A new bomb explosion killed one and injured five in Somalia's self-declared independent republic of Somaliland Jan. 28. Among those injured in the blast was the governor of Sool region, Askar Farah Hussein, who was admitted to a hospital in the town of Las-anod. Commenting on the bombings that have hit the region since last October, Somaliland President Dahir Rayale Kahin told reporters: "I have heard the opposition accusing the government of being behind the bombs; this is unfortunate, the government is investigating, but we need to know that the enemy wants [to stage] more attacks against Somaliland..."

Votani Majola, lawyer for King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo of South Africa's AbaThembu Tribe, announced Jan. 24 that the tribal homeland—covering a vast area of the republic's territory—has seceded from the nation. "AbaThembu Tribe have seceded from South Africa," he told the press. "The sooner the nation aligns with this reality and start preparing to form the State of Thembuland the better."

Spokesperson for the First People of Kalahari (FPK) Roy Sesana announced Jan. 19 that his organization plans to take its land dispute case against the Botswana government to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The FPK is an advocacy group representing San, or Bushmen people who were relocated by the government from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) in 1997. Sesana said that peace talks with President Ian Khama had broken down and that the FPK would initiate proceedings in the ICJ because previous court orders granting land rights to the Bushmen have been ignored.

Nigerian authorities imposed a curfew in the north-central city of Jos on Jan. 20 after four days of fighting between Muslims and Christians killed at least 200 people. Vice President Goodluck Jonathan deployed troops to Jos in one of his first acts of executive power since President Umaru Yar'Adua was hospitalised in Saudi Arabia with a heart condition in November. The troops have orders to shoot rioters on sight.

Thousands of internally displaced in Somalia's central town of Beletweyne are on the move again following 10 days of fighting between rival Islamist militias, amid reports of continuing heavy shelling in parts of the town. According to a humanitarian bulletin covering 8-15 January by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at least 30 people have been killed and 50 injured, mostly civilians, with many artillery shells landing on residential areas. OCHA could not confirm the number of displaced.

The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York filed a superseding indictment Jan. 12 against alleged Somali pirate Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse, claiming that he led the takeover of two additional ships. Muse pleaded not guilty to the charges. The 10-count indictment does not provide the identity of the ships involved or details of the events, but prosecutors stated that hostages from one of the ships remain in captivity.

The Nigerian army Jan. 11 confirmed that a Chevron pipeline had been sabotaged, leading to the shutdown of 20,000 barrels a day in the Niger Delta. "A joint reconnaissance by Chevron Nigeria Ltd. and the [army's] Joint Task Force have confirmed that indeed there was sabotage at Chevron pipeline between Makaraba and Otunana," the JTF said in a statement, calling it "an isolated incident." The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said other militants had conducted the attack, though it had sanctioned the operation. (Dow Jones, Jan. 11)

World-renowned political organizer and one of Africa's most celebrated poets, Dennis Brutus, died early on Dec. 26 in Cape Town, in his sleep, aged 85. Even in his last days, Brutus was fully engaged, advocating social protest against those responsible for climate change, and promoting reparations to black South Africans from corporations that benefited from apartheid. He was a leading plaintiff in the Alien Tort Claims Act case against major firms that is now making progress in the US court system.