IGIHE

Author: Théophile Niyitegeka

  • Suspected Maoist rebels kill 11 police in Chhattisgarh

    {Armed group attack convoy carrying paramilitary forces, confiscate weapons and radio sets, officials say.}

    Suspected Maoist rebels have killed 11 paramilitary commandos on Saturday in a remote part of central India after ambushing their convoy, police said, the latest attack in a simmering internal conflict.

    The troops were on their way to provide protection to workers for a road construction project when the gunmen attacked, a senior police officer of the restive Chhattisgarh state said.

    The assault is the latest in a deadly conflict that pits the fighters against local and national authorities in the forests and rural areas of mainly central and eastern India.

    The armed group, who say they are fighting for the rights of tribal people and landless farmers, often collect funds through extortion.

    “We can confirm that 11 security personnel have lost their lives in the ambush which was carried out by Maoist rebels in Sukma district,” police deputy inspector general Sundarraj P told AFP news agency.

    “Three other CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) personnel are critically injured. We have deployed helicopters to evacuate them.”

    The rebels also snatched weapons and radio sets from the attack site, local media reports said.

    The Maoists are believed to be present in at least 20 states, but are most active in Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand and Maharashtra, occupying thousands of square kilometres of land.

    The decades-long conflict is believed to have cost tens of thousands of lives, with much action focused around the so-called “Red Corridor” stretching through central and eastern India.

    Critics believe attempts to end the revolt through tough security offensives are doomed to fail, saying the real solution is development of the region.

    Source:Al Jazeera

  • PM Modi’s party takes firm lead in state elections

    {Victory for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh would boost his chances of winning the 2019 general election.}

    Early counting on Saturday in India’s most populous state showed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party leading in the country’s most important electoral test since the 2014 general election.

    Victory for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh, which is home to 220 million people, would boost his chances of winning the 2019 general election and underscore his popularity after he made himself the face of the party’s campaign.

    The prime minister would also see success as vindication of his sudden decision in November to abolish high-denomination banknotes to rein in corruption.

    The move was seen as politically risky, because most transactions in India are carried out in cash and millions of Indians were forced to join long queues outside banks to deposit their old bills or get hold of new ones.

    READ MORE: India – Modi’s radio show

    Though it was premature to call the outcome, the election commission put the BJP leading in 262 of the 403 seats in the state, putting it on course for a large majority.

    The BJP’s vote share based on early counting is more than 40 percent, the election commission said.

    Having campaigned in the state for two months, Modi, and his election strategist Amit Shah, can take credit if the BJP wins – but may face a backlash from sidelined party elders if they come up short.

    “The results will redefine the prime minister’s political destiny and his future course of action,” an aide to Modi in the capital, New Delhi, told Reuters news agency.

    Post-election surveys had suggested Modi’s BJP had done enough to come first in Uttar Pradesh, home to one in six Indians, but that it might fall short of an outright majority.

    The exit polls, which are often wrong in India, also put the BJP ahead in three of four other states that will declare election outcomes on Saturday.

    According to early voting trends, opposition Congress party was leading in the state of Punjab, while the BJP was ahead in the northern state of Uttarakhand and in the coastal state of Goa.

    Results of a ballot in a fifth state, Manipur, were also due on Saturday.

    The BJP’s opponents include an alliance between Congress and the ruling Samajwadi Party, a tie-up that caught Modi’s party off guard. A better than expected showing by a third party could complicate the picture as results filter out.

    A strong BJP showing would be welcomed by investors counting on further economic reforms – including the launch of a national sales tax – in the absence of any credible opponent who might halt Modi’s march to a second term in 2019.

    Short of a majority, the BJP could see opponents block its path to power in the state by forming a coalition, although Modi’s party will also look to convince its smaller rivals to join forces.

    “If the BJP fails to secure a majority, then Modi’s economic decisions will be questioned and his failure to create jobs will impact his political future,” said Mohan Guruswamy, who heads the Centre for Policy Alternatives, an independent think-tank.

    Uttar Pradesh and four other Indian states are holding state legislature elections.

    Source:Al Jazeera

  • San Jose Pinula girl shelter fire toll rises to 37

    {Grieving family members bury the remains of 37 girls burned alive under lock and key at a San Jose Pinula shelter.}

    Families buried some of the 37 girls killed in a fire at an overcrowded government-run youth shelter as Guatemalan authorities worked on Friday to determine exactly what happened.

    The death toll mounted as girls succumbed to gruesome burns from Wednesday’s disaster, which officials said began when mattresses were set afire during a protest by the shelter’s residents.

    Questions remained over why someone among the girls set the blaze and whether doors remained locked as the girls pleaded for their lives.

    Parents and relatives said many of the young people at the shelter, which had both female and male residents, had been sent there because of abuse, poverty or family problems.

    Others were ordered there by judges after run-ins with police, officials said.

    A coffin holding 17-year-old Siona Hernandez Garcia was gently slipped into a niche at a Guatemala City cemetery on Friday and street musicians played hymns as workers bricked up the space.

    Maria Garcia, Siona’s mother wailed and demanded justice.

    “Guatemala is full of violence,” Garcia said. “They are raping and killing the poor’s girls.”

    At the entrance to Roosevelt Hospital, Claudia Tecun broke down in tears talking about her daughter Noemi Tecun Munoz, 17, who was being treated inside for burns over 70 percent of her body.

    “The doctors say there isn’t much hope she will live,” Tecun said, weeping.

    “I heard on the news that my daughter was one of the girls who set the fire at the shelter; that’s not true,” she said. “My daughter wouldn’t try to take her own life.”

    That was a reference to widespread reports, including from other victims’ relatives, that some of the girls set mattresses on fire to protest their apprehension and return to the facility after fleeing the previous night because of mistreatment, bad food and fears of rape.

    San Juan de Dios Hospital officials said late on Friday that another girl had succumbed to her wounds, bringing the death toll to 37, with 19 dying at the scene and 18 others later while being treated at hospitals.

    Hospital director Carlos Soto said that visiting doctors evaluating the burn victims had offered to take eight of them to Galveston, Texas, for specialised burn treatment.

    Soto said the government had obtained humanitarian visas for the children from US officials, but authorities were awaiting permission from the parents.

    Geovany Castillo said his 15-year-old daughter, Kimberly, suffered burns on her face, arms and hands but survived.

    She was in a locked area where girls who took part in the escape attempt had been placed, he said.

    “My daughter said the area was locked and that several girls broke down a door, and she survived because she put a wet sheet over herself,” Castillo said.

    “She said the girls told her that they had been raped and in protest they escaped, and that later, to protest, to get attention, they set fire to the mattresses,” he said.

    As grieving families began receiving the bodies of girls whose remains had been identified, others were still searching for their children.

    Vianney Clareth Hernandez was waiting outside a morgue with a photo of her daughter, Ashley.

    The 14-year-old was at the shelter but her mother said she had not found the girl at any of the local hospitals.

    “It was a crime they didn’t open the doors, they didn’t do anything to get the girls out, even though they were screaming,” Hernandez said.

    While many people believed reports that the doors at the overcrowded shelter were kept locked even as the fires spread, authorities said the circumstances were still under investigation.

    But the exact sequence of events may never be known. Castillo said his daughter Kimberly had testified to police that the girls who started the fire were among those who died in the blaze.

    The few surviving girls at the hospital were put under police guard on Friday for their own protection as witnesses.

    The fire started as the girls protested against alleged sexual and physical abuse.

    Source:Al Jazeera

  • Cyclone Enawo: Madagascar death toll rises to 38

    {At least 38 people are now known to have died when Cyclone Enawo struck Madagascar this week.}

    Another 180 people were injured and 53,000 displaced when the cyclone hit the country’s north-east on Tuesday.

    Officials revised the death toll and number of injured on Friday, having originally reported that just four people had lost their lives.

    Enawo diminished in strength after making landfall, and has been downgraded to a tropical depression.

    But not before the cyclone destroyed roads and cut off communications to the north-eastern Antalaha district.

    It dumped 12 inches of rain across the region in 12 hours on Tuesday, with winds reaching up to 300km/h (185mph).

    Speaking on Friday, Thierry Venty, executive secretary of the National Bureau of Risk and Disaster Management, said: “The damage is enormous wherever the cyclone has gone.”

    The death toll has risen in Madagascar. Pictured: Flooding in the capital

    Source:BBC

  • UN: World facing greatest humanitarian crisis since 1945

    {The world is facing its largest humanitarian crisis since 1945, the United Nations says, issuing a plea for help to avoid “a catastrophe”.}

    UN humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien said that more than 20 million people faced the threat of starvation and famine in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria.

    Unicef has already warned 1.4m children could starve to death this year.

    Mr O’Brien said $4.4bn (£3.6bn) was needed by July to avert disaster.

    “We stand at a critical point in history,” Mr O’Brien told the Security Council on Friday.

    “Already at the beginning of the year we are facing the largest humanitarian crisis since the creation of the United Nations.”

    “Now, more than 20 million people across four countries face starvation and famine.

    Without collective and coordinated global efforts, people will simply starve to death. Many more will suffer and die from disease.

    “Children stunted and out of school. Livelihoods, futures and hope will be lost.

    Communities’ resilience rapidly wilting away. Development gains reversed. Many will be displaced and will continue to move in search for survival, creating ever more instability across entire regions.”

    Mr O’Brien’s comments follow on from a similar appeal made by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres last month.

    At that time, he revealed the UN had only received $90m (£74m) so far in 2017, despite generous pledges.

    Like Mr O’Brien, he urged more financial support for the four countries. But why are they in such dire need?

    The pictures were among the most shocking of last year: emaciated children, clinging on to life with what little strength they had left. Four-year-olds not bigger than infants. And mothers unable to do anything to stop their children dying.

    It is thought a child dies every 10 minutes in Yemen from a preventable disease, while half-a-million children under five are suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

    The UN estimates some 19 million people – or two thirds of Yemen’s population – is in need of some sort of humanitarian help following two years of war between Houthi insurgents and the government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition.

    {{What’s hampering aid?}}

    Continuing fighting, lack of rule of law, poor governance, under-development.

    A naval embargo imposed by the Saudi-led coalition, fighting around the government-controlled port of Aden and air strikes on the rebel-held port of Hudaydah, have severely reduced imports since 2015.

    A lack of fuel, coupled with insecurity and damage to markets and roads, have also prevented supplies from being distributed.

    UN agencies say 100,000 people are facing starvation in South Sudan, while a further million are classified as being on the brink of famine.

    It is the most acute of the present food emergencies, and the most widespread nationally.

    Overall, says the UN, 4.9 million people – or 40% of South Sudan’s population – are “in need of urgent food, agriculture and nutrition assistance”.

    {{What’s hampering aid?}}

    Continuing fighting in the country that now has been at war since 2013, lack of rule of law, under-development.

    Some UN officials have suggested President Salva Kiir’s government has been blocking food aid to certain areas – a claim denied by the authorities.

    There have also been reports of humanitarian convoys and warehouses coming under attack or being looted, either by government or rebel forces.

    The UN has described the unfolding disaster in north-eastern Nigeria as the “greatest crisis on the continent” – the full extent of which has only been revealed as extremist militant group Boko Haram is pushed back.

    It was already known the Islamist group had killed 15,000 and pushed more than two million from their homes. But as they retreated, it became clear there were thousands more people living in famine-like conditions in urgent need of help.

    The UN estimated in December there were 75,000 children at risk of starving to death.

    Another 7.1 million people in Nigeria and the neighbouring Lake Chad area are considered “severely food insecure”.

    {{What’s hampering aid?}}

    Boko Haram attacks, lack of rule of law, under-development.

    There are still areas under the control of Boko Haram, which aid agencies cannot reach.

    Thee have also been allegations of widespread aid theft, which are being investigated by Nigeria’s senate.

    The last time a famine was declared in Somalia – just six years ago – nearly 260,000 people died.

    At the beginning of March, there were reports of 110 people dying in just one region in a 48-hour period.

    Humanitarian groups fear this could be just the beginning: a lack of water – blamed partially on the El Nino weather phenomenon – has killed off livestock and crops, leaving 6.2 million people in urgent need of help.

    {{What’s hampering aid?}}

    Continuing attacks by Islamist militant group al-Shabab, lack of rule of law, under-development.

    Piracy off Somalia’s coast impeded shipments in the past – however attacks have reduced significantly in recent years.

    Five-year-old Mohannad Ali sits in hospital in Yemen in December. His younger cousin - aged just two - died of hunger

    Source:BBC

  • Africa gets its own web address with launch of .africa

    {Africa now has the unique web address .africa, equivalent to the more familiar .com, following its official launch by the African Union.}

    AU commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma hailed its creation as the moment when Africa “got [its] own digital identity”.

    The AU says the .africa domain name will “bring the continent together as an internet community”.

    Addresses can now reflect a company’s interest in the whole of Africa.

    For example, a mobile phone company could create mobile.africa to show its Africa-wide presence, or a travel company could set up travel.africa.

    Icann, the body that establishes these addresses known as generic Top-Level Domains, approved the move, after lobbying by the AU.

    The campaign was spearheaded by a South African company ZA Central Registry (ZACR), which will now be responsible for registering .africa names.

    ZACR’s boss Lucky Masilela said that .africa addresses could cost as little as $18 (£15), AFP news agency quotes him as saying, and registration will start in July.

    Other domain names recently created by Icann, include .fun, .phone and .hair.

    The African Union hopes .africa will create a unique online identity for the continent

  • Durban police search for baby abducted in South Africa ‘car-jacking’

    {Police in the South African city of Durban are searching for a baby girl who was in a vehicle when it was stolen in an apparent car-jacking on Friday.
    }

    The mother was with her one-month-old baby and an eight-year old when she was approached by two suspects.

    The individuals then hijacked her car and drove off with the baby still inside, officials say.

    The car, a white Toyota Yaris, has since been found, but the baby is still missing.

    Police spokesman Thulani Zwane said that a search operation, involving officers and a dog unit, would continue until the girl was found.

    “Our priority is to find this baby,” Mr Zwane said.

    Police recovered the abandoned vehicle in Montclair, southern Durban, at about 15:00 local time (13:00 GMT) on Friday.

    A South African Marshall Security spokesman, Kyle van Reenen, said that the infant’s baby seat had been removed from the car, local media report.

    The news has rocked South Africa, with residents taking to the social media site Twitter to urge anyone with information to come forward.

    As a result of interest in the incident, the hashtag #HelpFindDurbanBaby was trending throughout the afternoon.

    The South African police service has asked those with information to call their local crime number.

    Car hijackings are common in South Africa, with many people installing tracking devices in their vehicles.

    Last year, incidents in the country increased by 14.3% on the previous year, meaning that on average 40 cars were hijacked per day, according to the latest statistics.

    The one-month-old baby girl who was abducted when a car was stolen in Durban, South Africa

    Source:BBC

  • Kenya:Six terror suspects arrested in police operation

    {Six terror suspects were arrested in Malindi, Friday night.}

    More than 30 anti-terrorism police officers raided a house and arrested the suspects in Old Court, Kilifi County.

    The officers who were in full police combat gear ransacked the house before walking away with the six members of one family.

    According to a neighbour who asked not to be named for security reasons the officers smashed doors and windows to gain entry into the house.

    “They arrived at around 9pm and conducted a search in the whole house before taking away the relatives,” said the witness.

    Malindi OCPD, Matawa Muchangi confirmed the arrests and adding that more details will be given once the suspects have been profiled.

    Source:Daily Nation

  • Uganda:UPDF lieutenant arrested over extortion

    {A senior army officer in the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) is being detained at Old Kampala Police Station on allegations of extortion. }

    Lt Juma Oketch was arrested this week after police’s intelligence officers received information linking him to the racket of criminals extorting and conning businessmen and unsuspecting individuals in Kampala.

    Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, Mr Emilian Kayima, confirmed Lt Oketch’s arrest saying he is a suspect of fraud and extortion.

    “What is I know is that Lt Oketch was arrested on suspicion of extortion and he is at our Old Kampala cells,” Mr Kayima said.

    However, a police source said the army officer was arrested over recruiting more than 30 youths into a militia group. The source said police was investigating the motive of recruiting youths as young as 18 years as reserve force.

    “We have some of his youth in the cells. Most of them are aged 18 and 24 years. They possess army identity cards which we cannot tell how they got them but investigations are continuing,” a source said.

    Mr Kayima dismissed reports that Lt Oketch was arrested over illegal recruitment insisting that the officer was arrested on extortion and was going to be released anytime since there was no evidence linking him to a racket of extortionists in Kampala.

    “I am not aware about his involvement in illegal recruitment. Like I said he is a suspect of extortion. We may release him today because there is no evidence whatsoever connecting him to extortionists,” Mr Kayima said.

    Cases of army officers involving in extortion, fraud and robbery cases have of recent become synonymous. For instance in August last year, a UPDF captain attached to National Leadership Institute (NALI) in Kyankwanzi District was arrested for his involvement in Highway robberies.

    The same month police killed another UPDF soldier suspected of carrying out armed robberies in the city against mobile money agents. He died after sustaining injuries in a shoot-out with police officers in Nakaseke District.

    Brig Richard Karemire, UPDF spokesperson, was not available for a comment as he did not respond nor return our calls and text messages sent to him.

    Source:Daily Monitor

  • Burundi limits cooperation with UN

    {Nearly two years after the political impasse started in Burundi, national authorities are reducing their cooperation with the United Nations system.}

    The move risks undermining efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the crisis and cutting assistance to a population in need, the Security Council has been told.

    Presenting the first Secretary-General’s report on the situation in Burundi, the Special Adviser on the topic noted that “the report is factual and speaks for itself”.

    Jamal Benomar told the Council on Thursday the UN has tried to constructively engage with the government and support the people of Burundi in their search for peace and stability, to no avail.

    “We have engaged quickly, refrained from public criticism and encouraged modest, small steps to build confidence with the parties. Despite this modelled approach, the doors to engagement and cooperation have been largely shut by the authorities,” Benomar said.

    In the past several months, the government has decided to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, suspend cooperation and collaboration with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and refused cooperation with the commission of inquiry mandated by the Human Rights Council.

    The government has also avoided signing a document with the African Union that would allow human rights observers and military experts to be deployed, to aid Burundians.

    READ: 10 reasons you should be concerned about Burundi

    These actions were taken as “human rights violations and abuses continue to be reported on a worrying scale,” according to the report.

    In addition, at the end of February, President Pierre Nkurunziza suggested that he might seek a change to the Constitution allowing him to seek a fourth term in office.

    The move, as written in the report, “has the potential to plunge the country into an even deeper crisis”.

    Referring to the report, Benomar called on the Burundian Government “to fulfil its moral obligation and political responsibility to return the country to a path of peace”.

    He noted that most Burundians do not want to continue on the track of “international isolationism, violence and repression”.

    The UN envoy urged the international community – guided by the Security Council – to do its part to support those who seek a peaceful resolution of this crisis, and underscored the UN’s continued commitment to helping the Burundian people.

    The Security Council also heard by video-conference from former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa, who is facilitating discussions between the Government and the opposition in accordance with the Arusha Agreement. Benomar stressed in his statement that Mkapa has the UN’s full support in his work.

    Also speaking to the Council was Jurg Lauber, the Chair of the Burundi Configuration of the UN Peacebuilding Commission.

    Lauber will visit Burundi at the end of this month to get first-hand impression of the situation and meet with the Government, opposition and civil society representatives.

    In his statement Labuer echoed Benomar’s call to the international community to remain active in Burundi. “Abandoning Burundi now would mean wasting past efforts and putting the country and its people at risk of recurring conflict.”

    Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza has suggested that he might seek a change to the Constitution allowing him to seek a fourth term in office.

    Source:Enca