Islam - Africa > Eritrea's brutal internal conflict spreads to 2 other continents; Muslims attack Evangelist in Uganda

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Eritrea's brutal internal conflict spreads to 2 other continents

Human Rights Watch

Eritrean government forces committed war crimes, possible crimes against humanity, and other serious violations against Tigrayan civilians during the ongoing conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. Eritrean forces also forcibly disappeared dozens of Eritrean refugees living there, raped several, coercively repatriated hundreds, and destroyed two Eritrean refugee camps. Eritrean forces also committed widespread pillaging with much of the plunder taken back to Eritrea. 

In 2020, 96,000 Eritreans were living in Tigrayan camps in Ethiopia.

At home, government repression persisted, including through forced conscription, mass roundups to fill the army’s ranks and widespread forced labor. The government also severely restricted freedom of expression, opinion, and faith.  

Eritrea is slightly more than half Christian and a little less than half Sunni Muslim. They seem to tolerate each other although media reports from Eritrea are almost non-existent. However, Tigrayans are overwhelmingly Christians and have been attacked by both Eritrea and Ethiopia. Ethiopia doesn't seem to mind Eritrea attacking Tigray.

Eritrea has been ruled by its unelected president, Isaias Afewerki, since independence in 1993, with no legislature, no independent civil society organizations, and no independent judiciary. The transitional constitution, which guarantees civil rights, has never been implemented—removing all checks on Isaias’s arbitrary rule. 

September marked the 20th anniversary of the beginning of the government’s clampdown on perceived critics, including the arrest of 11 high-ranking government officials and 10 journalists, and the closure of privately owned media outlets. There has been no information on the whereabouts of 20 of the 21. 

War Crimes and Other Abuses in Tigray 

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More than 100 injured as Eritrean refugees clash in Tel Aviv

By Simon Druker

 

Dozens of protesters and police officers were injured during a clash in Tel Aviv on Saturday as authorities

attempted to disperse a protest involving asylum seekers from Eritrea living in the country.

Photo by Atef Safadi/EPA-EFE

Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Dozens of protesters and police officers were injured during street clashes in Tel Aviv on Saturday involving Eritreans living in Israel who support and oppose the East African country's governing regime.

At least 30 officers were among those hurt during the confrontations between police in riot gear and hundreds of asylum seekers from Eritrea, Israel's emergency medical services reported.

Of the 157 injuries, at least 13 were considered serious, including some gunshot wounds.

Israeli police confirmed they had made at least 39 arrests Saturday, with more expected.

Tel Aviv's Sheba Medical Center declared a mass-casualty event but officials have not confirmed any deaths from the event in the city with a population of around 500,000 people.

Hundreds of Eritreans seeking asylum converged on its embassy in Israel for a pro-government rally organized by the nation's government and clashes quickly ensued after anti-government Eritrean protesters arrived at the scene.

As the violence escalated, Israeli riot police and mounted units moved in and an "illegal gathering" was declared, allowing police to use force to disperse the crowd.

More than 25,000 refugees from the country currently live in Israel, according to international aid organization ASSAF.

Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1991 and the country has been ruled by President Isaias Afwerki since that time. Many Eritreans have left the country to avoid forced labor and military conscription imposed by the dictatorial regime.

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'Violent conflict' in Calgary involving 150 people may be linked

to clashes within Eritrean community: police

11 people taken to hospital, EMS said

Calgary police were on scene at a large violent conflict in the city's northeast Saturday. (Terri Trembath/CBC)

Jade Markus · CBC News · Posted: Sep 03, 2023 9:30 AM PDT | 

Calgary police say they're investigating a "violent conflict" between two groups involving around 150 people Saturday night that may be linked to clashes within the Eritrean community.

Police responded to an incident in northeast Falconridge at around 5 p.m. Saturday after reports of two groups with opposing views engaged in violence. They said they believe up to 150 people were involved, and many were brandishing weapons. 

Supt. Cliff O'Brien said police were prepared with additional resources in the event of clashes like those seen elsewhere in the country.

Several people were taken to hospital by emergency medical services (EMS), O'Brien said.

"It was a very violent event. We have assigned detectives to investigate and that's what they'll do," he said, adding that police believe some people from the groups had stashed weapons prior to the incident. 

"They were actively trying to assault the police officers. I think the fact that we have multiple people injured, some with some fairly serious injuries, I think the whole incident is troubling. On top of that, this impacted the entire city because we had to pull resources from other areas," said O'Brien. 

The Calgary Police Service said it considers this to be a serious event and has dedicated resources to keep the peace. 

"This is not a protest. This is a violent conflict between two groups with opposing views," O'Brien said.

EMS spokesperson Adam Loria said in an emailed statement that paramedics attended an incident in northeast Calgary with the Calgary Police Service at approximately 5:30 p.m. Saturday, and 11 individuals with non-life threatening injuries were taken to various hospitals.

Michael Teclemariam, host of the Eritrean Radio Show on CJSW 90.9 FM in Calgary, noted that this isn't the first time a clash like this has happened in Canada. 

Last month there was violence at an Eritrean festival in Edmonton, and a similar clash in Toronto. At those events, protesters from the Eritrean diaspora opposed events that billed themselves as celebrations of Eritrean culture.

"I am actually disappointed for the Eritreans because they're both brothers in a way, so it's not a good thing to have violence," Teclemariam said. 

He said a point of contention is over festivals — some in the community say the festivals are connected to the Eritrean government, distributing propaganda and raising money for the state.

Calgary is the latest Canadian community to see violent clashes between what police believe are rival Eritrean groups.

CBC previously reported that some view demonstrations as a chance to raise their voice in opposition to a repressive regime when those in their home country cannot.

Teclemariam said others see the festivals, which have been going on for a long time, as a way to celebrate and demonstrate free speech. 

Daniel Egubat, public affairs officer with Eritrean Canadian Community Association of Calgary, wrote in an emailed statement to CBC that the organization would like to sit down with the City of Calgary and other government officials to come up with plans to avoid such events. 

"We call all Eritrean society in Calgary to focus on what matters [to] them in their day-to-day life and also be able to use the power of logic," he wrote. 

"This should not take place in our peaceful city and also elsewhere." 

We can't even imagine the atrocities the Eritrean government and military committed on many of these people and are still committing on their families. Western media has largely ignored the horrors in Eritrea and Tigray. This has only helped spark the anger and desperation of these people of the Eritrean diaspora.

Evangelist, other Christians in Uganda Assaulted by Muslims

Morning Star News, August 23, 2023:

NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) – Hard-line Muslims at an open-air evangelistic event in eastern Uganda on Aug. 11 assaulted a preacher and more than 20 other Christians for his teaching about Christ’s divinity, sources said.

Robert Faisali Miya, a 34-year-old father of four, was also struck with a thorny object and stomped on during the event in Busolwe, 236 kilometers (147 miles) northeast of Kampala, an eyewitness said.

On the third day of a five-day event planned by an undisclosed church from another town, Miya cited passages from the Koran as examples that acknowledge the uniqueness of Christ, and said the Bible affirms His uniqueness as the Son of God who grants forgiveness by virtue of His death and resurrection.

Muslims began chanting the jihadist slogan, “Allah Akbar [God is greater],” and a Muslim leader known in the area to be hard-line sheik, Hiisa Mubaraka, rushed to the podium and pulled the evangelist down, said the eyewitness.

“Others were saying that Allah has granted to them authority to kill all infidels,” the source told Morning Star News. “Another Muslim sprayed what looked like acid, while another hit him with a thorny object and stepped on the evangelist’s back and the stomach.”

The sheik continued shouting loudly that “infidels” could not be allowed to influence area Muslims, said the source, whose identity is withheld for security reasons.

“We cannot allow you to preach in this town or come and mislead our people here,” Mubaraka said, according to the eyewitness. “We are going to fight in the cause of Allah to kill all of you.”

He also told the approximately 20 Muslims in attendance to destroy church properties, the source said.

Christians who tried to rescue the evangelist were injured as Muslims beat them and Miya with walking sticks, while other Muslims damaged the podium, loudspeakers, microphones, public address system, and keyboard, the source said….

Uganda’s constitution and other laws provide for religious freedom, including the right to propagate one’s faith and convert from one faith to another. Muslims make up no more than 12 percent of Uganda’s population, with high concentrations in eastern areas of the country.

Islam - Current Day > Taliban Capture Panjshir; Criminals Among Migrants; Another NZ Terrorist Attack; ISIS Beatle Pleads Guilty in US Court

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Taliban celebrates in Kabul after claiming it has captured

Panjshir province, resulting in full control of Afghanistan

3 Sep, 2021 16:54 / Updated 1 hour ago

Taliban forces patrol in front of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, September 2, 2021.

© REUTERS/Stringer

Celebratory gunfire has erupted over Kabul amid reports that the Taliban has defeated the Panjshir Valley ‘resistance’. The latter’s commander earlier rejected the claims.

Tracers streaked across the night sky on Friday evening local time, reminiscent of celebrations on Tuesday following the departure of the last US airplane from Kabul. There were different reports as to the occasion, however, with RT’s senior correspondent Murad Gazdiev hearing both talk of victory in Panjshir and the arrival of the Taliban’s leader.

Panjshir Valley, located north of Kabul and made into a separate province by the US-backed Afghan government after the Taliban was ousted in 2001, controls a key strategic road to eastern Afghanistan. As of Thursday, it was held by fighters loyal to Ahmad Massoud, son of an anti-Taliban leader assassinated in 2001, who declared themselves the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRFA).

Among the ‘resistance’ is Amrullah Saleh, who served as vice president in the US-backed government and now styles himself the rightful president of Afghanistan.

On Thursday, the Taliban claimed to have captured key positions along the main road inside the valley, including a dozen checkpoints. The NRFA said this wasn’t true, and claimed to have inflicted heavy losses on the Taliban.

Saleh sent out a statement on Friday that he was still in the valley and that the resistance was still fighting, denying rumors from Kabul that Panjshir had fallen – but said the situation was difficult and that they were under attack from the Taliban, Pakistani troops and Al-Qaeda.

He also called on the UN and the international community to condemn “war crimes” of the Taliban, saying the group had blocked humanitarian access to Panjshir and shut off power and phone lines, according to TOLO News.

A Twitter account claiming to represent the NRFA has also declared that the resistance is “strong like our mountains here,” and urged Afghans and the world media to not “fall for the Taliban propaganda that they're spreading in Kabul.” 

As late as July, the US estimated that the Taliban had no more than 80,000 fighters and that the US-equipped Afghan National Army (ANA) could hold them off for months. Instead, the Taliban swept through most of Afghanistan and took Kabul without much of a fight on August 14, with the ANA surrendering or fleeing. An enormous amount of US-made ANA equipment, weapons and ammunition fell into the Taliban's hands. 

Panjshir Valley, AFG

7 Afghan evacuees to Germany failed security checks,

4 were previously deported as criminals – interior minister

3 Sep, 2021 13:50 / Updated 5 hours ago

People evacuated by the German Air Force from Afghanistan land in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, August 2021.

© Marc Tessensohn/Bundeswehr

Four Afghans rescued from Kabul and airlifted to Germany had been previously deported for committing crimes, the country’s Interior Minister Horst Seehofer revealed, pledging to prevent an unchecked influx of migrants to Europe.

“Three of them had forged documents, and four had already been deported from Germany to Afghanistan once as criminals. These were serious crimes,” Seehofer told RND news agency, adding that the four previously deported Afghans are now in custody. 

We will do everything we can to prevent an uncontrolled influx of migrants into Europe. That is why we are closely monitoring the movement of refugees from Afghanistan and other countries in the regions, such as Syria and Iraq.

Seehofer, who previously argued that the dramatic situation in Afghanistan is not an excuse to relax EU’s migration policies, said Germany will tighten security measures and checks on the border if necessary. “Not everyone who wants to enter our country will be allowed in. As for people who will be allowed in, we must know who they are.” 

Like many other Western countries, Germany scrambled to evacuate its nationals and local helpers from Kabul after the Afghan capital was seized by the Taliban on August 15. Overall, the German Air Force brought nearly 5,400 people from Afghanistan, including citizens of at least 45 states, according to the Defense Ministry. 

The Taliban rapidly seized control of most of Afghanistan last month amid the withdrawal of US troops, which was completed on August 30. The last German soldiers, who were part of NATO’s nearly two-decade-long occupation of Afghanistan, left the country in late June.  

The UN Refugee Agency (UNCHR) spokesperson Andrej Mahecic urged Afghanistan's neighbors this week to “keep their borders open and allow those who may be at risk to seek safety.”

UNCHR Deputy High Commissioner Kelly Clements warned that the region could see up to 500,000 new refugees from Afghanistan by the end of this year. 

Stabbing in New Zealand supermarket was

ISIS-inspired terrorist attack – prime minister

3 Sep, 2021 05:34 / Updated 12 hours ago

© Social media

A stabbing attack in an Auckland supermarket in which multiple people were injured was an act of terrorism, New Zealand’s prime minister says. The suspect was shot dead by police.

“This afternoon, at approximately 2:40pm, a violent extremist undertook a terrorist attack on innocent New Zealanders in the New Lynn Countdown [supermarket] in Auckland,” Ardern said at a press conference. 

The suspect was a known threat to authorities and under constant monitoring, she added.

Ardern said the terrorist was a Sri Lankan national who arrived in the country in 2011 and became a person of national security interest from 2016. She described the attacker as an ISIS-inspired “lone wolf.”

The PM confirmed that the terrorist injured six people, three of them seriously, on a stabbing rampage inside a supermarket in New Lynn, a suburb of Auckland. The terrorist was shot and killed roughly 60 seconds later by the same police unit that was tasked with monitoring him, Ardern said.

Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said the terrorist had traveled to the supermarket from Glen Eden, another Auckland suburb, as he had done in the past – all while being “closely watched” by a surveillance team and a tactical team. He entered the store and obtained a knife there.

“When the commotion started, two police tactical operators moved to his location and engaged him. When he approached them with a knife, he was shot and killed,” Coster explained. He said police intervened as quickly as they could, preventing further injuries to shoppers.

The reality is that when you are surveilling someone on a 24/7 basis, it is not possible to be immediately next to them at all times.

Addressing potential questions about the monitoring of the terrorist, the prime minister said the government “utilized every legal and surveillance power available to us to try and keep people safe from this individual.”

The attacker’s name has not been released to the public yet, though Ardern said additional information on his identity would be shared as soon as possible.

A video circulating on social media shows frightened shoppers at the supermarket and a body lying on the floor next to a checkout counter.

The New Zealand Herald reported that the alleged attacker was a 32-year-old man who was considered a public threat for twice buying large hunting knives and possessing an Islamic State propaganda video. The paper reported last month that the man was accused of planning a lone-wolf stabbing attack, but was ultimately sentenced to one year of supervision, a punishment designed to rehabilitate low-level offenders.

Apparently, it didn't work. Radicalized Muslims need to be segregated from society, completely.

In May, a 42-year-old knifeman was detained after injuring four people inside a Countdown store in the city of Dunedin, on New Zealand’s South Island. The prime minister and police said at the time that the incident was not a terrorist attack.

One of the ISIS ‘Beatles’ pleads guilty in US court over

torture & execution of 4 American hostages

3 Sep, 2021 01:10 / Updated 14 hours ago

(L) Alexanda Kotey, member of an English-speaking terrorist cell dubbed The Beatles (R) Another member of the cell, known as ‘Jihadi John’, stands next to captive American-Israeli journalist Steven Sotloff ©  SDF via Reuters / SITE Intel Group via Reuters

A member of the notorious Islamic State terrorist cell nicknamed ‘the Beatles’ has pleaded guilty to charges of killing four American captives. He faces life in prison without parole but will be spared the death penalty.

Alexanda Kotey, 37, changed his plea at a hearing in a federal court in Virginia on Thursday, admitting to a role in the abduction and execution of two US journalists and two relief workers. He will not face the death penalty, under the terms of his extradition by the UK, which had stripped Kotey of citizenship due to his membership in the terrorist group.

Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, 33, were captured in Syria by the US-backed Kurdish militia (5th story on link) in 2018. They were identified as members of ‘the Beatles’, a cell made up of English-speaking jihadists that pledged allegiance to the self-proclaimed ‘caliphate’ set up in parts of Syria and Iraq.

The duo was charged in the deaths of journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as well as aid workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller. Prosecutors said Kotey and Elsheikh supervised the facility where the captives were held and engaged in “a prolonged pattern of physical and psychological violence against hostages.”

In their initial appearance before Judge T.S. Ellis last October, Kotey pleaded not guilty. He changed that plea this week, Ellis said at a video hearing. The judge also said that Kotey had “agreed to cooperate fully and truthfully with the United States and provide the government with all the information you know about any criminal activity,” including beyond what was in the indictment against him.

“Kotey has been afforded due process and, in the face of overwhelming evidence, he made the independent decision to plead guilty to his crimes. The justice, fairness, and humanity that this defendant received in the United States stand in stark contrast to the cruelty, inhumanity, and indiscriminate violence touted by the terrorist organization he espoused,” said acting US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Raj Parekh.

Contrary to the propaganda perpetuated by ISIS, we have given Alexanda Kotey the opportunity to face justice.

Of the remaining two ‘Beatles’, Aine Davis is in a Turkish prison after being convicted on charges of terrorism, while Mohamed Emwazi, also known as ‘Jihadi John’, was killed in a US airstrike in November 2015.

The terrorists beheaded Foley in August 2014, after US special forces attempted a rescue operation. He was the first American to be executed by the terrorist group. The video of Sotloff’s beheading was released three weeks later, on September 2. Kassig was beheaded in November that year, even though he converted to Islam in captivity. 

Mueller, who was captured in Aleppo in 2013, was reportedly given as a sex slave to IS ‘caliph’ Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. The militants claimed she was killed in a February 2015 air raid on their ‘capital’, Raqqa, conducted by Jordan in retaliation for their execution of a captive Jordanian pilot. The US claimed that she was bludgeoned to death by Al-Baghdadi. The 2019 US raid that resulted in the death of al-Baghdadi was carried out by ‘Task Force 8-14’, named after Mueller’s birthday.

“Today is also a painful anniversary. Seven years ago, the world was devastated by images depicting the death of Steven Sotloff,” Parekh added. “Today, through the voices and lives of the victims, Justice spoke, and it is those words that will resonate through history.”

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