drones - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

Sudan’s war spills into farming state hosting displaced people

Drones hit the Sudanese city of al-Gadaref, eyewitnesses and the local governor said, bringing the country's devastating war to a calm farming state where almost half a million displaced people have taken refuge. Gadaref, the capital of al-Gadaref State, has remained under military control as the war between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces nears the one-year mark. The RSF has taken control of the capital Khartoum, neighbouring Gezira state as well as most of the Darfur and Kordofan regions in the west, while the army holds the north and east of Sudan including its main Red…

Nov

2023

By The African Mirror

Spain offers drones, reinforcement to help Senegal tackle migration crisis

NEWS

SPAIN has delivered six new multi-copter drones to Senegal and plans to reinforce its deployed security personnel to help the West African nation tackle a migration crisis, Spain's acting Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said. Grande-Marlaska is in Senegal where he met his Senegalese counterpart, Sidiki Kaba, as the number of would-be migrants from West Africa, especially Senegal, to reach Spain's Canary Islands this year is near a record high. Grande-Marlaska said the drones delivered to the Senegal Police are designed to detect vessel departures so that they could be intercepted. He added that Spain had also deployed a civil guard aircraft…

Oct

2023

By The African Mirror

Egypt’s Sisi warns region could become ‘ticking time bomb’

NEWS

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warned against any expansion of the conflict in Gaza, saying the region risked becoming a "ticking time bomb". He also said his country's sovereignty should be respected after drones were intercepted after entering Egyptian air space on Friday. Israel on Friday said it was the target of the drones which it blamed on Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi movement. Egypt's military said the drones, which fell on the Egyptian towns of Taba and Nuweiba near the Israeli border, injuring six, originated in the southern Red Sea. It did not say who launched the drones. "Regardless of where…

Oct

2023

By The African Mirror

Egypt delivered drones to Sudan’s military, Wall Street Journal reports

NEWS

EGYPT has delivered drones to the Sudanese military, a potential escalation of a conflict that is drawing in more regional players, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing security officials. The Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones were delivered to Sudan's military last month, the Journal reported. Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been locked in a power struggle that erupted into conflict on April 15, killing hundreds of people. Spokesmen for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry and the Sudanese military didn't return requests for comment to the Journal. Reuters was not able to independently verify the report.

Sep

2023

By EDWIN NYIRONGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Malawi looks to drones to protect its wildlife

NEWS

MALAWI has announced a new level of protection across its Nyika, Kasungu, Nkhotakota, Majete Vwaza, Liwonde and Elephant wildlife reserves: drones. Until recently, the protection of animals in the reserves relied heavily on forest guards. The guards usually patrol boundary lines separating animals from their human neighbours, checking for people encroaching on the reserves. But human resources have limits and destruction to the ecosystem and the poaching of animals has been a growing problem. As a result, the government, in consultation with environmentalists, has conceived of a more effective method to protect the areas. A decision was made to use…

Jun

2023

By PAVEL POLITYUK

Ukraine says it downed 36 Russian missiles and drones

WORLD

UKRAINIAN forces in Kyiv said they shot down 36 Russian missiles and drones in and around the capital overnight, with two people injured by falling debris before authorities lifted air raid alerts across most of the country. Russia has launched about 20 missile and drone attacks on Kyiv since the beginning of May, a surge in strikes that the government says appears aimed at derailing Ukraine's preparations for a major counter-offensive. An Air Force statement said its air defences had shot down 15 cruise missiles and 21 drones. It said a wave of drones had been launched late on Thursday, followed by…

Dec

2022

By The African Mirror

Fighting rages in east Ukraine, Europe agrees extra military aid to Ukraine

WORLD

NICK STARKOV and PAVEL POLITYUK RUSSIAN forces pounded targets in eastern and southern Ukraine with missiles, drones and artillery, Ukraine's General Staff said, while millions remained without power in subzero temperatures after further strikes on key infrastructure. European Union foreign ministers agreed to put another 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion) into a fund that has been used to pay for military support for Ukraine after it was largely depleted during almost 10 months of the war. The EU ministers were also due to discuss a ninth package of sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, while Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was set to…

Feb

2022

By The African Mirror

Drones to digital: Asia, Africa find ways to plug COVID health gaps

COVID-19

EMMA BATHA AS COVID-19 strains Pakistan's health system, tens of thousands of women doctors are sitting at home, their talents squandered in a country where millions have no access to medical care. Many families encourage their daughters to study medicine, not for a career, but to bolster their marriage prospects. The phenomenon even has a name - "doctor-brides". Appalled by the waste of expertise, entrepreneur Sara Saeed Khurram has set up a telemedicine platform enabling female medics to provide e-consultations from their homes to patients in rural communities. "Half the population in Pakistan – 100 million people – never get…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

India tests drones to take COVID-19 vaccines to rural areas

WORLD

RINA CHANDRAN VILLAGERS in remote corners of rural India could start seeing curious flying objects in the skies as health experts test out drones to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to isolated communities amid a deadly surge in coronavirus cases. The southern state of Telangana, which is part of the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Medicine from the Sky project along with government think-tank NITI Aayog and Apollo Hospitals, will run a trial and then launch COVID-19 vaccine deliveries with drones. Karnataka, another southern state, is also looking at drone deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines, while the Indian Council of Medical Research has been…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Trump administration moves forward with $1 billion Moroccan arms deal

NEWS

PATRICIA ZENGERLE and MIKE STONE PRESIDENT Donald Trump's administration moved forward with $1 billion in sales of drones and precision-guided weapons to Morocco on Friday, sending a notice to Congress about the potential deals, according to sources familiar with the notification. The deal includes four MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones made by privately-held General Atomics, and Hellfire, Paveway and JDAM precision-guided munitions made by Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Boeing, the sources said. Reuters was first to report on Thursday that Washington was negotiating the sale and would notify Congress shortly. News of the deal came as the White House announced an agreement…