Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News, Addis Ababa

At least two civilians who had sheltered in a displacement camp have been killed during clashes in the Ethiopian city of Debrebirhan as protests intensify in the country’s Amhara region, residents have told the BBC.

Protests broke out last week when Ethiopia’s federal government announced a plan to dissolve Amhara's regional special forces. Locals fear the move could leave the region undefended against attacks.

The reforms are among stipulations of a peace deal between the federal government and former rebels from the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) signed last November to end the conflict.

Residents have told the BBC that Tuesday’s clashes between federal security forces and local militias in Debrebirhan, 130km (80 miles) north of the capital, Addis Ababa, lasted for hours.

According to one resident, the two individuals killed had been sheltering in a camp in the city after fleeing ethnic-based violence in the western Oromia region. The BBC has not been able to independently confirm this.

Another resident said protesters raided a police building in the city, vowing to free people detained in connection with a massive anti-government rally on Sunday.

There have been eight different statements from federal and regional authorities since the protests began in which they argue that the integration of the special forces into the national army or police will strengthen the country’s security apparatus, but the protests have continued.

Unrest was also reported in the Amhara capital, Bahirdar, on Tuesday.

In the latest statement, the head of the ruling Prosperity Party’s regional branch blamed the violence on “failure to create awareness”, and said the government was ready to resolve any issues through dialogue.

Image source, Reuters

Kenya's main opposition coalition has announced plans to hold "direct engagements" with the public as it prepares for talks with the government on electoral reforms.

On Tuesday, Azimio la Umoja coalition, led by veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, said it remained committed to easing political tension through dialogue after its anti-government protests turned violent last month.

It said it would hold its first town hall meeting on Thursday followed by a public rally on Sunday in the capital, Nairobi, "to explain to the people where we are and the upcoming course of action".

"Azimio remains committed to the spirit of the Easter deal that saw the two parties commit to dialogue," it said in a statement.

Both the ruling coalition and Azimio have named their representatives in the talks, which Mr Odinga insists should be expanded beyond members of parliament.

The opposition urged the government "to come to the table with clean hands, unclenched fists and a commitment to an honest and transparent process that engages all the issues bedevilling our country".

Last month, three people, including a police officer, died and property vandalised in anti-government demonstrations that also left hundreds of others injured.

Mr Odinga, who claims that last year's presidential election was stolen from him, called off the protests after President William Ruto agreed to talks with the opposition.

He has threatened to return to the street if Azimio is not satisfied with the process.

Image source, Marumo Gallants/Twitter

Two officials from a South African football club said they had feared for their lives when they were recently detained at a Libyan hotel for nearly three weeks over a payment dispute.

"When you see how Benghazi is - vandalised buildings, the army - you will get scared. We don’t see that often in South Africa," physiotherapist Tebogo Amos Dhlomo told journalists on Tuesday.

The pair had accompanied Marumo Gallants football club players for a continental cup clash against Al Akhdar SC in the city of Benghazi.

They were detained at the hotel after the match over outstanding payments, according to media reports in South Africa.

A club official is quoted as blaming difficulties with electronic payment systems that meant payments had to be made in cash, according to South Africa's News24 website, external.

Other reports indicated that the dispute was resolved after the intervention of the South African sports ministry.

Mr Dhlomo and media manager Rufus Matsena returned home on Sunday - only speaking of their ordeal later at a media briefing attended by government officials.

Emmanuel Igunza
BBC News

Image source, AFP

The United Nations says it is deeply concerned by a video of a man publicly calling for the killing of its representative in Sudan, Volker Perthes.

In an outburst, the man accuses Mr Perthes of interfering in the country’s politics.

The UN has urged the Sudanese authorities to investigate the incident.

Sudan is in political crisis after leaders this week failed to meet a deadline to form a civilian led government. Differences between military factions have scuttled ongoing reform talks.

The recording, which has been circulating on social media, shows an elderly Sudanese man verbally abusing the UN official and then asking for a fatwa for him to be killed.

The incident happened during a meeting held by Islamist parties linked to the ousted former leader Omar al-Bashir.

In a statement, the organisers said the man’s comments did not represent their views.

Last year, thousands of Islamist protesters called for the diplomat to leave Sudan, accusing him and the UN of meddling in the country’s politics.

Sudan has faced near weekly demonstrations since the army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan seized power from a civilian government in October 2021.

Mayeni Jones
BBC News, Lagos

The West African regional bloc Ecowas has condemned the kidnapping of 80 people last week in northern Nigeria.

Many of those abducted in Zamfara state were women and teenagers who had been collecting firewood.

In a statement, Ecowas called for the children's release. It is unclear who carried out the abductions.

Many kidnappings, often for ransom, by armed criminal gangs have taken place in Zamfara. The incident is the latest in a wave of violent crime in Nigeria.

Armed gangs killed more than 70 people in two separate attacks in the central state of Benue last week.

On Friday, a camp for internally displaced people in the area of Mgban was targeted by gunmen and dozens killed.

And a week ago, a number of residents were shot in the remote village of Umogidi. Some were decapitated.

Image source, Getty Images

Chad’s ambassador to Germany has been expelled in a retaliatory move by Berlin after the Central African nation kicked out the European nation’s ambassador last week.

On Tuesday Germany’s foreign ministry said Chad’s Mariam Ali Moussa had to leave the country within 48 hours.

"We regret that it had to come to this," Germany's foreign ministry said on Twitter, external.

German ambassador to Chad Jan-Christian Gordon Kricke left the country last Saturday after the military government expelled him.

Chad ordered Mr Kricke out of the country for what it said was his “impolite attitude” and “lack of respect for diplomatic customs”.

A brief statement from the Chadian government gave no further details about the reason for his removal.

He had been critical of the military-led government that has been in power since April 2021.

The German authorities say Chad has not officially specified the exact reasons for the expulsion.

“Ambassador Kricke exercised his office in N’Djamena in an exemplary manner and has worked for human rights and the rapid transition to a civilian government in Chad,” the foreign ministry said.

Gen Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, who seized power following the death of his father Idriss Déby Itno in 2021, is Chad's interim leader for what was intended to be an 18-month period.

Plans for a ballot last year were formally delayed in October, prompting public protests. Chad's military government now plans to hold presidential elections next year.

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The anti-gay sentiment in East Africa is a convenient distraction for leaders, argues Sammy Awami.

That is all from the BBC Africa Live team for now, we will be back on Wednesday morning. There will be an automated news feed here until then.

You can also get the latest on the BBC News website and listen to the Africa Today podcast.

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And we leave you with this photo of the UN chief António Guterres, who is visiting Somalia. Here he meets a family in the city of Baidoa who have fled their home because of drought:

Image source, AFP

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Image source, President Nyusi/Facebook

Mozambicans are in mourning for revered traditional leader the Queen of Niassa, Abibi Achivangila, who died on Easter Sunday.

President Filipe Nyusi led tributes to the 96-year-old monarch, expressing his admiration for her in a post on Facebook, external.

It is unusual for women to hold such powerful positions in traditional settings.

But the queen was the fifth in a dynasty of female monarchs dating back several hundred years to the fight against colonial rule.

According to Mozambican writer Paulina Chiziane, the first queen came to power after defying her husband, the Niassa king, to recover people he had sold into slavery to the Dutch, who had a colony in what is now Cape Town in South Africa.

She went on to hide them in a mountainous area of Niassa province's Majune district in north-western Mozambique.

“There’s a neighbourhood inhabited today by descendants of the survivors rescued by Queen Achivangila,” Chiziane says.

She went on to describe Queen Abibi as a heroine for continuing on the spirit of this legacy.

The wake and burial for the queen will take place on Wednesday in the village of Malila in Majune district.

Youssef Taha
BBC World Service News

Image source, Getty Images

A Tunisian football club has suspended its activities after 32 of its players emigrated to Europe.

The fourth-division Ghardimaou club's president, Jamil Meftahi, said his players had left either by sea or to Serbia before illegally crossing the border to other European countries.

Tunisians did not need a visa for Serbia until last November.

The club president said he could not pay the players - with Tunisia in the grip of an economic crisis.

The country is a major departure point for ships carrying migrants to Europe.

President Kais Saied has rejected a $1.9bn (£1.5bn) rescue package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) because it involves spending cuts.

Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News, Addis Ababa

Image source, Reuters

Protests have continued in several places in Ethiopia’s Amhara region for a sixth consecutive day in opposition to plan to dissolve regional paramilitary forces.

Demonstrators clashed with security forces and three cities have imposed night-time curfews.

Despite such restrictions - including a ban on public gatherings - protests are showing no sign of subsiding.

Rallies have been held in multiple towns with clashes reported in Debrebirhan, 130km (80 miles) north of the capital Addis Ababa and one of the cities where curfews have been announced.

Shots were also fired in the city of Kombolcha after thousands took the streets.

The advocacy group the Amhara Association of America has accused government troops of firing at and killing civilians on Monday and Tuesday.

The authorities say dissolving the Amhara Special Forces (ASF) as well as other similar groups in Ethiopia’s 11 regions and integrating them with the army or police will create a strong, unified force.

But opponents in Amhara say the move will leave the region exposed to attacks from its neighbours.

South Africa's electricity minister has visited Tshwane, the municipality that includes the capital, Pretoria, after seven pylons collapsed on Sunday evening.

Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink said there was a strong possibility that criminal vandalism was to blame.

Power Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa met with Mr Brink and other city authorities on Tuesday.

The mayor tweeted that he agreed to "work with us as we seek to restore power as speedily as possible":

The father of Nandipha Magudumana appears in court in South Africa over Thabo Bester's prison breakout.

Munira Hussein
BBC News, Dar es Salaam

Convicted South African murdered and rapist Thabo Bester and his girlfriend will not face charges for entering Tanzania illegally, police say.

Bester and his celebrity girlfriend Dr Nandipha Magudumana were arrested in the East African country last Friday after an audacious escape from South Africa.

Tanzanian police spokesperson David Misime told the BBC the couple would be handed over to the South African authorities for extradition.

“We are finalising some legal proceedings between the two countries and we will hand him over to the South Africa’s officials,” he said, adding that the pair remain in custody at the moment in the northern city of Arusha.

Bester, known as the "Facebook rapist" for using the social networking site to lure his victims, was convicted in 2012 for the rape and murder of his then girlfriend, model Nomfundo Tyhulu. A year earlier, he was found guilty of raping and robbing two other women.

He escaped from jail last May by faking his own death in a fire and planting a corpse in his cell, but this was only discovered last month.

Chris Ewokor
BBC News

Niger has started the registration of guns owned by civilians.

The exercise, conducted by the internal affairs ministry, aims to document all small fire arms.

The measure comes in the wake of renewed attacks by armed militia in parts of the country.

On Monday night, unknown gunmen attacked two villages in Madarumfa area of Maradi in the south of the West African nation.

They reportedly carted off at least 250 animals. Cattle rustling and abductions for ransom are increasing in that area.

On Sunday, five soldiers were killed by unknown gunmen near Agadez, which lies on the edge of the Sahara desert.

The soldiers were ambushed while providing security to gold miners travelling through the area. The armed assailants mingled with the convoy before opening fire on the military escorts and escaping with the gold.

Pumza Fihlani
BBC News, Johannesburg

Image source, Getty Images

Two men have been charged with murder and arson after being accused of helping notorious convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester escape from a South African prison.

A suspended prison warden and the father of Bester’s girlfriend appeared in court to face the charges, but were not asked to plead.

Their case has been postponed until next Monday for a possible bail application. They have been remanded in police custody.

According to court documents, the two men are accused of intentionally killing an unidentified person in March last year.

Bester and girlfriend Dr Nandipha Magudumana were arrested in Tanzania on Friday.

Bester escaped from prison last May after faking his own death by planting a corpse in his cell.

The couple fled the country when the jail breakout came to light last month.

The fugitives are now under heavy police guard in Arusha Central prison, South African officials in Tanzania have said.

The officials are in the city to secure the couple’s deportation and bring them to South Africa where they will face charges in relation to the audacious escape.

Until then Bester, known as the "Facebook rapist" for using the social networking site to lure his victims, was believed to have died in a mysterious fire in his cell last May.

He was convicted in 2012 for the rape and murder of his then girlfriend, model Nomfundo Tyhulu. A year earlier, he was found guilty of raping and robbing two other women.

Youssef Taha
BBC World Service News

Algeria's state energy conglomerate, Sonatrach, has announced that it has made six oil and gas discoveries in the first quarter of this year.

They have yielded more than 1.5 million cubic metres of gas as well as smaller amounts of oil.

Sonatrach made seven discoveries for the whole of last year.

It has announced it will produce 200 million tons of oil equivalent this year, an amount not achieved since 2010.

Image source, AFP

Police in Tunisia’s capital have forcefully removed homeless sub-Saharan Africans who had been camping outside UN buildings in Tunis for several weeks.

Many black Africans have been seeking repatriation after recent remarks by President Kais Saied unleashed a wave of violence against them.

He denies inciting hatred by saying they were part of a conspiracy to change the demographic composition of the North African country, which has a predominantly Arab-Muslim culture.

What followed was a crackdown on migrants with many subjected to detentions, abuse and evictions from their houses.

Journalists have been tweeting from the scene of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) office, saying a camp where migrants had gathered has been completely destroyed.

“Police have arrested many people, and having spoken to one migrant, he says he cannot find his wife and child now,” tweeted freelance journalist Elizia Volkmann, external, adding that many of them were registered refugees.

“Lawyers are investigating where those arrested have been taken,” she said.

Teargas was reportedly fired and batons used to remove people.

“Devastation here. The camp's destroyed, with people's goods being taken away as rubbish,” another freelance journalist Simon Cordall tweeted.

Academic Monica Marks tweeted footage which appears to have been filmed during the clashes. One man can be heard saying: “This country is not safe for us, we need evacuation.”

It is not clear how many people were camped outside the UNHCR.

Ivory Coast, Guinea and Burkina Faso are among countries which have organised the repatriation of their citizens over the last month in the wake of the race row.

More on this topic:

• Why Tunisia's president picked on sub-Saharan African migrants

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