Sub-Saharan Africa

There are two incidents in early November at Abidjan’s main jail, La Maison d’arrêt et de correction d’Abidjan (MACA) , in which prisoners are killed. The first incident is sparked by a lengthy water shortage; prisoners reportedly had not had water for 5 days except for small rations of drinking water. At least 7 prisoners die and 30 are injured in the ensuing riots. U.N. human rights officials said they were investigating the riot and could not give a final…

On November 4, the army carries out “Operation Dignity” and mounts surprise attacks on Bouake, stronghold of opposition forces and the largest city in the north, shattering an 18-month ceasefire. The Government cuts off electricity and water supplies to the north the day before the attacks. They remain off for about a week.

Somali Al Shabaab insurgents poison a well and damage water infrastructure near the port city of Kismayo, Somalia. Insurgents are fighting against Kenyan peacekeeping troops participating in the African Union mission in Somalia.

Water infrastructure, including dams and the major Kunene-Cuvelai pipeline, is targeted during the conflicts in Namibia and Angola in the 1980s.

During the long-running conflict in the Congo, many water utility systems are attacked and destroyed. By 2006, the World Bank estimates that at least one-third of water utility installations have been looted and completely destroyed.

The water supply for the city of Kitshanga, Congo is cut off in clashes between DRC armed forces and the Alliance des Patriotes pour un Congo Libre et Souverain (APCLS). The violence kills tens of civilians, including a humanitarian worker, wounds hundreds of people, and displaces thousands.

Declining rainfall has led to growing fights between animal herders and farmers with competing needs. In August, 2007 people are forced to flee their homes by fighting in Zounweogo province.

At least 76 water systems have been damaged by the ongoing conflict in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. The larger conflict leading to these casualties is between different ethnic groups and has displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

Protests and violence over water shortages occur in the capital of Mauritania, Nouakchott. By July 2012, over 70,000 Malian refuges were seeking asylum in Mauritania, putting pressure on scarce food and water supplies.

German colonial troops brutally suppress a rebellion by the Herero people of German South-West Africa (modern-day Namibia). General Lothar von Trotha pledges to exterminate the Herero people in what has become known as the Herero and Namaqua Genocide. The Germans drive ethnic Herero and Namaqua populations into the Namib desert leading to massive death from dehydration and starvation; they also reportedly poison desert water wells. Later, the UN estimates that up to 100,000 were killed, or 70% of the Herero…