In Madagascar (a large island nation off Africa's southeastern coast), a series of contentious raids carried out since the military junta of Colonel Randrianirina took power in October 2025 have begun to embarrass the regime. The searches — sometimes conducted in the early hours of the morning outside legal timeframes, and often by masked, armed men claiming to act on presidential orders — have targeted allies of former president Andry Rajoelina, business leaders, and foreign nationals, including Chinese residents raided on 9 July near the capital Antananarivo, from whom over €40,000 in cash and jewellery was seized. The presidency has denied authorising the latest incident and called for the arrest of those it described as impostors, though the repeated abuses have so alarmed officials that the justice minister had already urged citizens to report such conduct back in February, with several soldiers since sentenced to prison.