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Mozambique working to identify beheaded victims of militant attack

Mozambique working to identify beheaded victims of militant attack

 MOZAMBIQUE is sending a medical team to identify the bodies of 12 people beheaded during an Islamic State attack last month on the northern gas exploration hub of Palma, an army spokesman said. A police official and an army spokesman said the victims appeared to be foreigners, although this has not been confirmed. Palma, adjacent to gas projects worth some $60 billion and a base for numerous foreign companies, was the target of an attack by insurgents that began on March 24. A local police chief told TVM earlier this week that on returning to the town following the assault,…
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Suicide bomb kills 8 killed in Mogadishu

Suicide bomb kills 8 killed in Mogadishu

A suicide car bomb targeting a government convoy exploded at a busy junction in Somalia's capital yesterday, killing at least eight people, an eyewitness told Reuters. Abdiasis Abu Musab, military operations spokesperson for the al-Qaida-linked militant group al-​Shabaab, told Reuters it was responsible for Saturday's attack. The group, which wants to overthrow the government and impose its strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law, frequently carries out such bombings. The convoy was carrying senior police official Farhan Qarole, who survived the attack, the Somali government news agency reported. "I have seen eight dead bodies at the scene including a woman," Hassan…
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African Union drops AstraZeneca vaccine

African Union drops AstraZeneca vaccine

THE African Union's disease control body has dropped plans to secure AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines for its members from the Serum Institute of India, the world's biggest vaccine supplier, amid global shortfalls of the shot. The announcement is another blow to AstraZeneca, which has touted its shot as the vaccine for the world because it is the cheapest and easiest to store and transport, making it well suited to the needs of developing countries. It comes the day after European and British medicine regulators said they had found possible links between the vaccine and rare cases of brain blood clots, while…
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First trial for Darfur war crimes

First trial for Darfur war crimes

JUDGES at the International Criminal Court have ruled that a Sudanese suspect can be charged with 31 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity and have ordered the first trial at the tribunal linked to bloodshed in Sudan's Darfur region. In a decision published yesterday, judges said Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman would face 31 counts including persecution, murder, rape and torture. Prosecutors accuse Abd-Al-Rahman, who they say also went by the name of Ali Kushayb, of being a senior commander of thousands of pro-government "Janjaweed" fighters during the height of the Darfur conflict between 2003 and 2004. "The trial…
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Police fire shots at anti-UN protesters DRC

Police fire shots at anti-UN protesters DRC

ERIKAS MWISI KAMBALE  CONGOLESE police detained scores of protesters and fired live rounds yesterday to disperse crowds demanding the departure of the United Nations peacekeeping mission from the city of Beni, local authorities and witnesses said. Hundreds of young people have been protesting in several cities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo since Monday, angry that the U.N. mission, known as MONUSCO, has failed to prevent a wave of civilian killings by armed groups. So far this year around 330 people have been killed in the violence, an unresolved legacy of a civil war that officially ended in 2003, according…
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DRC bill to limit presidential eligibility

DRC bill to limit presidential eligibility

LAWMAKERS in the Democratic Republic of Congo have introduced a bill to restrict the presidency to people with two Congolese parents, a move critics said aimed to block a millionaire businessman from challenging the president in the 2023 election. The bill, championed by an ally of President Felix Tshisekedi, was introduced to parliament on Thursday, with supporters saying it seeks to safeguard the African nation's sovereignty and prevent foreign meddling. Opponents say it undermines the rights of Congolese citizens with immigrant parents and sought to exclude Moise Katumbi, a millionaire businessman and former regional governor who is expected to run…
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Acting Muslim Brotherhood leader sentenced to life in prison

Acting Muslim Brotherhood leader sentenced to life in prison

AN Egyptian court sentenced Mahmoud Ezzat, the former acting leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, to life in prison yesterday, months after he was detained in a Cairo apartment. Security forces arrested Ezzat last August in a raid in Cairo's Fifth Settlement district, the latest blow to a movement that has been the target of a crackdown since it was forced from power in 2013. Ezzat was sentenced on charges of inciting violence and supplying firearms during clashes outside the Brotherhood's headquarters between its supporters and opponents in 2013, a judicial source said. Other senior Brotherhood members have been sentenced to…
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Rwanda deploys troops to Mozambique

Rwanda deploys troops to Mozambique

RWANDA has started deploying a 1 000-strong force to Mozambique to help the country combat an escalating Islamic State-linked insurgency that threatens its stability. Last month, the 16-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) approved the deployment of a joint force to help Mozambique respond to the conflict that is concentrated in the northern Cabo Delgado province. Soldiers from Rwanda, which is not a member of SADC, would fight alongside Mozambique's forces and SADC troops, the Rwandan government said. Fighting erupted in October 2017 and thousands of civilians, soldiers and insurgents have been killed in the violence. "The Rwandan contingent will…
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Benin’s president seeks five more years

Benin’s president seeks five more years

ALLEGRESSE SASSE BENIN’S President Patrice Talon, who previously vowed to serve only one term, enters Sunday's election a heavy favourite to win five more years in office amid criticism he has tarnished the country's reputation as one of West Africa's model democracies. Talon, a multi-millionaire cotton magnate, faces two challengers, but analysts say he has prevented his strongest rivals from running by driving them into exile under the threat of criminal charges. His U-turn about a second term, which he pledged as a candidate in 2016 to forgo in order to avoid "complacency", has led to protests in the country…
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Kenyan judge rules against closure of two refugee camps

Kenyan judge rules against closure of two refugee camps

A Kenyan judge ruled yesterday against the closure of two refugee camps hosting hundreds of thousands of people mainly from neighbouring Somalia, according to a copy of the court order seen by Reuters. Two weeks ago the country's interior minister, Fred Matiang'i, announced the government's intention to shut the camps and gave the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) two weeks to present a plan to do so, adding that there was no room for further talks on the issue. The ruling blocks the closure for 30 days. It originated from a petition filed by a local politician challenging a move to…
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