Historyguy.com>Current
Wars of Africa
Current
Wars of Africa
Listed below are the current (as of January, 2013)
wars and conflicts in the continent of
Africa.
Boko Haram Insurgency
in Nigeria (2009-Present)--The Islamic fundamentalist
group Boko Haram is waging a war against the Nigerian
government and against the Christian community in
Nigeria.
Central African
Republic War-(2012-present)-Rebels seized several
major cities and towns as they advanced on the capital
city of Bangui in December, 2012. Neighboring Chad sent
around 2,000 troops to aid the CAR government. After only
three weeks of fighting, by December 30, the rebels
contolled about one-third of the country, and were in
place to assault Bangui. Also in late December, France
sent more troops to augment the forces they already had
in the country. France had publicly stated that they
would not intervene to save the government from the
rebels, but were only interested in protecting French
citizens.
Congo
War (1998-Present)--Beginning
in 1998, Congo (Kinshasa), has been wracked with civil
war, rebellions, presidential assassinations, and foreign
interventions and invasions. The latest fighting in the
eastern part of Congo involves a rebel group known as
The March 23 Movement, better know as M23,
led by Bosco Ntaganda, and covertly supported by Uganda
and Rwanda. The United Nations is also involved, trying
to aid the Kinshasa government.
Libya--After the
successful military intervention in Libya in 2011,
continued American involvement in Libya hit the public
eye with the September 11, 2012 attack on the U.S.
embassy in Benghazi and the death of four Americans,
including the U.S. Ambassador to Libya. With U.S. and
other allied aid, the new Libyan government is working to
assert authority over various armed militias.
Lord's
Resistance Army Insugency
(1987-Present)--Another example of a long-running
conflict that morphs from one war and one opponent into
something quite different from the original conflict.
This war began as a quasi-religious uprising against the
government of Uganda in the 1980s, and is now a
multi-nation hunt for warlord Joseph Kony and his
remaining small number of guerrillas. He and his "Lord's
Resistance Army" now ranges between South Sudan, Congo,
Uganda, and the Central African Republic and is pursued
by the military forces of all these nations (mostly by
Uganda), and also by Special Forces from the United
States.
Northern Mali
Conflict (2012-Present)-- In 2012, the long-simmering
hostility between the Mali government and the northern
Taureg ethnic group exploded with the Taureg conquest of
northern Mali. Many of the Taureg fighters had recently
arrived from Libya, where thousands of the Taureg had
served in the military of fallen Libyan dictator Muammar
Gadaffi. With Gadaffi's fall, these mercenaries left
Libya with their weapons and experience and returned to
Mali, where they took up arms against the Mali
government. Soon after the rebel victory, al-Qaida
affiliated Islamists took over the Taureg revolution and
began invoking Islamist Sharia law. A coalition of
African and European nations is trying to cobble together
a military force to retake northern Mali.
Somali Civil War
(1991-Present)--The latest stage of this war pits the
weak central government against the al-Qaida affiliated
al-Shabaab rebels. The government is aided by the United
States, and by trooops provided by Kenya, Uganda,
Burundi, Ethiopia, and other African nations.
The U.S. and many other
nations continue to engage in anti-piracy operations off
the Somali coastline. These operations at times result in
military engagements with the pirates, up to and
including rescue operations inside Somalia itself.
Besides the anti-piracy operations, the U.S. is also
involved in Somalia due to the continuing Shabaab War.
The U.S. funds and trains Ugandan, Burundian, Ethiopian,
Kenyan, and other African forces who are actively
fighting in Somalia to aid the weak central government
against the al-Qaida affiliated al-Shabaab rebels. The
U.S., over the past few years, frequently launches drone
attacks, Special Forces raids, and naval attacks on
al-Qaida targets in Somalia. There is no reason to
believe this will change in 2013.
South Sudan-Sudan
Border Conflict (2012-Present)-Sudan has been wracked
by multiple insurgencies and has undergone two
significant civil wars (1955-1972 and 1983-2005), the
Darfur War (2003-2011), various clashes between Sudanese
nomadic tribal groups (2009-Present), and the ongoing
Lord's Resistance Army conflict that spans several
central and east African nations. The largest potential
conflict involving the Sudans is the ongoing border
conflict between Sudan and the newly independent South
Sudan over the Greater Nile Oil Pipeline and the disputed
(and oil-rich) region of Abyei. There is no love lost
between the mostly Muslim and Arabic-speaking Sudan and
the more Black South Sudanese, who are mostly Christian
and various pagan/animist worshipers. The previous two
large Sudanese civil wars were between these two groups
prior to the independence of South Sudan.
Sources
and Links on Current Wars in Africa:
1. Kohn, George C.
Dictionary
of Wars
.
New York: Facts On File Publications. 1986.
