(France 24)UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday sacked the commander of the peacekeeping force in South Sudan following a damning report showing failure to protect civilians during recent violence in Juba.
(Reuters) Zimbabwe’s military has no say on who should take over from President Robert Mugabe, the country’s army commander said, as tension mounts within the ruling party over who will succeed Africa’s oldest leader. Mugabe, 92, has held power since the country gained independence from Britain in 1980. But he is increasingly looking frail, stoking a scramble in ZANU-PF to… Read more »
(Reuters) The military chief of the former Congolese M23 rebel group is in Uganda’s capital Kampala and his fighters in the western part of the country, Uganda’s military said on Sunday, contradicting reports he had gone missing. Democratic Republic of Congo stepped up army patrols in its volatile east on Saturday after reports from a Congolese governor that Sultani Makenga… Read more »
(France24) A peacekeeper from Togo and two Malian civilians were killed Sunday in an attack on a military convoy in Mali, rounding off a bloody week for foreign forces stationed there, a UN statement said. More than 11,000 UN police and military are currently serving in Mali, attempting to guarantee security in lawless swathes of the vast Sahel nation. Seven… Read more »
(Al-Jazeera) Authorities have arrested more than 11,000 people since Ethiopia declared a state of emergency early last month amid violent protests. A majority of the arrests were made in the Oromo and Amhara regions – the centre of demonstrations and home to two ethnic groups that make up about 60 percent of the country’s population. “Some 11,607 individuals have so far been… Read more »
(France24) South African President Jacob Zuma survived a no-confidence vote on Thursday, after the anti-graft watchdog called in a report for a judicial inquiry into allegations of influence-peddling in the government. The scandal highlighted in the report has rattled investors in Africa’s most industrialised country and raised the risk the stagnating economy’s credit ratings will be downgraded. Zuma, 74, had… Read more »
(BBC)An airstrike in Somalia that the US said had targeted al-Shabab actually killed 10 members of an allied local militia, US media report, quoting an unpublished Pentagon investigation. The US says it carried out the September strike to protect Puntland forces who came under fire during an operation against al-Shabab militants. The strike sparked anti-American protests among local communities. The… Read more »
(aljazeera.com) Fighting between militias in Somalia’s central Galkayo city killed at least 29 people and wounded more than 50, officials from both sides said on Monday. Colonel Mohamed Aden, a military officer from the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, said 16 soldiers serving in the region’s army had been killed and 30 been wounded since fighting broke out again on Sunday…. Read more »
(aljazerra.com)Kenya has deported a South Sudanese rebel spokesman – a registered refugee – back to his war-torn country where he could face detention and abuse at the hands of the Juba government. Human rights groups and the United Nations on Friday called the move a breach of international law. Kenyan government spokesman Eric Kiraithe told the Associated Press news agency… Read more »