This is a post I had on another blog in December, 2006:

A Look at

Africa

and
its Wars: 12.04.06

 

Africa

is home to several long-standing wars and conflicts,
some of which have smoldered on for years, and now threaten to erupt into
larger regional conflicts. Of particular concern is the arc of countries from

Chad

and the Central African Republic (CAR) in
north-central Africa through

Sudan

to the Horn of Africa nations of

Eritrea

,

Ethiopia

, and

Somalia

. As with many of the world’s conflicts in the
early years of the 21^st Century, the long shadow of the Global War
on Terror reaches into this bloody corner of this lost continent.

 

Sudan

:

In the

Sudan

, warfare
returned to the largely Black, Christian south for the first time since a peace
agreement was implemented in 2005. The
fighting took place between the former rebels, the Sudan
People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), and a northern (meaning Arab Muslim) militia
led by Major Gen Gabriel Tang. After the
SPLA trounced the militia, Tang’s men took refuge in a Sudanese Army base at
the

Nile

River

port

of

Malakal

. The following day, the Sudanese Army returned with heavy weapons (tanks
and artillery), and retook the town, inflicting severe damage. Several hundred soldiers and civilians
perished in the fighting. 

 

With the ongoing
war in

Darfur

,

Sudan

does not need a resurgence of
the southern war.

 

‘Hundreds killed’
in Sudan battle—BBC, Nov. 30, 2006

 

And speaking of

Darfur

, the fighting
there continues, as the Darfurian rebels attack the Sudanese Army and launch
raids on the country’s oil supply. This
war has already taken an estimated 400,000 lives. The UN seems helpless to act with any resolve;
meanwhile

Chad

is increasing
its aid to the Darfurians, even as

Sudan

aids Chadian rebels while setting the murderous Janjaweed militia upon refugee
camps and towns on the

Chad

side of the desert border. 

 

 

Sudan army
suffers Darfur defeats—BBC, Oct. 17, 2006

 

On the positive side, the

Sudan

government and the Eastern Front rebel group (made up of rebels from the Beja
and Rashidiya Arab groups) work to implement a new peace agreement signed in
October. This agreement ended 12 years
of rebellion in the Red Sea states near the border with

Eritrea

. 

Sudan

accused

Eritrea

of aiding these rebel groups. 

 

Sudan’s
Interlocking Wars—BBC, May 10, 2006

Army, former rebels
review eastern Sudan peace process—Sudan Tribune, Sunday Dec. 3 2006

 

Central African Republic

:

The
war in the Central African Republic (CAR), which began in 2003, grew to new
levels this month, with increased rebel attacks and victories, which in turn
prompted overt French military intervention. The CAR and

Chad

both
blame

Sudan

for aiding rebels against their governments.

French planes attack CAR
rebels: French fighter planes have fired at rebels in northern Central African
Republic (CAR) where thousands have fled fighting in recent weeks.—BBC,
Nov. 30, 2006

 

Eritrea

,

Ethiopia

,
and

Somalia

:

Muslim
Eritrea and mostly Christian Ethiopia are still facing off over their disputed
border, over which they fought a very bloody and not very conclusive war (1998-2000). Rumors and preparations for renewed war
deflect both nations from addressing their real issues of poverty and economic
problems. They also appear to be waging
a proxy war in

Somalia

,
where

Eritrea

is believed to
aid the United Islamic Courts (UIC) against the Baidoa government, which is
supported by

Ethiopia

. The situation in

Somalia

remains tense and quite
anarchic, as the Ethiopian government engages in direct talks with the
UIC. 

Overview: 

The
Horn of Africa (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia) and the North-Central region of
Africa (Central African Republic, Chad, Sudan), are locked in bloody,
interconnected wars which could easily escalate into a regional war to rival
that Great Lakes War (Centered on the Congo, this war involved Chad, the CAR,
Rwanda, Burundi, Angola, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, and claimed several million
lives). If

Sudan

is indeed aiding the rebels in

Chad

and the CAR,

France

may be drawn further into the looming Sudan-Chad/CAR conflict. If the Sudanese government continues to
suffer major losses in

Darfur

, and/or its oil
industry, (which provides the money for the military as well as money to help
implement the peace deals in the South and East), the SPLA and the Eastern
Front rebels may be encouraged to take up arms in a major rebellion. Add to this scenario the possibility that

Ethiopia

could
be dragged further into the Somalia Civil War. This could tempt

Eritrea

to more aggressively aid the United Islamic Courts (UIC), prompting an Ethiopian
military response along the Eritrea-Ethiopia border. Given the strong belief in

Washington

and other Western capitals that al-Qaida has found new bases and new support in
the parts of

Somalia

controlled by the UIC, and the implied American support for

Ethiopia

’s
involvement, things could become very interesting, very soon.