The US Justice Department Nov. 23 unsealed indictments against eight defendants for recruiting for and providing financial support to the Somali insurgent organization al-Shabaab. The defendants are being charged with recruiting approximately 20 individuals in the Minneapolis area on behalf of al-Shabaab, providing financial support for travel and weapons, and conspiring to kill, kidnap, maim or injure persons outside the US.

A new report by the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights details "extensive and systematic" rights violations faced by thousands of political prisoners in Eritrea. The report charges that between 10,000 and 30,000 people are held in a country of about five million. Prisoners are held in shipping containers, or in bunkers deep underground. Torture is routine, with victims sometimes hung from their wrists and feet from trees in the sun or the rain.

The past 10 months have seen the highest number of Africans reaching Yemeni shores compared to figures for the same period in 2008 and 2007, when large numbers began travelling to Yemen by boat, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). More than 56,600 people have arrived on 1,100 boats to Yemen from Somalia and elsewhere the Horn of Africa so far this year, already exceeding the total for all 2008, when 50,091 people crossed, said UNHCR representative Rocco Nuri.

Shabab insurgents amputated a foot and a hand from each of two young men accused of robbery in Somalia's southern port of Kismayu Oct. 9. A third man who received the sentenced had only a foot cut off, because the militants realized one of his hands was disabled. The Shabab has imposed its strict version of Islamic law on much of Somalia's south and parts of Mogadishu, the capital. The militants compelled thousands of residents to attend the amputations. "It was shocking," said one. "No one could endure such a sight. They were bleeding heavily when they were carried away." (Reuters, Oct. 9)

The African Union, European Union and United Nations Sept. 29 strongly rebuked the Guinean army's repression of a protest in the capital, Conakry, in which 157 people are said to have been killed. France has suspended its military co-operation with the country's ruling junta. The military crackdown on junta opponents killed 157, the Guinean Human Rights Organization said, citing army and hospital sources.

On Sept. 14, the same day a US Special Forces helicopter raid reportedly killed a Shabab insurgent leader in Somalia, residents at the southern village of Erile reported a second chopper raid by foreign forces. Abdinasir Mohamed Adan, an elder from the nearby village of Barawe, told AFP by phone: "There was a military operation carried out by four foreign choppers in Erile village. A car was destroyed, we are also hearing that some of the vehicle's passengers were taken on the choppers."

Our July issue featured the story "Sufis and Neocons: the Global War on Terrorism's Strangest of Bedfellows" by Sarkis Pogossian, on US efforts to groom Sufis to counter the influence of jihadists in Pakistan and Somalia—where Sufis are already arming to resist the fundamentalist Shabab militia. Our multiple-choice July Extra Credit Exit Poll was: "Should the US arm Somalia's Sufis?" We received 6 votes. The results follow:

At least 185—mostly Lou Nuer tribespeople—were killed in South Sudan's Jonglei state Aug. 2 when their fishing camps were attacked by Murle fighters. Eleven SPLA soldiers, who were guarding their camp, were among those killed. Thousands of others have been displaced in Jonglei following an attack on Mareng village by Murle tribesmen. There have been several such attacks since March, resulting in a food crisis as displacement has disrupted agriculture. The fighting has claimed several hundred lives this year—more than in Darfur, the UN says.