Three days of drone attacks on oil-fields in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region have brought operations at several facilities to a halt and slashed crude output. The targeted sites include fields at Zakho, operated by Norway's DNO; the Sarsang field, operated by US-based HKN Energy; and the Ain Sifni field, operated by Hunt Oil, all in Dohuk governorate. Kurdistan authorities also said a drone was downed near Erbil airport, which hosts US troops. Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Kurdish authorities blamed the Hashd al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilization Units, a paramilitary network aligned with the Baghdad government and backed by Iran. The attacks come amid renewed dispute between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government over whether the KRG may enter into hydrocarbon contracts with foreign firms. In May, the central government filed a complaint against the KRG for signing gas contracts with two US companies, including HKN Energy, asserting that all oil and gas deals must go through Baghdad. (Daily Sabah, Arab Weekly)

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) announced June 24 that the recent killing of Palestinians trying to receive food from aid hubs may constitute a war crime, warning of a policy of "weaponized hunger" in the Gaza Strip. Jonathan Whittall, the head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Gaza and the West Bank, reported that more than 400 people have now died in the process of trying to reach food distribution points. "We see a chilling pattern of Israeli forces opening fire on crowds gathering to get food," Whittall said, adding that "Israel's militarized humanitarian assistance mechanism is in contradiction with international standards on aid distribution."

One result of the 12 days of war has been the intensification of repression inside Iran under the name of "defending the homeland" or "fighting espionage." According to reports, at least 700 people have been arrested on accusations of cooperating with Israel. Six political prisoners (all with serious legal irregularities in their cases) have already been executed, labeled as "spies." And this is only the beginning... The Islamic Gestapo (the Basij) have turned major urban areas like Tehran into militarized zones. They roam the streets, hunting for "suspicious agents."

The United Nations is demanding an urgent investigation after several mass graves were discovered at detention sites in Libya. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said June 4: "Our worst held fears are being confirmed: dozens of bodies have been discovered at these sites, along with the discovery of suspected instruments of torture and abuse, and potential evidence of extrajudicial killings."

Amnesty International on May 14 condemned the life sentence handed down by a military court in Cameroon against activist Abdu Karim Ali, calling it an "affront to justice" and demanding his immediate and unconditional release. According to Amnesty, Ali was arrested without a warrant in 2022 and arbitrarily detained after he produced a video exposing torture carried out by the leader of a pro-government militia in Cameroon's conflicted Southwest Region. Last month, a military court in Yaoundé, the national capital, sentenced him to life imprisonment for "hostility against the homeland" and "secession."

UN human rights experts on April 30 condemned the enforced disappearance and apparent summary execution of some 100 individuals in Mali. The experts stated that the unlawful killings and disappearances may constitute war crimes and  crimes against humanity.

The experts found that the Malian authorities have violated the right to life by failing to conduct proper investigations. The statement urged "Malian authorities to conduct prompt, effective, thorough, independent, impartial and transparent investigations into these killings and enforced disappearances, in accordance with international law."

Former Blackwater CEO and and mercenary boss Erik Prince is to lead a team helping the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) secure and tax its extensive mineral wealth, news reports reveal. The deal, reached before the M23 rebels launched a major offensive in January, was just confirmed to Reuters by Congolese officials and diplomats. M23 has since January seized the eastern DRC's two largest cities, Goma and Bukavu, and is threatening to march on Kinshasa, the capital. The Prince-led initiative runs parallel to a broader "minerals-for-security" deal being negotiated between the DRC and the Trump White House. (Mining.com, TNH)

Communal violence in Nigeria's troubled north-central state of Plateau has killed more than 100 people in just under two weeks. Plateau has a history of tensions between Muslim pastoralists and mostly Christian farmers over access to land. The state governor described the latest killings as "coordinated acts of terror" and has blamed armed Fulani herders for the violence. In what seems like an abdication of responsibility for security by the police—a trend across much of Nigeria—he said every community "must defend itself." (TNH)