A 23-year man was shot dead and more than 50 others suffered gunshot wounds during Thursday's anti-coup protests in Sudan, activists and medics say.

Eyewitnesses said the security forces used excessive force to disperse the protesters in the capital, Khartoum.

The unusually high tally of gunshot injuries is understood to be linked to the increased use by the security forces of shotguns, which fire shells that contain multiple pellets, locally known as "suk-suk".

Removing these projectiles can require complex surgery, local medical groups like Hadhreen Organisation warn.

During Thursday's clashes, another activist was reportedly stabbed by riot police.

Tweeters have been sharing an image of an officer from a militarised police unit deployed during the protest wielding a machete:

Peter Jegwa
Lilongwe, Malawi

Image source, Getty Images

Malawians no longer have to pay tax on sanitary pads – as a 16.5% levy has been axed.

“In the spirit of promoting girl child education, government has listened to the contributions that came from various stakeholders and has consequently removed duty and excise tax on sanitary pads,” Finance Minister Sosten Gwengwe said earlier this week.

Girls who can't afford sanitary pads often miss school during their periods.

The minister also announced that value added tax would no longer have to be paid on cooking oil and tap water in a bid to help Malawians with rising prices and access to drinking water.

The changes take effect from Friday 1 April.

Didier Drogba believes he can improve the state of the game in Ivory Coast if he becomes the new boss of the country's football federation.

Richard Kagoe
BBC News, Nairobi

Image source, AFP

Several towns in Kenya have been hit by major fuel shortages.

The north-western and western parts of the country are among the hardest hit regions.

There are also reports that some petrol stations in the capital, Nairobi, are turning away motorists after running out of fuel.

Sources say the crisis may have been triggered by reduced imports by big oil marketing companies - who are wary that they may not be promptly compensated for the government-subsidised prices they charge consumers.

But the country’s energy regulator has attributed shortages to logistical challenges and says it is engaging oil marketing firms to resolve the crisis.

The government usually compensates oil dealers so they can offer a lower price, but they say that they have not been paid for the past four months.

Independent dealers purchase stocks through the big oil marketers, who are now giving priority to their franchised outlets after reducing imports.

As a result, the independent dealers who supply rural areas, where big oil marketing firms don’t have large networks of dealers, have run out stock.

Kenya consumes 380 million litres of petrol and diesel every month, according to data from the regulator.

Patience Atuhaire
BBC News, Bunagana

Hundreds of refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo are crossing back to their villages from a Ugandan border town.

Thousands had fled their homes earlier in the week after fighting that broke out between Congolese government forces and the M23 rebels in the Rutshuru area of North Kivu province.

On Friday morning, Bunagana was a hive of activities, with people carrying personal belongings and dragging livestock across the border.

They had camped for days in schools and churches on the Ugandan side, while others were hosted by friends and relatives nearby.

Many were hesitant to be registered by the Ugandan authorities and humanitarian agencies - as this would have meant they would be moved to designated resettlement areas, making it more difficult to return home.

Lorries are now being allowed to pass through the border, which had recently been closed to transport and trade.

The rebels, formed largely by Congolese army deserters, say they are fighting for the rights of Congolese ethnic Tutsi.

Earlier, DR Congo said some Rwandan soldiers were backing the rebels, an allegation denied by Kigali.

M23 rebels captured large parts of North Kivu a decade ago - they were eventually routed and as part of a regional peace deal disarmed and mainly moved into camps in Uganda.

However, in recent months they have been slowly leaving the camps after complaints that the deal was not being honoured.

Ishaq Khalid
BBC News, Abuja

Five Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) aid workers held hostage for over a month after being kidnapped in northern Cameroon have been released.

The group was released in neighbouring Nigeria.

They include a Franco-Ivorian, a Senegalese, a Chadian and two of their Cameroonian security guards.

The charity group says they are now "safe and sound".

The aid workers were organising humanitarian aid activities in the northern town of Fotokol when armed men broke into their residence and abducted them in February.

MSF has not disclosed the circumstances of their release and it’s not yet clear who had abducted them.

But the militant group Boko Haram and its splinter faction known as Islamic State West Africa Province have been unleashing violence in the region.

The Islamist insurgency in Sahel region, which began in 2009, has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions of others in several countries.

Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News

Image source, AFP

Efforts to deliver vital medical aid into the war-torn Ethiopian region of Tigray remain limited, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says.

This is despite a humanitarian truce agreed between the government and rebel forces last week.

The ICRC has been allowed to airlift medical supplies into Tigray since January this year - after months of restriction - but it says none of its aid trucks have moved to the region as road continue to have "security and access issues".

Thirty-eight flights carrying desperately required medical supplies have arrived in Tigray over the last three months.

But with the scope of need in the region, what’s delivered is “a drop in the ocean,” the organisation’s spokesperson in Ethiopia, Fatima Sator, says.

The shortage of supplies had forced doctors in Tigray to reuse gloves and medical equipment, Ms Sator told the BBC.

Relief agencies have long accused the government of implementing a de-facto blockade, something Addis Ababa denies.

When a truce was announced last week, there were hopes that it could immediately lead to an increased access to Tigray where millions need aid.

But the government and Tigrayan forces continue to trade accusations as little has changed in the movement of aid on road.

The Red Cross says allowing trucks to enter the region will boost the organisation’s capacity significantly.

Image source, AFP

Dozens of people have been killed and hundreds others injured in renewed ethnic clashes between the Rizeigat and Fallata communities in Sudan’s Darfur region.

The fighting broke out on Tuesday reportedly following the killing of a lieutenant of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), an ethnic Rizeigat, by unknown gunmen.

Those killed in the clashes – which is said to have continued up to Thursday – include women and children.

"Fifteen people were killed in the fighting between the Fallata and Rizeigat tribes on Tuesday and 30 were killed on Wednesday," the AFP news agency quoted a local government body as saying.

The security body said security forces had been deployed to contain the situation.

The war in Darfur began in 2003 after ethnic African rebels revolted against former President Omar al-Bashir's Arab-dominated government.

Mr Bashir responded by arming local Arab militias who targeted non-Arab communities accused of supporting the rebels.

Hundreds of thousands of people died and many villages were burnt and pillaged.

While the main conflict has subsided over the years, deadly clashes often erupt over access to pasture or water.

Last year, bloody confrontations between the two communities left more than 40 dead and hundreds wounded, before the two sides signed a short-lived peace treaty.

The Ukrainian embassy in Kenya is seeking donations to support the country's war against Russia and save the lives of the affected people.

The embassy said the initiative followed "many requests" it had received from Kenyans keen on donating to the cause.

It has opened two fundraising bank accounts and an account on M-Pesa, the mobile money transfer system

Latest UN figures show more than four million people have left Ukraine since Russia’s invasion on 24 February.

Kenya was among 141 countries that voted in favour of a UN resolution that condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine and called for the immediate withdrawal of its forces.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

UN investigators have uncovered new evidence of mass graves thought to contain the bodies of migrants at a trafficking point in north-west Libya.

The organisation’s fact-finding mssion said the discovery - in the town of Tarhuna - provided further evidence that human rights violations in Libya are “widespread, systematic or both.”

The findings have been presented to the Human Rights Council.

Libya – a major hub for migrants trying to reach Europe - has been experiencing ongoing violence and instability since the toppling and killing of the country’s long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi more than a decade ago.

Ishaq Khalid
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, AFP

Five more victims of a boat accident involving women and children fleeing armed gang violence in central Nigeria have been found.

The head of the Niger state emergency agency, Ahmad Ibrahim Inga, told the BBC the bodies of four children and one man were found on Thursday.

Now a total of 13 people have been confirmed dead in the boat tragedy - 10 of them children. Their burials have taken place.

The victims from the village of Galkogo in Niger state were fleeing a deadly attack by gunmen on their community on Tuesday.

Their boat then capsized on a major river. Some managed to escape.

Officials said the boat carrying dozens of people was weak and overloaded.

Armed gangs locally known as bandits have stepped up attacks in northern Nigeria displacing nearly a million people.

Our proverb of the day:

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A selection of the best photos from across Africa and beyond this week.

That's all for now from the BBC Africa Live team for now. There will be an automated news feed here until we're back on Friday morning.

You can also keep up to date on the BBC News website, or by listening to the Africa Today podcast.

A reminder of our wise words of the day:

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And we leave you with this shot of a tomato seller in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, seen earlier on Thursday:

Image source, Getty Images

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Image source, Larson Fungate

A teenager in northern Mozambique who was presumed dead and whose funeral was held in November has turned up in her home village of Lindi.

The community is referring to Eurélia Manuel Benjamim as having been resurrected from the dead, but she says she had just gone away to work on her uncle’s farm for a few months.

A local administrator in Montepuez district told the state broadcaster: “They conducted all the funeral ceremonies - the funeral, third day ceremony and visiting the grave - and the grave has not been breached.”

A team of experts is being sent to Lindi to investigate to see who or what was buried in the grave.

After crowd disturbances following Nigeria's World Cup exit, security and policing issues plaguing African football must be resolved.

Ishaq Khalid
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, @ChibuikeAmaechi

Military aircraft are to escort passenger trains along the vital rail link between Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, and the northern city of Kaduna.

The announcement by Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi comes after a packed train with commuters was attacked by gunmen on the high-speed line on Monday.

At least eight passengers were killed and several others taken hostage for ransom.

Mr Amaechi said once repair work on the 190km (120-mile) track was completed, the service would resume with aerial security.

This is seen by some as a desperate move by the government, which has been struggling to tackle armed gangs who run huge money-making kidnapping operations.

Locally known as bandits, the sophisticated criminal networks operate across large swathes of the country.

They have made the Abuja-Kaduna highway one of the most dangerous roads in the country, ambushing vehicles at several points along the expressway.

This pushed many commuters to opt for the more expensive rail link, which opened in 2016 and was considered a safer journey until Monday’s attack.

It takes two hours to make the journey by rail, the trains have armed guards and are used by thousands of commuters every day.

The transport minister said the air force would help out with escorts until an "integrated security surveillance and solution for the rail line is implemented’’.

Earlier, Mr Amaechi reportedly complained that plans by his ministry to acquire security equipment for the train services had been blocked within the government.

More on Nigeria's kidnapping crisis:

• 'I was kidnapped and now only travel by train'
• Letters replace phones in Nigeria's kidnap zone
• Outrage at Nigeria's brazen bandit attacks

Supreme Court judges say President Kenyatta acted unlawfully in his pursuit of constitutional changes.

Algeria request the second leg of their 2022 World Cup play-off against Cameroon is replayed after complaining about refereeing decisions.

Haiamnot Ashenfi
BBC Amharic

Image source, Nadir Aman

Ethiopia’s Supreme Court has ordered the police to release two journalists working for the Associated Press after they were granted bail by a lower court earlier this week.

Amir Aman, an AP accredited journalist, and his cameraman Tomas Engeda were arrested in November as they were covering a story about the violence in Ethiopia’s Oromia region.

They were detained under terrorism laws, but have not been charged.

The two have yet to be released and their lawyer, Melkamu Ogo, told the BBC it was possible the police might appeal.

Mr Amir’s family told the BBC they were excited to see him after four months - and hoped their expectations would not be dashed again.

“We are happy that he can walk out of jail now. We hope the police will respect the court's ruling, and he will be freed,” Nadir Aman, his younger brother, said.