a massacre in Moura, a town in the country's centre, where the government has been fighting Islamist militants. The group said the army and Wagner engaged in "deliberate slaughter" of some 300 civilians. Other sources put the number as high as 500. The ruling junta in Bamako said its forces killed 203 people, all of them insurgents. Amid calls for an investigation from Western governments, it announced its own enquiry, but denied that Wagner is assisting its counter-insurgency campaign. Crisis Group expert Richard Moncrieff says protection of civilians and accountability must be at the heart of any effective strategy to push back against the militants, who will use government abuses in their recruitment drives no matter which outside power Bamako decides to ally with.
ISRAEL-PALESTINE Four attacks by Palestinians inside Israeli cities in the last two and a half weeks killed fourteen Israelis, marking the largest such wave in years. Israeli security forces have stepped up operations in various West Bank locales, arresting over 150 Palestinians since 31 March and killing three Palestinians in Jenin in clashes with a local militia affiliated with Islamic Jihad. Crisis Group expert Mairav Zonszein says the attacks have shaken the sense of stability that Israelis have become accustomed to, and taken Israeli intelligence by surprise, as it has trouble anticipating and foiling such attacks. Meanwhile, Jerusalem has remained relatively calm during the first week of Ramadan, as police have refrained to an extent from exerting the type of force they used in April-May 2021, which in part triggered the deadly escalation with Hamas in Gaza.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO The Congolese army said M23 rebels attacked its positions in the eastern part of the country Monday, in the latest of clashes that have been escalating since November. The next day, the military also accused the insurgents of downing a UN helicopter. With backing from Rwanda and Uganda, M23 mounted a large-scale revolt against the government in 2012; its defeated remnants took refuge in those two countries. Now it has apparently regrouped, says Crisis Group expert Nelleke van de Walle, threatening to aggravate tensions among Kinshasa, Kigali and Kampala that had seemed to be subsiding.
EL SALVADOR Parliament declared a state of emergency Sunday following a spate of gang-related killings. It also increased jail sentences for gang-related crimes as well as for just belonging to gangs, including for under-age persons. Among other restrictions on civil liberties, the state of emergency suspends freedom of assembly and allows police to make arrests without a warrant. At least 3,000 people have been detained so far. According to authorities, gang members murdered 76 people on the preceding Friday and Saturday alone. Previously, the government had been touting a drop in the homicide rate, which it attributed largely to security measures. Crisis Group expert Tiziano Breda says the killing spree suggests instead that gangs reduce or ratchet up levels of violence according to their own calculations. The government's response risks setting off a confrontation with the gangs after a period of relative stability.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE Russia seemed, at least verbally, to narrow the objectives of its military campaign in Ukraine as talks got under way this week in Istanbul. If previously the aim was regime change in Kyiv, now it appears to be -- at least judging from the recent statements -- Ukrainian neutrality in Russia's competition with the West as well as recognition of Russian control of Crimea and the independence of the self-declared republics in Donetsk and Luhansk. These last two items still ensure that Russian and Ukrainian positions remain far apart, and fighting continues, including around Kyiv. If the Kremlin has indeed lowered its ambitions, says Crisis Group expert Oleg Ignatov, it likely did that due to Ukraine's stiff resistance, for which it was unprepared. Nor does Moscow seem ready to carry out the full-scale mobilisation of the Russian economy and society that pursuing its original goals would require.
UKRAINE Russian forces issued an ultimatum for Ukrainian forces to surrender in the besieged port city of Mariupol, which city authorities rejected. Russian forces subsequently entered the city and established a degree of control over evacuation routes. Crisis Group expert Simon Schlegel says Russian forces continue to relentlessly bombard the city where thousands of civilians have been killed and over 200,000 residents remain isolated with no access to essential services or food. The devastation is likely to continue and worsen. Elsewhere in the south, Ukrainian troops on Thursday attacked Russian ships moored in Berdiansk, a port city occupied by Russian forces during the invasion's first week, and claimed to have destroyed a landing ship and damaged two more vessels.
SRI LANKA The government deployed soldiers to maintain order among the thousands waiting in long lines for petrol and other essentials. Crisis Group expert Alan Keenan says public anger and growing protests have been sparked by chaotic and corrupt governance and unprecedented shortages of food, fuel and electricity - the result of years of growing debt, the massive loss of revenue and foreign currency due to COVID-19, and repeated policy mistakes rooted in economic nationalism. The deployment of soldiers risks generating more problems than it solves. The government's long-awaited request this month for assistance from the International Monetary Fund will offer no immediate relief from shortages, high prices and power cuts. Amid political paralysis, tensions are likely to remain high.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES- SYRIA In his first trip to an Arab state since 2011, Syrian President Assad arrived in the UAE last Friday and met Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Prime Minister and Vice President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The U.S. said it was "profoundly disappointed". Crisis Group expert Dina Esfandiary says while the UAE has been normalising its relations with Assad for some time, inviting him to visit was a significant step, especially as the cracks in the relationship with the U.S. become more visible in light of the disagreements over the Ukraine crisis.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC After multiple postponements, President Touadéra this week announced a political dialogue with the opposition and civil society scheduled for 21-27 March. The announcement comes one year after Touadéra secured a second term in elections that were marred by electoral irregularities, widespread armed group violence and low voter turnout. Crisis Group expert Hans De Marie Heungoup says although the dialogue does not include armed groups, it has the potential to reduce longstanding tensions between the government and opposition, and persuade the latter to participate in local elections in January 2023. The government should seize the chance to discuss improvements to the electoral system, political freedoms and boost its inclusivity by appointing opponents to government positions.
TURKEY-GREECE Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis and Turkish President Erdoğan met in Istanbul on Sunday for their first face-to-face meeting since June 2021, arranged at short notice amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. Crisis Group expert Nigar Göksel says the meeting signals willingness on both sides to engage constructively while agreeing to disagree on thorny issues concerning their Aegean Sea dispute. The high-level contact will significantly boost trade ties at a time when Turkey faces mounting economic pressure and also paves the way for the next round of military-to-military talks scheduled in April. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the NATO allies and the alliance at large recognise the need to show unity, maintain calm in the Eastern Mediterranean and support Ankara's role in maintaining the balance of power in the Black Sea.
KOREAN PENINSULA The U.S. Directorate of National Intelligence warned this week that North Korea could be preparing an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) or nuclear test this year for the first time since 2017. Pyongyang has conducted nine missile tests so far this year, including seven in January - a record for a single calendar month. Crisis Group expert Chris Green says a nuclear test is not likely to happen in the short-to-medium term, but Pyongyang's thinly veiled threat to end its self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and ICBM testing reflects its discontent at the failure of diplomacy since the abortive U.S.-North Korea Hanoi summit in February 2019. It forms part of a strategy to incrementally raise the stakes by military means, whilst also fostering tensions on the Korean peninsula in advance of conservative Pesident-elect Yoon Suk-yeol taking power in Seoul in May.
PAKISTAN The Islamic State claimed a suicide attack on 4 March during Friday weekly prayers at a Shia mosque in Peshawar that killed 63 people and injured more than 190, the worst sectarian attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's capital and one of the worst in the country's history. Crisis Group expert Samina Ahmed says counter-terrorism police claimed the operation had been planned in Afghanistan and identified the suicide bomber as an Afghan refugee in Pakistan, which is a worrying sign that the Islamic State's local franchise has the capability to conduct major attacks deep inside Pakistani territory. Meanwhile, opposition parties this week submitted a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan, who now seeks to dissuade disgruntled members of the ruling party from helping the opposition reach the 172 votes required to remove him from office.
VENEZUELA The Maduro government released two U.S. citizens imprisoned in the country following a visit by the highest-level U.S. delegation in over five years. Crisis Group expert Phil Gunson says the direct, high-level contact between Washington and Caracas offers the possibility of a breakthrough in negotiations to resolve Venezuela's protracted political conflict, by putting on the table a significant easing of U.S. sanctions in return for oil amid skyrocketing prices in the U.S. and elsewhere. Talks between the two governments are ongoing, as are discussions with the Venezuelan opposition on going back to the negotiating table. There is a real danger, however, that Washington might settle for cosmetic changes on the political front in order to address its domestic energy issues.
CLIMATE The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published the second part of its Sixth Assessment Report on Monday. It stated unequivocally that climate change threatens humanity and all life on the planet, with climate hazards poised to exacerbate conflict risks, increase food insecurity and force mass migration. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the report "an atlas of human suffering and a damning indictment of failed climate leadership". Crisis Group expert Ulrich Eberle says links between climatic distress and conflict are increasingly devastating in the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, Central America and other regions. Decision-makers must consider conflict-sensitive adaptation strategies, as it is impossible to protect many exposed to climate change without addressing the deadly violence that also plagues them.
FOOD INSECURITY The Russian invasion of Ukraine threatens the food supply of countries throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Together, Russia and Ukraine grow nearly 25 per cent of the world's wheat. War and sanctions have driven prices sharply upward and could cause prolonged interruptions of exports. Cash-strapped states like Egypt, Lebanon and Tunisia import huge percentages of the grain they need to feed their citizens from the eastern European breadbaskets. Crisis Group experts Kevin Mazur and Rafael Duran warn that wheat shortages and price spikes are likely to deliver economic shocks, worsening the already challenging living conditions and exacerbating political tensions in these countries.
MEXICO Authorities questioned the veracity of videotape appearing to show a massacre in San José de Gracia, a town in Michoacán, a state where more than a dozen illegal armed groups contend for control. Footage broadcast in the media appeared to show Jalisco Cartel New Generation gunmen killing as many as seventeen participants in a wake for a member of a rival coalition called the United Cartels. Yet when officers arrived at the scene, they found shell casings but no bodies. Crisis Group expert Falko Ernst says the incident is the latest example of how homicide victims are either hidden or deliberately displayed to the public in order to avoid or prompt state action. The government's doubt that the killings took place suggests it intends to downplay the continued bloodshed in the country. Absent far-reaching security-sector and socio-economic reform, criminal groups are likely to keep expanding their territorial and economic footprint through violence and intimidation.
UKRAINE Russia in the early hours of Thursday launched a multi-pronged military assault on Ukraine, threatening the largest European conflict in a generation. Crisis Group expert Olga Oliker says that President Putin has chosen a path marked by risk and uncertainty. While Ukraine is overmatched by the Russian military, its soldiers and civilians are putting up strong resistance. And if Russia succeeds, toppling a government and creating something viable in its place are two very different things. Nor is it clear how the Russian economy will bear the sanctions imposed by increasing numbers of states-and those to come. This war, if it continues, will also spark far more of the NATO troop build-up on Russia's borders that Putin wants to reverse. War in Ukraine and military build-up in Eastern Europe guarantee future crises, each potentially more volatile.
SOMALIA An Al-Shabaab suicide bomber attacked a restaurant in Beledweyne city on 19 February, killing at least 18 people, including politicians and government officials. The attack came one day before indirect elections kicked off in the city, which had been complicated by ongoing political tensions between a local community and the Hirshabelle state administration. Federal government troops deployed to Beledeyne in January as a means to facilitate the polls. Crisis Group expert Omar Mahmood says the attack highlights how Al-Shabaab has stepped up violence targeting the electoral process over the past month across Somalia. While Al-Shabaab's violence threatens those involved, it has not forced the process to halt. Yet it sends a message about the government's inability to insulate even a limited political exercise from the group's wrath.
YEMEN The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday sanctioned a complex network of businesses and individuals it said were part of an Iranian funding channel for the Huthis. Crisis Group expert Peter Salisbury says the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and other regional powers are likely to argue this is insufficient as they continue to press for Huthi terrorism designations abroad, in particular a Foreign Terrorist Organisation designation in the U.S. It is part of their broader campaign of military, economic and political pressure on the group, which until late 2021 appeared to hold the upper hand in Yemen's now seven-year-old war. Emirati officials at the UN are also pursuing a new resolution to expand an arms embargo and provide broad new authorities for international maritime interdictions in and around Yemeni waters.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO President Tshisekedi deployed some 5,000 republican guards in the capital Kinshasa over the weekend in a show of force likely aimed at demonstrating his control of the military. Speculation over a suspected coup had gripped Kinshasa last week after security forces arrested Tshisekedi's main security adviser Francois Beya, allegedly because of his loyalty to former President Joseph Kabila. Crisis Group expert Nelleke van de Walle says the loyalty of the army, which was built up by Kabila during his eighteen years in power, has been a lingering question since Tshisekedi assumed office in 2019. A possible attempt by Tshisekedi to purge suspected Kabila allies from the security forces could prompt a reaction from senior army officers, many of whom are deployed in the east of the country where they allegedly benefit from local war economies.
HONDURAS Police arrested former President Juan Orlando Hernández on Tuesday, one day after the U.S. Department of Justice requested his extradition on drug-trafficking and weapons-related charges, and less than three weeks after he left office. Crisis Group expert Tiziano Breda says Hernández likely now faces months of legal battles as courts in Honduras consider the U.S. request. While Hernández's arrest sends a clear message that government officials in the country and across the region are not immune to possible prosecution (even if abroad), it nonetheless reveals the weaknesses of the judicial system in Honduras, which has not been able to uproot institutional collusion with criminal groups that goes well beyond Hernández. The newly installed government of Xiomara Castro will face an uphill battle to tackle these criminal networks and the culture of impunity that enables them to thrive.
ISRAEL-PALESTINE Tensions in the occupied East Jerusalem Palestinian neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah rose this week amid the continued threat of evictions alongside a recent home demolition, ongoing police brutality, clashes between Israeli settlers and local Palestinian residents, provocations by right-wing Israeli politicians and threats by Palestinian armed factions. Crisis Group experts Mairav Zonszein and Tahani Mustafa say that Sheikh Jarrah has remained a flashpoint since last spring, when it became emblematic of the Palestinian struggle. Another conflict between Israel and Palestinian factions in the West Bank and Gaza could be triggered by events on the ground, such as the eviction of the Salem family from their home slated for March, a fatal attack on Israeli Jews in the neighbourhood, or a retaliatory rocket fired from Gaza.
MALI France on Thursday announced the withdrawal of its military forces, nine years after they deployed to stem the spread of jihadist groups initially operating from neighbouring Algeria and Libya. Crisis Group expert Richard Moncrieff says France's withdrawal follows a diplomatic row in recent months between Paris and Bamako. Faced with the choice of withdrawing or being expelled by the ruling junta, France took the decision to pull out, dragging European countries in its wake and effectively ending the multinational Takuba task force. The long period of French presence failed to stem the spread of jihadist violence, and the redeployment of French and European efforts to neighbouring countries leaves international presence in the Sahel in flux.
HAITI Monday marked the legally defined end of Prime Minister Ariel Henry's mandate in office. Henry has led the country since President Moïse's assassination last July and has faced mounting pressure to step down as his opponents deny the constitutional basis of his premiership. Henry - who enjoys international support and has promised to convene elections and conduct a constitutional reform - remains at loggerheads with civil society and political groups, some of which last month put forward their own transition plan that Henry immediately rejected. Crisis Group expert Renata Segura says that Haiti's first urgent task is to address the governance crisis. There is no sitting president or Supreme Court and there are only ten elected senators. Without basic functioning institutions, Haiti cannot address the enormous security challenges posed by gangs, which control large parts of urban centres and terrorise the population.
IRAN Negotiators from Iran and world powers returned to Vienna on Tuesday to resume the eighth round of talks aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal. Crisis Group expert Ali Vaez says that while the discussions in recent weeks have been substantive, key gaps remain on critical issues like the scope and sustainability of U.S. sanctions relief, and rollback of Iran's nuclear advances. Resolving these differences would require all sides to demonstrate more flexibility. Western governments are particularly concerned about the pace of progress, which could render what remains of the deal's existing framework moot within weeks.
LIBYA The Tobruk-based House of Representatives on Thursday tasked former Tripoli-based Interior Minister Fathi Bashaga with forming a new cabinet, a divisive move that raised fears that the country could once again split into two rival governments, based in the two cities, as was the case between 2015 and 2020. Current Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dabaiba called the decision illegitimate. Crisis Group expert Claudia Gazzini says that the risk of parallel governments is probably off the table for now, because Bashagha will still need to secure a vote of confidence for his yet-to-be-named cabinet in two weeks' time - and his success in doing so is not a foregone conclusion. That said, the decision to appoint yet another interim government rather than move ahead with elections, which are now indefinitely postponed, is a blow to the UN-backed roadmap.
GUINEA-BISSAU Heavy gunfire broke out Tuesday near a compound where President Umaru Sissoco Embalo was chairing a cabinet meeting. Hours later, he appeared on video saying all was under control after "an attempt to kill the president, the prime minister and all the cabinet". He promised a thorough investigation, adding that "people involved in drug trafficking" may have been responsible. Sissoco said eleven people were killed in the incident, though medical sources mentioned only eight. A number of alleged plotters were reportedly arrested. Bubo na Tchuto, a former naval chief of staff who served time in the U.S. on cocaine trafficking charges, was released after interrogation. Opposition parties expressed scepticism about the president's narrative of what happened. Crisis Group expert Vincent Foucher says the episode remains shrouded in mystery.
HONDURAS President Xiomara Castro was sworn into office last week in a ceremony attended by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and other foreign dignitaries. Castro pledged to reduce economic inequality and to fight the corruption that she says afflicted the Honduran state under the former ruling National Party. Her program is broadly popular at home and welcomed abroad, says Crisis Group expert Tiziano Breda, but she may have great difficulty carrying it out. Due to a split in her Libre party, two congressional leaderships were elected in parallel sessions. Both claim legitimacy, presaging political deadlock and legal uncertainty.
MALI Authorities expelled the French ambassador Monday three days after France's foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, called Mali's military-run government "out of control". Bamako characterised these remarks as "outrageous and hostile", giving the French envoy 72 hours to depart. Crisis Group expert Richard Moncrieff says relations between the two countries have been deteriorating over the last two years, in which time the Malian armed forces have staged two coups. Following this latest sharp turn for the worse, Paris says it is reviewing the status of its own military mission in Mali, which is helping the government fight jihadist insurgents. Other European countries are reconsidering their military presence as well.
U.S.-AFRICA The string of military takeovers in Africa over the last year has highlighted Washington's reluctance to use the term "coup" in reference to the events. The U.S. did not label the Sudanese generals' October 2021 power grab a coup, for instance; nor did it immediately do so when Burkina Faso's army deposed an elected president in January. Crisis Group expert Sarah Harrison says Washington's reticence about the term relates to a U.S. law that requires suspension of direct assistance to foreign governments when the State Department formally determines a coup has occurred under the terms the law spells out. Officials are loath to use the word publicly without a legal determination. The policy ramifications of cutting off assistance under the law include the potential to damage ties with U.S. partner countries that might look to other major powers for stronger bilateral relationships.
BURKINA FASO A group of military officers on Monday staged a coup by forcing President Kaboré to resign. The plotters announced the suspension of the constitution, the dissolution of parliament and the government, and promised a return to the constitutional order within "reasonable time". International partners, including West African bloc ECOWAS, the African Union, UN and European Union, all condemned the coup. Crisis Group expert Pierre-Elie De Rohan Chabot says that the coup follows months of mounting popular anger and discontent in the barracks against the authorities' inability to handle the jihadist threat in the country. Following power grabs in Mali and Guinea, this coup risks further normalising forceful takeovers in West Africa, presenting an additional challenge for ECOWAS amid worsening political and security crises in the region.
TAIWAN The defence ministry on Sunday reported that dozens of Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan's air defence identification zone, the largest-scale Chinese incursion since October 2021. Crisis Group expert Amanda Hsiao says the notable increase in the number of Chinese military aircraft in Taiwan's air defense identification zone took place shortly after the U.S. and Japan conducted a major military exercise in the Philippine Sea. Beijing was both sending a political signal in response to exercise and using the opportunity to train on a larger scale with more fighter jets and a bomber.
UKRAINE Representatives of France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine met on Wednesday in Paris for the first in-person Normandy Format talks on the Ukraine peace process since January 2021. Negotiators spoke for eight hours before emerging to reaffirm their commitment to the Minsk deals as the basis for further negotiations, despite disagreements on how they should be implemented. They also voiced their support for observance of the now-frayed June 2020 ceasefire deal and agreed to meet again in two weeks time in Berlin. Crisis Group expert Olga Oliker says the lengthy discussions and limited results reflect the distance between the parties, but in light of a continuing Russian build-up near Ukraine and tense diplomatic engagement between Moscow and Western capitals, the fact of the meeting, and the promise of more negotiations, is positive, but overall the standoff is still extremely dangerous and the menace of a Russian escalation in Ukraine still looms.
SUDAN Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Khartoum on Monday to demand the military step down after it seized power in October. Security forces fired into crowds, killing at least seven protesters and prompting protest organisers to announce two days of strikes and civil disobedience. Crisis Group expert Murithi Mutiga says the security forces' brutal response to protests will harden opposition to the ruling generals and complicate efforts, coordinated by the UN, to bring the two sides to the negotiating table.
WESTERN SAHARA Recently appointed UN Envoy for Western Sahara Staffan de Mistura continued his trip to the region this week, meeting the leader of the pro-independence Polisario Front in Algeria after he met Moroccan officials last week. Crisis Group expert Riccardo Fabiani says while the visit was exploratory, it was the first by a UN envoy since 2019 and signals renewed international engagement with the Western Sahara conflict. It was all the more important given the current state of high tensions between Algeria and Morocco. Prospects for resuming UN-led talks for now remain unlikely.
YEMEN The Huthis on Monday claimed missile and drone attacks on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that killed three people. The attacks came amid a series of advances by UAE-aligned forces in Yemen, which have repelled Huthi forces from Shebwa governorate and prevented the Huthis from making further progress in neighbouring Marib. Crisis Group expert Peter Salisbury says the attacks demonstrate the Huthis' frustration at their recent setbacks in Shebwa. He does not foresee the UAE overtly increasing its role on the ground in Yemen, where it exerts considerable influence over key armed factions but does not have boots on the ground.
U.S.-RUSSIA U.S., European, and Russian officials embarked on a series of diplomatic meetings with Russian officials this week in Geneva, Brussels and Vienna. The meetings follow months of mounting fears of a Russian offensive against Ukraine and Moscow's demand for negotiations with the U.S. on halting, and in some ways rolling back, NATO's eastward expansion. Crisis Group expert Olga Oliker says the meetings ended without any agreements, and with Moscow stating that it sees no reason for further talks. It was never likely that this week's talks would lead to resolution but if discussions do in fact cease, the risks of conflict are indeed higher.
KOREAN PENINSULA North Korea conducted a hypersonic missile test on Tuesday, the second such test of 2022, and launched two suspected ballistic missiles on Friday. Crisis Group expert Christopher Green says this month's tests are in line with goals outlined by leader Kim Jong-un last year at the Eighth Congress of the ruling Workers' Party. There will certainly be more testing in the year to come, though the tempo and intensity could be affected by the outcome of the South Korean presidential election in March. The pandemic is a factor too: it has drastically constrained North Korean trade and already prompted Pyongyang to announce that it will stay away from the Beijing Winter Olympics.
SOMALIA Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble and state leaders on Sunday agreed to complete the indirect elections of the Lower House of Parliament by 25 February. The process has been repeatedly delayed and marked by serious manipulation, while the re-emergence in late December of a power struggle between Roble and President Farmajo also threatens stability. Crisis Group expert Omar Mahmood says another electoral delay appears likely as what has hobbled the timeline over the past six months is unlikely to be overcome in the next six weeks. Somalia's leadership has also done little to address ongoing electoral irregularities, meaning forthcoming polls will likely continue to suffer from serious political interference. Meanwhile, the protracted rift between Roble and Farmajo raises the risk of confrontation in the capital, as both leaders attempt to ensure security forces respond to their direct control.
AFGHANISTAN War has killed more than 28,000 children in Afghanistan since 2005, the most in any country in the world during that period, according to a UNICEF report released at the new year. Millions more children - and adults, too - are at risk of starvation as the country's humanitarian crisis continues to deepen. Crisis Group expert Ibraheem Bahiss says heavy snows and flooding in parts of the country are exacerbating shortages of food and shelter. The root of the emergency, however, is not a lack of supplies but the economic collapse after Western countries cut off non-humanitarian aid and applied sanctions (with limited exemptions) to the Afghan state following the Taliban's takeover. Renewing assistance, and easing the restrictions, grows more urgent by the day.
HAITI The office of Prime Minister Ariel Henry alleged that gunmen tried to assassinate him Monday during a ceremony marking the island nation's independence. Police have issued arrest warrants for unnamed suspects. The next day, U.S. Homeland Security agents apprehended a Colombian national at the Miami airport upon his arrival from Panama, charging him with involvement in the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. It appears that the U.S. will assume the main role in the Moïse investigation. Crisis Group expert Mariano de Alba says the confluence of events underscores the instability plaguing Haiti, with gang violence a particularly pressing challenge.
SUDAN Protesters marched on the presidential palace Tuesday, two days after Abdalla Hamdok resigned as prime minister of the military-run interim government. The generals had appointed Hamdok on 21 November last year after removing him and his civilian cabinet in the 25 October coup. The Sudanese Professionals' Association, a key component of the broad-based movement opposing the military takeover, vowed that street demonstrations would continue until "victory is achieved" in establishing civilian rule after the downfall of long-time strongman Omar al-Bashir in 2019. Crisis Group expert Alan Boswell says Hamdok had little popular backing to form a new government as the generals violated their agreement with him and security forces cracked down, killing 56 people in post-coup protests to date. More violence is likely as the unrest goes on.
UKRAINE U.S. President Joe Biden spoke to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Sunday, the second time in two weeks the two leaders have discussed Moscow's large troop buildup on the Ukrainian border. Biden told Putin that Washington would react "decisively" if Russia were to ramp up its aggression against Ukraine, where it has been backing separatists since 2014. Tough talk may not be enough to deter the Kremlin, says Crisis Group expert Olga Oliker. Russia seeks both a more compliant Ukraine and substantial changes in the European security order, such that NATO forswears enlargement to the east and force presence on the territory of new members. Negotiations will continue in January, but the risk of escalation remains real.