Somalia, Sudan, India.

Today's three stories you should know.

May 26, 2023

Somalia

The al-Shabab armed group has carried out what appears to be a massive assault on a military base housing Ugandan peacekeepers in Somalia. The African Union peacekeeping mission in the country said the group hit the base with car bombs and suicide bombers. A Somali army captain told the Reuters news agency that both sides had suffered heavy casualties while Shabab, which tends to give different estimates of casualties to those of the authorities, said it had killed 137 Ugandan troops. Al-Shabab has recently been pushed out of territory it held in rural Somalia as part of a major government offensive but it has stepped up hit-and-run attacks in response.

Sudan

Both sides in Sudan’s conflict have attacked hospitals, clinics and medical staff in what could amount to war crimes, according to evidence reported by BBC Arabic today. The Sudan Doctors Union says that only a small number of the 88 hospitals in the capital Khartoum remain open. The World Health Organization has said the attacks are "a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law." Sporadic fighting has continued all week despite a truce agreement coming into effect on Monday.

India

And finally for something very odd out of India. An official has been suspended after he ordered a reservoir be drained so that he could retrieve his phone after he dropped it in while taking a selfie. After divers failed to find the phone, Rajesh Vishwas brought in a diesel pump and drained a staggering two million litres from the reservoir over four days. Vishwas, a food inspector, claimed the phone contained sensitive government data. When found, it was - unsurprisingly - not working.