Forgotten African Conflicts: Ambazonia and Somaliland

Since February this year, the crisis in Somaliland has already displaced more than 200,000 people. In Laas Caanood, there is fighting between Somaliland forces and the local militia of the Dhulbahante clan. The disputed town is located between Somaliland and Puntland, a nearby semi-autonomous region in northeastern Somalia. Somaliland is a self-governing democracy unrecognized by most of the international community that declared independence from Somalia during the 1991 civil war.

Separatists from Ambazonia – the English-speaking regions of Cameroon – are fighting the country’s government representing Francophone domination and want official recognition of their country in the international arena. Militants have just threatened to arrest journalists in connection with their protests against the death of another reporter, already the third in 2023, who was shot dead in Cameroon. It is the result of the conflict and terror introduced in the north-western and south-western regions of Cameroon by the supporters of Ambazonia. The clashes going on since 2017 have displaced more than a million people.

Thousands fled the troubled Sudan to South Sudan, Egypt, Chad and the Central African Republic. The humanitarian crisis is growing, fighting in Sudan attracts mercenaries looking for enrichment, and weapons are smuggled across the country, reaching militants in Mali and Burkina Faso. The states in the Sahel region do not have an integrated collective security system, which increases the risk of conflict escalation.