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Dozens of civilians killed in past two days in Sudan's Khartoum
Five civilians were killed by bombs that "fell on their homes" in Khartoum,
a Sudanese medical source told AFP, a day after an air strike
in the city's south killed at least 20 civilians.
Issued on: 03/09/2023 - 17:58; 2 min
By: NEWS WIRES
FRANCE 24
Residents of the war-torn capital reported the city was again pummelled by artillery and rocket fire Sunday, in the fifth month of war between the army and paramilitary fighters.
"The death toll from the aerial bombardment" in southern Khartoum late Saturday "has risen to 20 civilian fatalities", according to a statement from the neighbourhood's resistance committee. They are among many volunteer groups that used to organise pro-democracy demonstrations and now provide assistance to families caught in the line of fire.
In an earlier statement, they said the victims included two children, and warned that more fatalities went unrecorded, as "their bodies could not be moved to the hospital because they were severely burned or torn to pieces in the bombing".
Since war began between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on April 15, around 5,000 people have been killed, according to conservative estimates from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project.
Sudanese queue outside a passport office in the eastern city of Gedaref – one million people have already crossed borders to escape Sudan's war. © AFP
The Sudanese Armed Forces control the skies and have carried out regular air strikes while RSF fighters dominate the streets of the capital.
Western countries have accused the paramilitaries and allied militias of killings based on ethnicity in the western Darfur region, and the International Criminal Court has opened a new probe into alleged war crimes.
The army has also been accused of abuses, including a July 8 air strike that killed around two dozen civilians.
More than half of Sudan's 48 million people now require humanitarian aid and protection, and six million are "one step away from famine", according to the United Nations.
Despite insecurity, looting and bureaucratic obstacles, the world body says it has been able to get aid to millions of those in need.
The war has internally displaced around 3.8 million people, the UN says, while another million have crossed borders into neighbouring countries.
Eritrea, Tigray? Good luck!
Among the displaced are nearly 2.8 million from Khartoum, according to the International Organization for Migration. That is more than half the capital's pre-war population of around five million.
In Khartoum, resistance committees have been some of the only sources of relief, helping dig survivors out of the rubble of bombed buildings, braving gunfire on the streets to deliver medicine and documenting atrocities committed by both sides.
Nearly five months in, the violence shows no signs of abating.
Witnesses on Sunday again reported the army targeting RSF positions in northern Khartoum with "artillery and rocket fire".
(AFP)
Kidnappings and Murders of Christians Escalate
in Nigeria’s Extremist Crisis
International Christian Concern, September 1, 2023:
09/01/2023 Nigeria (International Christian Concern) – More than 1,000 Christians in Nigeria were killed during attacks by Islamic extremists in 2023, according to International Christian Concern. Boko Haram, Fulani militants, and other extremist groups kidnapped and killed Christians for not paying ransom.
Community leaders blamed Fulani militants for kidnapping and destroying farm produce before harvest, and Christian religious leaders addressed the atrocities in Christian communities as persecution, but the Nigerian government addressed the terrorists as unknown gunmen or bandits. In Plateau State, more than 400 Christians were killed by Funali [sic] militants in Mangu, Barkin Ladi, and Riyom local government this year.
In northern Nigeria, Fulani militants kidnapped seven Christians. A witness told ICC that the captors took the hostages at gunpoint from a restaurant in Bauchi State on the evening of Aug. 21. These terrorists are demanding a ransom of $2,600 USD (N2 million), which is an immense sum for a struggling rural family from Bassa in Plateau State. Their livelihoods have already been devastated by terrorists in their hometowns. Even a short walk for food is a perilous journey due to the constant threat of attacks. Many Christian villages in the region have fallen under the control of these Fulani terrorists, and sadly, the residents cannot find safety even in their supposed places of refuge.
Five of those kidnapped were released on Aug. 23 and rushed to the hospital, while the militants killed two for not paying ransom. The militants told the hostages they were raising funds through kidnapping to attack more Christian communities.
The National Leader of the Irigwe Chiefdom in Plateau says Christians are persecuted, but the Nigerian government remains silent, allowing persecuted Christians to be under the mercy of gunmen….
In other words, the government is cooperating with the genocide of Christians in Nigeria in an effort to make it a wholly Islamic state.
Uganda: Police foil jihad massacre plot targeting Kampala cathedral
SEP 6, 2023 1:00 PM BY ROBERT SPENCER
If Christians had targeted a mosque, which they would not do and should not do, the coverage would be international, insistent, shrill, and relentless. But you will likely hear about this only here.
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Uganda Foils Bomb Attack On Church: Police
Agence France Presse, September 3, 2023
Uganda police said Sunday they foiled a bomb attack on a cathedral in Kampala and detained a man accused of trying to detonate an explosive in a crowd of worshippers.
Hundreds of congregants were evacuated from the Rubaga Miracle Centre Cathedral in the capital city after a man tried to enter the grounds carrying an explosive, said police spokesman Patrick Onyango.
“We have carried out a controlled detonation of the improvised explosive device which was made of nails, a motorcycle battery, a charger and a telephone handset which was to be used in the attack,” he told reporters outside the cathedral.
He said police trailed the man after receiving a tip off about a possible attack on a house of worship, and discovered the bomb inside his backpack when he was stopped and searched.
He said police were pursuing three other men after the suspect, 28-year-old Ibrahim Kintu, revealed that he may have had accomplices.
The cathedral was cordoned off and sniffer dogs and bomb squad officers sent to comb the expansive grounds, but no further threat was found.
Its high-profile pastor, Robert Kayanja, told AFP that “the lord has saved us from deaths”.
“The terrorist was a few yards to the entrance of the church, but the security put up resistance and (he) was arrested before he can enter the church and detonate the bomb,” said the high-profile evangelist who is a public ally of Uganda’s long-serving leader, Yoweri Museveni….
Islamist militants with links to al Qaeda kill more than 60 in Mali
Islamist militants killed at least 49 civilians and 15 soldiers in attacks on a military
camp and a boat in northeastern Mali on Thursday, the interim government said.
Issued on: 08/09/2023 - 15:54; 2 min
By: NEWS WIRES
A file photo of a Malian soldier patrolling the banks of the Niger river in Konna in central Mali on March 20, 2021. © Michele Cattani, AFP
The assailants attacked the boat on a waterway that connects the northern regions of Gao and Mopti during the rainy season, and raided the camp in the Bourem Circle, in Gao region.
A resident and local official said the boat was transporting soldiers.
Around 50 assailants were killed in subsequent fighting, the interim government said.
The government said insurgents from a West African branch of Al Qaeda, called Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM), had claimed responsibility for the attacks, which Reuters could not immediately confirm.
Mali is one of several West African countries battling a violent insurgency with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State that took root in Mali's arid north in 2012 before spreading across the region.
Frustrations about growing insecurity have spurred military coups in the three worst-hit countries – Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger – since 2020, worrying global powers with strategic interests in the region.
Attacks have worsened in Mali since the military seized power in two coups in 2020 and 2021, kicked out French forces and a United Nations' peacekeeping mission, and teamed up with Russian private military contractor Wagner Group.
The U.N., which is in the process of departing, has handed over a series of northern bases to the army.
Islamist groups have filled the void left by the departure of thousands of blue helmets and French soldiers in the north and east.
The boat that was attacked was travelling from the city of Gao when it was hit. The operator, Comanav, usually transports residents and supplies on its boats.
But a Gao resident and a local official, who did not want to be named for security reasons, said on Friday that it had also been transporting military personnel before Thursday's attack.
"We thought that if the jihadists learnt that there were soldiers on board, they would attack, and that's what happened," the resident told Reuters.
The official said that the boat was going to the city of Timbuktu, which has been under a JNIM-imposed blockade since last month, creating food and aid shortages.
The attack on the army base occurred about 230 km (140 miles) north of Gao, a city which for years has been surrounded by violent assaults.
"In Gao, the anxiety of local residents is palpable as threats of attacks mount. Some nomadic families have been leaving the town recently, which is a sign that something is up," the resident said.
(Reuters)
Man arrested in Rwanda after more than 10 corpses found
buried in his kitchen
Issued on: 07/09/2023 - 23:14
EYE ON AFRICA © FRANCE 24
By: Georja Calvin-Smith
Rwandan authorities made a gruesome discovery this week at the house of an alleged serial killer in the suburbs of Kigali. They uncovered the remains of at least 10 victims who had gone missing. Investigators have revealed that the suspect lured most of his victims, primarily sex workers, to his home before robbing and subsequently killing them. The shocking revelation has triggered numerous reactions, with local newspapers closely following the developments, and the community left in a state of shock.
Also, people in the northern Malian city of Timbuktu are struggling with skyrocketing prices after weeks of being stuck under siege by al Qaeda-linked extremists. Faced with the economic and physical threat, a delegation from the city headed to Bamako to petition for more support from the central government.
Finally, every September in Rwanda, the nation commemorates the birth of its new baby mountain gorillas. Tens of thousands of tourists visit the apes annually in the northern region of the country. Endangered in the 1980s, these primates have evolved into a significant economic asset for Kigali, as well as a symbol of the nation's soft power. This year, Rwanda extended invitations to approximately 20 celebrities, asking them to not only bestow names upon baby gorillas but also to champion a country that has faced recurring criticism from NGOs and the United Nations.
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