Security Updates

On the night of 18 January 2025, a violent incident occurred at the Obuasi gold mining site in Ghana’s Ashanti Region. On 19 January, the Ghana National Association of Small Scale Miners reported that soldiers had killed nine unarmed people at the AngloGold Ashanti mine, with the army reporting that seven illegal miners had been killed in a firefight. Earlier, Ghana’s armed forces had reported that about 60 illegal miners carrying locally manufactured rifles and other weapons had breached the mine’s security fence at around 11:00 pm (2300 GMT) on Saturday 18 January, adding that they had fired on a military patrol deployed there, which led to a shootout. Ghanian President John Mahama has ordered an immediate investigation into the incident and has called for AngloGold to pay for any medical expenses of those injured in the attack. AngloGold Ashanti has confirmed the incident, stating that seven “illegal miners” were killed. A statement released by the company on Sunday went on to say that “a large group of armed, illegal miners attempted to forcibly gain unauthorized access to mine infrastructure. Authorities mobilized to defend against this attack and to ensure the safety and security of employees and those in the immediate surrounds.”

UKMTO has confirmed an attack on a vessel transiting the Gulf of Aden region. On Friday 26 January, an oil tanker caught fire after a missile attack by Houthi militants.

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On Wednesday 17 January, UKMTO received a report of an attack on a merchant ship 60 nautical miles southeast of the port city of Aden, Yemen, in the middle of the western Gulf of Aden. This latest incident comes as the United States has carried out a number of strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen in recent days. However, Houthi rebels have continued to target merchant shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

A year into the war in Ethiopia, and rebellious forces from the country’s Tigray region have pushed to within a day’s drive of the capital city Addis Ababa and are threatening to march on the city. The situation has been further complicated by the announcement late on 4 November 2021 by a broad coalition of Ethiopian armed groups and political actors who say that they will form a new alliance on Friday 5 November “in response to the scores of crises facing the country” and to fight against Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. As fighting continues on the ground and concerns grow about the security situation in the capital, the United Nations Security Council is set to hold a public meeting on Friday afternoon about the ongoing conflict in Ethiopia as calls earlier in the week for a ceasefire by the East African bloc and the European Union have gone unanswered.  

During the early morning hours on Thursday 27 May, media reports, citing a military official, indicated that Malian soldiers had freed Bah N’Daw and Moctar Ouane, who resigned on 26 May as president and prime minister just two days after they were detained. Their release comes as Mali’s former junta leader Col Assimi Goïta announced on 27 May that he has declared himself the country’s transitional president. Currently, tensions remain heightened in Mali though the situation appears to be calm. There are also remaining questions about how this latest ‘coup’ will impact the country’s transition back to democracy after the August 2020 coup, and the overall security situation in Mali.