Kenya has largely disappeared from the headlines, and what is reported generally has an optimistic slant—a new power-sharing accord is hoped to end the violence. Meanwhile, the situation seems to be escalating to open war. On March 10, the armed forces reportedly opened fire and launched aerial bombing raids with helicopter gunships on the Sabaot Land Defense Forces (SLDF) at Mount Elgon in the west of the country. The SLDF is a local militia representing the Sabaot clan of the Kalenjin community, which says it seeks to reclaim traditional lands and is accused of a massacre last week in which 13 people were burned alive or hacked to death. (BBC, March 11; AP, March 10)

A US submarine fired three Tomahawk cruise missiles into southern Somalia March 3, aiming at what the Defense Department called terrorist targets. The missiles hit the town of Dobley, five miles from Somalia's border with Kenya, partly destroying a house and injuring local residents. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said it was a "deliberate and precise strike" aimed at "a known al-Qaeda terrorist." Residents reached by telephone told the New York Times three civilians were wounded, and three cows and donkey killed.

The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) has issued a statement condemning "in the strongest possible terms" attacks on Mogadishu radio stations by the armed forces of the Transitional Federal Government. The statement said government troops raided the offices of the independent Radio Simba on March 2, taking away computers, audio recorders, digital cameras and other equipment. Reporter Abdiaziz Hussein Hassan was beaten in the raid. One day earlier, a rocket hit Radio Simba, destroying the station's archive. A few minutes after the raid on Simba, soldiers broke down the doors of Shabelle Radio, again confiscating equipment, and detaining station director Shabele Muktar Mohamed Hirabe. Security forces also visited the offices of Horn Afrik Radio and ordered them to stop broadcasting. (NUSOJ, March 3 via AaaAfrica)

Angry protests against rising food prices in Burkina Faso spread to the capital, Ouagadougou, Feb. 28, shutting the city down as young people burned tires and clashed with police. "The choice is to demonstrate or to die of hunger," a protester told the UN news agency IRIN. The unrest was sparked when the government announced that rather than lowering the price of basic goods as people were demanding, it would reduce taxes on imported goods. (IRIN via AllAfrica, Feb. 28)

Three were killed by security forces in Cameroon Feb. 28 as anti-government protests broke out in the western towns of Bamenda and Bafang. Up to 20 are believed dead in unrest earlier in the week in the western region and the capital, Yaoundé. The street clashes began with protests against rising fuel prices and President Paul Biya's plan to change the constitution to extend his term in office. Biya has been in office 26 years. (NYT, The Nation, Kenya, Feb. 29)

In his recent tour of African capitals, President Bush did his best to avoid any mention of the Pentagon's new Africa Command (AfriCom), focusing instead on development projects and his new initiative against AIDS. But on Feb. 20 in Ghana, he admitted he was finally forced to address "a controversial subject brewing around that's not very well understood." He said: "I want to dispel the notion that all of a sudden America is bringing all kinds of military to Africa. It's just simply not true." He said AfriCom's aim is "to enhance our efforts to bring peace and security to the people of Africa and to promote the...development of health, education, democracy and economic growth." (LAT, Feb. 22)

Dozens of Senegalese gays are reported to have fled to neighboring Gambia and Mali following a wave of arrests and violent anti-gay street protests. The anti-gay campaign began when newspapers reported on a gay wedding that took place on the outskirts of the capital Dakar in early February—sparking a wave of sensationalist press stories on homosexuality, and prompting authorities to arrest all who attended the wedding, including musicians.

The Sudanese military renewed its aerial bombing campaign in West Darfur region Feb. 25, with the joint UN-AU mission in Sudan, UNAMID, saying it had received reports of air-strikes in the Jebel Moun region. UNAMID said there is grave concern for the safety of thousands of civilians in the area. The report came as China's new special envoy for Darfur, Liu Guijin, began a five-day visit to Sudan to pledge humanitarian aid and push for peace. Liu said he will travel to Darfur this week, the fifth anniversary of the start of the conflict which has left 200,000 people dead and 2.5 million homeless. Critics dismissed the move as part of a public relations offensive ahead of the Beijing Olympics. (Ghana Broadcasting Corp., San Francisco Chronicle, Feb. 25; Xinhua, Feb. 26)