Nigeria's main militant group in the Niger Delta declared an "oil war" against foreign-owned companies working in the region in a Sept. 14 statement. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said it had launched an operation dubbed "Hurricane Barbarossa." The opening attacks of the operation destroyed flow stations and oil pipelines, killing 22 Nigerian soldiers. MEND said it launched the operation after government troops attacked one of its positions a day earlier with aerial and marine forces. Chevron confirmed one of its oil platforms was attacked by rebels. Violence in the Niger Delta has halted a fifth of the country's oil production since 2006. (AlJazeera, Sept. 14)

Mauritanian authorities re-arrested ousted prime minister Yahya Ould Ahmed El Waghef Aug. 21 after he led a protest march in opposition to this month's military coup. Deposed president Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi has been held by the army since the Aug. 6 coup. Waghef was freed five days later and vowed to campaign to restore Abdallahi to power. He was arrested as he traveled to the northern port of Nouadhibou for another march. The Aug. 20 march in Nouakchott, the capital, was one of the largest in Mauritania's history, bringing out some 15,000. A group of political parties and civil organizations opposed to the coup have formed a National Front for the Defense of Democracy (FNDD), which reports police have seized its campaign banners and prevented it from holding protests in recent days. (BBC, Reuters, Aug. 21)

A Sudanese court Aug. 18 sentenced eight Darfur rebels to death, including the half-brother of Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) leader Khalil Ibrahim. Abdul Aziz Ashur and others were found guilty on charges related to a May rebel attack on Khartoum, in which at least 200 died. In June, Sudanese security forces arrested more than 100 JEM members in connection with the attack. Later that month, 39 accused Darfur rebels appeared before special courts to be tried under a 2001 anti-terrorism law.

The international community is condemning the Aug. 6 military ouster of Mauritania's President Sidi Mohamed ould Cheikh Abdallahi and Prime Minister Yahya ould Ahmed Waghf. The coup started just hours after a presidential decree that declared the dismissal of Mauritania's top four military leaders. By the morning, soldiers had barricaded and occupied the presidential palace. Coup leaders announced the creation of a state council to be led by head of the presidential guard, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz—who told the reporters the takeover was not a coup, but rather an attempt to restore security. He cited security problems, including terrorism, that only the army is capable of eradicating.

No, it's not a football match. Our July issue featured the story "Shake Djibouti: Eritrea Crisis Destabilizes Imperialism's Horn of Africa Beachhead" by Sarkis Pogossian, on the brief war between the two states in June. Pogossian writes: "While Eritrea increasingly poses itself as an anti-imperialist vanguard in the region, much smaller Djibouti remains a de facto Western protectorate, hosting both French and US military forces for policing the region. Despite a halt in the fighting, the crisis has not been resolved—and France has already jumped into the fray." Our July Exit Poll was: "Are you rooting for Eritrea or Djibouti?" We received the following responses:

From Human Rights Watch, July 21, via Congo Planet:

Congo Peace Accord Fails to End Killing of Civilians
Brussels — The killing and rape of civilians in the eastern province of North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo continues at a horrifying rate despite the signing of a peace accord six months ago, Human Rights Watch said today. The agreement was supposed to stop such attacks.

The Chinese Railway Engineering Company is rebuilding 2,050 miles of roads in the Democratic Republic of Congo, abandoned in the jungle after the Belgian colonialists pulled out 48 years ago and further shattered by years of war. The vast project, which will triple Congo's current paved road network, is part of China's largest investment in Africa, a $9 billion infrastructure-for-minerals deal signed in January. Beijing has also pledged to repair 2,000 miles of railways, build 32 hospitals and 145 clinics, expand the electrical grid, construct two hydropower dams and two new airports. In return, China wins the rights to five copper and cobalt mines in Congo's southern mineral belt. (The Telegraph, July 14)

BBC's Panorama TV crew claims to have uncovered the first evidence that China is providing military aid to Sudan's Darfur counter-insurgency operations, in violation of an international embargo. The crew, traveling deep in Darfur's desert with a rebel faction, reportedly found a Chinese Dong Feng army trucks the insurgents had captured from government forces. Plates on one truck show it was imported after the embargo. Rebels also told the crew that China was training Sudanese fighter pilots who fly Chinese A5 Fantan fighter jets in Darfur. (BBC, July 13)