Renewed fighting between the Congolese army and forces loyal to a renegade general Laurent Nkunda has displaced more than 100,000 people in eastern Congo since August, according to UN officials, who describe the situation as "catastrophic." The fighting has mainly been in North Kivu province, where Nkunda and his the National Congress for the Defense of the People have established a virtual fiefdom, taking over villages and levying taxes. Nkunda says he is protecting the region's Tutsi minority from ethnic Hutu militias. In recent weeks, Nkunda he has vowed to "liberate" all of the Democratic Republic of Congo from the government of President Joseph Kabila. (WP, Oct. 16)

A coast guard patrol from the independent Somali region of Puntland on Oct. 14 freed the 11-man crew of a hijacked ship and captured the 10 pirates who seized the vessel last week. Puntland's special Rescue Commando Forces raided the Panama-flagged ship—the Wail—in the Gulf of Aden, Puntland Foreign Minister Ali Abdi Aware told CNN, adding that all of the rescued crew are now safe.

Around 100 people are believed dead off the coast of Yemen after being forced overboard by smugglers in the Gulf of Aden. Some 47 survivors told the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that a smuggling boat carrying about 150 passengers departed the Somali port of Marera, near Bossaso, on Oct. 6 and spent three days crossing the Gulf. Then when the boat arrived about five kilometers off the coast of Yemen, all but 12 of the passengers were forced overboard.

More than 35 young women wearing tight trousers were arrested in South Sudan for disturbing the peace, senior police officials said Oct. 7. The arrests in Juba, the capital of autonomous South Sudan, were part of an ostensible campaign against youth gangs. The women were arrested the night of Oct. 5 and were released without charge the next day. Many Juba residents reacted angrily to the arrests. "We saw about 30 girls in two trucks piled up like animals," said Nok Duany, a civil servant. (Reuters, Oct. 8)

NATO is sending seven warships to Somalia's coast, where pirates continue to hold the arms-laden Ukrainian ship Faina—already surrounded by six US warships from the Bahrain-based Sixth Fleet. The Russian Baltic Fleet's frigate Neustrashimy (The Fearless) is also hurrying to the scene. (ITAR-TASS, Oct. 9) A pirate spokesman told news agencies by satellite telephone that a ransom of $20 million must be paid within three days or the ship would be destroyed. He said the pirates were ready to die along with the crew. (BBC, Oct. 10)

Police in Mauritania fired tear gas and beat union members Oct. 7 in the second protest this week against the new military regime. Workers threw rocks at police in running skirmishes around the streets of the capital Nouakchott. Police reportedly forced their way into private homes in their pursuit of protesters. Unions organized the protest in defiance of a police ban, two days after a similar protest by political parties opposed to the coup that was also banned and led to clashes. "They have orders to neutralize us," said union leader Abderahmane Ould Boubou. "They beat me severely just to stop these demonstrations, but we've decided to carry on to the end. We will never allow them to take away our freedom of expression." (Reuters, Oct. 8)

The France-based Sudanese opposition website Sudan Tribune reports that the huge arms shipment seized by pirates off Somalia was not ultimately bound for the Kenyan government, as widespread reports had it—but for the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). If true, this has grim implications for Sudan's already shaky peace process. Adding to the mystery, the usually relibale Sudan Tribune website seems to be down at the moment. Fred Mukinda of Kenya's Daily News offers this Oct. 6 report:

Human Rights Watch Oct. 1 called on the Ethiopian government to release rendition victims in custody or prosecute them in an open court. The renditions were the result of the US-backed Ethiopian military intervention in neighboring Somalia in late 2006. The fighting caused thousands to flee across the border into Kenya, which detained at least 150 people from more than 18 countries. In early 2007, Kenyan authorities "renditioned" dozens of these individuals back to Somalia, where they were handed over to the Ethiopian military and interrogated by US and Ethiopian agents.