Namibia and Botswana engage in a territorial dispute over Sedudu Island, or Kasikili Island, in the Zambezi River, or Chobe River, related to the location of the border and access to water. The International Court of Justice rules in favor of Botswana in 1999.
One hundred bodies are found in four drinking water wells in central Angola.
South Africa supports coup in Lesotho over support for ANC and anti-apartheid, and water. New government in Lesotho then quickly signs Lesotho Highlands water agreement.
Riots break out after a water drilling rig that had been drilling water wells for one community in the capital is transferred by government authorities to the western part of the country. Five people died and fifteen are wounded in the demonstration.
During the so-called “Secret Wars” in southeast Ethiopia, water wells are destroyed and poisoned by Ethiopian troops in an attempt to halt insurgents. The Ethiopian military is thought to have been advised in applying these tactics by Soviet and Cuban officials.
During a violent, forced displacement effort by the Ethiopian military, water wells and other water supply sources are destroyed. The Ethiopian military is seeking to move people out of the country side and into larger towns and cities in order to continue their counterinsurgency fight against the Ogaden National Liberation Front. Numerous sources report executions of those who refuse to cooperate.
A 20-year-old woman reports that prior to being beat by military forces, she was threatened with drowning in a well if she does not comply. This report is associated with reports soldiers guarding water holes and of other human rights abuses by the Ethiopian military from their campaign to defeat the Ogaden National Liberation Front.
Thirty-two people are reported killed and many others sickened from a poisoned water well in Masuubiye, Baidoa, Somalia. It is suspected that the well was poisoned by al Shabaab, a militant group affiliated with Al-Qaeda, in an attempt to prevent government soldiers from drinking the water.
Water pumping plants and pipelines in the border town of Adi Kuala are destroyed during the civil war between Eritrea and Ethiopia.
During the war with Ethiopia in 1998, many water supply systems in the mountainous region of Debub and Gash Barka in Eritrea are destroyed.