Ethiopia’s Amhara region on Sunday called on all armed residents to mobilise for battle against rebels from conflict-hit Tigray, calling it a “survival campaign”, state media reported. Amhara borders Tigray to the south, and the two regions are embroiled in a decades-old land dispute that has become central to the eight-month-old war in Tigray. Sunday’s […]
unrest
Six soldiers killed in Boko Haram attack in Cameroon: governor
At least six Cameroon soldiers were killed Saturday in an attack by Boko Haram in the far north of the country, the governor of the region said on state television. Heavily armed Boko Haram fighters “arrived at around four o’clock in the morning on six vehicles”, the governor of the Far North Region, Bakari Midjiyawa, […]
Russia sends aid to Cuba after anti-government protests
Russia dispatched nearly 100 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Cuba, the defence ministry said Saturday, following unprecedented street protests over the communist country’s worst economic crisis in decades. The delivery directly ordered by President Vladimir Putin, it said. Two An-124 cargo planes carrying more than 88 tonnes of humanitarian support took off from a military […]
South Africa tourism on edge with double impact of virus, riots
Graced with rolling vineyards, bountiful big game, the iconic Table Mountain, endless sandy beaches and vast cultural riches, South Africa would have expected to cash in on a post-virus travel boom. But a week of violent rioting and looting risks deterring foreign visitors and hammering hopes of recovery, the industry says, compounding losses caused by […]
S.Africa president to rally base as riot cleanup goes on
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was due to join post-riot clean-up efforts on Sunday as his government warned against vigilantism and sought to avert racial conflict following the unrest. The country was gripped by more than a week of chaos that claimed more than 200 lives as looters ransacked shopping centres and unidentified groups torched […]
S.Africa shuts beaches, probes sea pollution after riots
South African authorities said Saturday they were investigating possible pollution suspected to be linked to a spill at a chemical plant attacked during last week’s riots after dead fish washed ashore. The spill was identified on Thursday after an agrochemical warehouse near the eastern port city of Durban storing chemicals used for making herbicides, pesticides […]
7 dead, including soldier, in clashes near Uganda-DRC border
Uganda’s defence ministry said Saturday that a soldier was among seven people killed in clashes between government forces and gunmen near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Ministry spokeswoman Brig. Flavia Byekwaso told AFP that about 20 armed men disguised as forest workers attacked a military outpost near the border in a […]
Bangladesh executes Islamist extremist for 2005 bomb attack
Bangladesh has executed an hardline Islamist for a 2005 bomb attack in which eight people died, officials said Friday. Asaduzzaman Ponir, 37, was hanged at the Kashimpur High Security Prison at 11:00 pm (1700 GMT) Thursday, the prison’s chief Mohammed Gias Uddin told AFP. Ponir was found guilty in 2008 of organising the bombing of […]
S.Africa hikes troop deployment against looters as death toll rises to 117
The death toll in South Africa’s unrest rose to 117 on Thursday, as the country called up its army reserves in a bid to quell looting that has stoked fears of shortages and dealt a crippling economic blow. The acting minister in the presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, told reporters that Johannesburg, South Africa’s economic capital, was […]
South African government asks for 25,000 troops to curb unrest
The South African government on Wednesday sought to deploy around 25,000 troops to curb unrest, now in its sixth straight day, amid fears of food and fuel shortages as disruption to farming, manufacturing and oil refining began to bite. Seventy-two people have died and more than 1,200 people arrested, according to official figures, since former […]