East Africa in February 2026: the most important developments in security
East Africa's security news in February 2026 was led by Kenya's decision to reopen its border with Somalia after nearly 15 years of closure. Security concerns remained as the opening approached, and the Sh8 billion Kenya-Somalia border wall was never built. Kenya also signed a border security agreement with the United Kingdom.
In South Sudan, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said a government air strike hit its hospital in Jonglei and that staff were missing. UN Secretary-General Guterres condemned the escalating violence and called for an immediate halt to military operations, the UN Security Council expressed grave concern, and on 27 February the UN said the country was on the brink of full-scale war.
Elsewhere, Kenyan authorities arrested a man behind a scheme that sent Kenyans to fight in Ukraine, and a key suspect in a trafficking network for the Russian army was also arrested in Kenya. A man was arrested in Parma over the 2014 murder of three Italian nuns in Burundi. South African police arrested a son of former Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe, who was later charged with attempted murder.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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