Tensions lead to violence between Uganda and Kenya after Kenyan Pokot herdsmen cross the border seeking water and pasture. In October, the Ugandan government sends 5,000 soldiers to control violence among pastoralists from the two countries.
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.
Violence, including several deaths, occurs during disputes over access to water in the poorest slums around Nairobi, Kenya.
At least two demonstrators are killed and others wounded when protests against water shortages are broken up by police firing live bullets. The shortages were caused by a work stoppage by private water vendors protesting new taxes.
Fighting between Borana herders and the crop-growing Burji community kills at least 56 people in 2013. The violence is rooted in historic clan rivalries as well as competition for water and pasture in the arid region. Clashes between the two communities date back to the 1960s and are related to disputes over the use of political power to take control of water and fertile land.
Conflicts over water continue in Tanzania between farmers and herders over dwindling water resources. In 2013, herders attempt to take over the central water source in the village of Makenya.
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.
The water well for a village in the Bay region is destroyed by an attack attributed to Al-Shabaab.
Levees are destroyed along the Shebelle River in Somalia, in an attempt, sources claim, to make roads unusable by military forces. The attack is attributed to Al-Shabaab.
Attacks by Islamic militants on utilities cut water supply to Timbuktu, Mali. There are also reports that Malian forces carried out executions in the conflict area near the towns of Sevare, Mopti, and Niono with bodies being dumped in water wells.