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Gunmen abduct 30 students in Nigeria, police confirm,
in ongoing spate of kidnappings
12 Mar, 2021 16:12
Nigerian police have said that 30 students remain unaccounted for after gunmen targeted a technical college in the northwest of the country late Thursday night, as the shocking trend of student kidnapping continues.
Speaking on Friday, Kaduna State’s security commissioner, Samuel Aruwan, said that the militants, often referred to as bandits, struck at 11:30pm on Thursday night.
Aruwan said that around 30 individuals remain missing after the nighttime raid at the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization on the outskirts of Kaduna town, the state capital.
The police commissioner said that the army had rescued 180 people, adding some staff were among those seized by the gunmen. Security forces “are conducting an operation to track the missing students,” he added.
It is not clear which group was behind the attack on the Kaduna college, which is located just miles away from a military training academy. A local resident told the BBC they had dismissed the commotion as they often hear the sound of gunshots from the Nigeria Defence Academy.
Around 20 army trucks were seen around the college on Friday and relatives of the students were gathered at the site.
More than 800 people have been kidnapped since December in a series of raids across northern Nigeria. In a recent attack in Zamfara State, 279 girls were abducted from the Government Girls’ Science Secondary School (GGSS) in Jangebe. All the girls were released by their captors a week later, largely unharmed.
French teen with knife arrested after saying he wanted to kill teacher
12 Mar, 2021 13:07
© Getty Images / Aleksej Kuznecov / EyeEm
A teenager with a knife was arrested in the French city of Metz after he declared that he wanted to kill a teacher, local media reported.
According to BFMTV, an unnamed teen was picked up by police at Metz’s Philippe de Vigneulles College on Friday after he called emergency services and told them that he “wanted to kill a teacher.”
When police arrived, they searched the college and arrested the teenager, who, apparently, didn’t show any resistance. He was found to be armed with a knife – however, a judicial source told BFMTV that the incident could be considered more of an “educational dispute” and presumably doesn’t have any “terrorist or religious” reason.
Last October, French school teacher Samuel Paty was murdered and beheaded by Islamist terrorist Abdoullakh Anzorov for previously showing his students cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed from the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo – which has also fallen victim to terrorist attacks over the past decade due to its controversial cartoons.
Car bomb kills 8, wounds 47, in western Afghanistan
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The blast targeted a police headquarters in the city of Herat around 10 pm on Friday
Published: March 13, 2021 13:19
AFP/Gulf News
Rescuers carry an injured girl amid the debris of a damaged house after a car bomb blast in Herat.
Herat: A powerful car bomb in western Afghanistan killed at least eight people and wounded dozens more, authorities said Saturday, as the United Nations condemned attacks on civilians in the country.
The blast targeted a police headquarters in the city of Herat around 10 pm on Friday, damaging dozens of houses and shops, Jailani Farhad, the spokesman for the Herat provincial governor, told AFP.
"The death toll from a car bomb in the city of Herat increased to eight, and 47 others are wounded," he said, adding that women, children and security personnel were among the dead.
The interior ministry spokesman, Tariq Arian, confirmed the death toll, adding that 54 had been wounded.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the blast in Herat had no links to their group. However, the group's insurgents are active in the western province and have carried out recent attacks against Afghan government forces.
President Ashraf Ghani blamed the Taliban, adding in a statement the group "continued their illegitimate war and violence against our people" and "showed once again they have no intention for peaceful settlement of the current crises".
Violence has surged in Afghanistan in recent months - including a wave of assassinations against journalists, activists and civil servants, despite the launch of peace talks between the warring Afghan government and Taliban.
On Friday, the UN Security Council "condemned in the strongest terms the alarming number of attacks deliberately targeting civilians in Afghanistan".
It comes as speculation is rife about the United States' future in Afghanistan after a two-decade military involvement in the country. US President Joe Biden is wrapping up a review on whether to stick to an agreement with the Taliban negotiated by his predecessor Donald Trump who wanted to pull out the final US troops by May.
The Biden administration has signalled that it wants to take a hard look at Trump's deal and its repercussions for Afghanistan and regional stability.
Washington recently submitted a draft peace agreement to the authorities in Kabul and to the Taliban, including the creation of a "new inclusive government," according to a letter from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that was revealed by Afghan media.
Russia has backed the initiative, as global powers ramp up efforts to secure a peace deal and end decades of war.
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