Monthly Archives: April 2018

16, April 2018

Assad’s aide: Syrian defenses smarter than US missiles ⁰

The political adviser to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has praised Syria’s air defenses for intercepting most of the missiles fired by the US and its allies at the Arab country on Saturday.

Bouthaina Shaaban said in remarks published on the Lebanon-based al-Mayadeen website that the victory marks the beginning of the end of the American empire.

“The breaking of their evil aggression is the beginning of the vanishing of their empire, which will be replaced by new forces which respects the humanity, sovereignty and safety of peoples,” she said.

In the early hours of Saturday, the US, Britain and France launched a barrage of missile attacks upon President Donald Trump’s order in response to what they claimed a chemical attack in the militant-held town of Douma.

Syria, which turned over its entire chemical stockpile under a deal negotiated by Russia and the United States back in 2013, said it had intercepted most of the missiles.

“The most important fact we should record here for Trump is that his missiles are not smart, not accurate – and that the Syrian air defenses have given the evidence that they are more smart and accurate than his missiles. He should be careful about his tweets,” Shaaban said.

She was referring to Trump’s tweet before the attack, warning Syria and allies to get ready for the missiles and suggesting that the rockets would evade air defenses because they were “nice and new and smart.”

This handout satellite image taken on April 14, 2018 shows the Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) compound in the Barzeh district, north of Damascus, after it was struck in raids by the United States, Britain and France. (Photo by AFP)

Shaaban noted that the US-led airstrikes had not intimidated the Syrians and instead sent cowering Israelis scrambling into air raid shelters.

“Instead of the Syrian people going to shelters, they went to the rooftops to watch Syrian forces shoot down scores of Trump’s missiles before they could reach their goals. This, while the settlers of the Zionist entity fled to their shelters.”

Shaaban also rejected Pentagon chief Jim Mattis’s allegations that installations linked to the production of chemical weapons had been bombed.

“The Center of Science and Research which provides knowledge to the best Syrian students every year was targeted,” she wrote.

“Trump is destroying this institution, which has no connection to producing any weapons. This is the lie of war about chemical weapons that Trump created.”

The Syrian official noted that the West and Israel aim to achieve “two things” in the region.

“One is that there be no unity in the [Arab] nation. The other is that [the Arab nation] not arm itself with science and knowledge, the highest value for humans.”

“The real response to their aggression, occupation and attempts to liquidate the Palestinian cause and to humiliate the Arabs and pan-Arabism is to have more science and knowledge, and to develop our capabilities and air defense and laboratories, and to produce anything that secures the needs of our generation,” Shaaban said.

Source: Presstv

16, April 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Atanga Nji says Biya regime will not dialogue with separatists ⁰

The Cameroon government will not dialogue with separatists elements in the country’s Anglophone region, Interior Minister Paul Atanga Nji has stressed. Speaking late last week on state-owned Cameroon Radio Television, he reiterated a position he had advanced in late March that Yaounde will deal with persons advancing the continued unity of the nation.

He told host of the political talk show, Actualite Hebdo, that president Paul Biya had placed security as a top priority because without it, Cameroon will not be an ideal investment environment. According to him a thirty day grace period will be opened for separatist elements to lay down their arms, failure to do so, “it is the law that will take its course,” he said.

On the subject of separatists leaders deported from Nigeria to Yaounde early this year, he said they were doing fine in detention, buttressing an earlier position advanced by Information Minister, Issa Tchiroma Bakary in an interview with RFI.

The Minister has been on a national tour since he was sworn in. He has been to both regions in the Anglophone area – the northwest and southwest, calling on people to support the government’s peace efforts.

Atanga is one of two Anglophones who were handed positions in the government following a cabinet reshuffle in early March 2018. He was handed the Territorial Administration portfolio whiles Dr. Nalova Lyonga was named Minister of Secondary Education.

What has become known as the Anglophone crisis, has riled the country’s two English-speaking regions. A previous cry against discrimination and marginalization from French-majority Cameroon has now taken a violent turn.

Secessionists under the so-called Ambazonia Republic continue to push for a breakaway from Cameroon – a move the government has flatly rejected. After a crackdown on protests in October last year during a planned symbolic independence declaration, the secessionists turned to arms.

They have since attacked and killed over twenty members of government forces – police, soldiers and gendarmes. They have also kidnapped two government officials. A soldier after burning his vehicle and a government official who appeared in a video begging to be rescued.

The call for dialogue has continually been made by several countries and groups but has yet to be seriously pursued. A number of the separatists leaders have been arrested and deported from Nigeria since January but they have yet to appear in court.

The humanitarian crisis arising from the situation has also led to Cameroonians fleeing the Anglophone regions in their thousands. The United Nations refugee agency has openly tasked parties to use dialogue to avoid further escalation of the crisis.

The duties attributed to Minister Atanga Nji from when he was sourced from his serious criminal gang underground world where he was a crime kingpin to join the French Cameroun crime syndicate was that of the Secretary-General of its National Security Council, Minister of Special Duties at the Presidency and a Section President of the CPDM in Mezam County of the Southern Cameroons. He was strategically placed and provided the resources to zealously advance French Cameroun’s fifty-six-year-old genocide of the Southern Cameroons. Cameroon Intelligence Report can now state that the appointment of this crime kingpin as Minister of Territorial Administration a position he cumulates with that of Secretary-General of French Cameroun’s Security Council and Section President of the CPDM for Mezam is intended to put a public face to this robot in French Cameroun’s genocide reboot command structure. It is intended also to insulate and prevent Paul Biya and members of his French Cameroun’s crime syndicate from being held criminally responsible for the genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and multiple international violations within the territory of the Southern Cameroons and Nigeria.

The appointment of Atanga Nji from the shadows of the crime syndicate from where he operated, to the more visible role of Minister of Territorial Administration was not intended to fundamentally change the nature of the duties he has been performing within the crime syndicate. It is intended to enable him to play a commanding public role within the reboot command structure of French Cameroun’s genocide crime syndicate.

Written by Africa News and Cameroon Intelligence Report

16, April 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Staring down the barrel of bankruptcy ⁰

When the Southern Cameroons crisis started in October 2016,few people thought it would last for a week. Very few even thought it would have an impact on the government. The two English-speaking regions were considered insignificant, especially as they only constitute 20% of the country’s population.

Senior government officials such as Laurent Esso and Jacques Fame Ndongo felt it was not even necessary to pay attention to the English-speaking minority. To the government, it had everything under control and if the population insisted on carrying through with its demands, then the government would stop at nothing to crush the English-speaking minority.

Mr. Fame Ndongo, who is the country’s higher education minister, is alleged to have compared the two regions to “two cubes of sugar” which could be easily melted in an ocean; with the ocean being the 80% Francophone majority. Little did he know that those “cubes of sugar” had stood the test of time and after 56 years of marginalization, the people of the North West and South West regions had had enough and were prepared to make their grievances known to the international community.

The fighting is ongoing, and it is getting nastier by the day, as government soldiers erase whole villages from the country’s map, a tactic it used to intimidate French-speaking freedom fighters popularly known as “Marquisards” in the 60s. These acts of violence do not seem to be producing the desired impact. Far from dissuading the determined Southern Cameroonian fighters, they are instead breeding revenge which is feeding the circle of violence that the government has triggered in the country.

Today, Cameroon government officials are gradually coming to terms with the fact that the two “cubes of sugar” will not easily melt. Instead of intimidating the fighters, the violence has now become a reason why the people of Southern Cameroons have to fight to the finish. They know the government is not willing to solve the problem and yielding to government pressure will only imply that they will have to go back to the status quo ante where they were regarded as second-class citizens.

The human cost of the conflict is staggering. Soldiers and civilians have been killed in a conflict that could have been avoided. The government has simply stopped announcing the killing of army soldiers, as this may have a huge impact on those who are being sent to the restive English-speaking regions.

The government has continued to put a brave face on a terribly bad situation. But behind the scenes, there is a gnashing of teeth. The government knows that fighting a war on multiple fronts is a dangerous thing to do. A source close to the Unity Palace has indicated that the government is slowly admitting that it had underestimated so many things, especially the role the Southern Cameroonian Diaspora that holds that it is time for it to play a key role in the country’s economic and political life.

After more than five decades of unnecessary marginalization, the Southern Cameroonian Diaspora believes that it can right the wrongs of the past by financing the various armed groups that are wreaking havoc in Southern Cameroons. Today, the region has become a no-go area for many people. The country’s administrative officers have become targets for the armed groups. Some government officials have been kidnapped, though none has been killed. But this act by the fighters is sending a very strong message to the government that has been giving the impression that it is in control of its entire territory.

But the reality on the ground is different. The armed groups are calling the shots and places like Menji in Lebialem Division have become lawless with police officers and soldiers living in constant fear, as the dangerous Lebialem Red Dragons are capable of striking right at the heart of Manji, the Division’s main town. This has been proven with the kidnapping of Professor Leke whose video went viral a few weeks ago.

The learned professor was undressed after having been charged with bringing illegal criminal aliens into the country with the intention of destabilizing the fatherland (Ambazonia). Professor Leke Tambo who has been freed, has left the country and he is currently in the United States where he is having a rest after his ordeal with Southern Cameroonian separatists. He was advised never to grant any interview by the Red Dragons. He knows what may befall him if he disobeys the instructions of the “Ambazonian military.”

A former judge, Mbeng Martin, was also recently picked up by Manyu Tigers, an armed group that is a nightmare to army soldiers in that part of Southern Cameroons. The retired and cash-strapped judge had been criticizing the Ambazonian President, Julius Ayuk Tabe, because he had been misinformed that his junior brother, a diplomat in Brazil, could be appointed as Cameroon’s Prime Minister. He got it all wrong and had to learn the hard way.

The spirit of the fighters is known to pick up its victims after mid-night and that was when the retired judge was picked up in his native Ewelle in Manyu Division. Wont to taking and giving bribe, the retired judge who had only CFAF 90,000 in his pocket was prompt at giving the money to the fighters who were infuriated by this act of corruption; an act deplored by Southern Cameroonians. This earned him a little beating. The fighters called him to order by hitting his head with a machete. The retired judge cried like a child as he knew he might never see his family again. But the fighters who have remained steadfast to their principle, released the retired judge at Eyumojock, many miles from where he had been arrested with a clear message. “Tell former Minister Ogork Ntui and Member of Parliament Susan Okpu that they have been excommunicated from Eyumojock Sub-division. If they make the mistake of coming to that part of the country, they will not have the time to regret their mistake.” Former Minister Ogork is taking this message seriously and ever since he got the message, he has been regular to the bathroom. He understands what could befall him if he made the mistake of going to his village.

Close to two years after Southern Cameroonians took to the streets, Cameroon has become one chaotic nation on its way to becoming a failed state. Today, many Western embassies have advised their citizens to avoid parts of the country due to the violence that is playing out there. The American embassy, in particular, has advised Cameroonians, most of whom are Southern Cameroonians bearing American passports, to travel to Cameroon using their American passports. This follows a decision by the Yaounde government to arrest many Southern Cameroonians in the Diaspora for their role in the Southern Cameroons crisis that has given the country a very bad name. The Central African country that was being touted as an oasis of peace in a desert of chaos has become as chaotic as its neighbors.

The government’s inability to address the core issues that brought a revolt to its doorstep and its decision to pursue a military rather than a political action to resolve this crisis has instead made matters worse. Today, armed groups are cropping up all over Southern Cameroons like ragweed and these young fighters are giving government troops a good run for their money. Young, inexperienced soldiers are permanently in fear as they are not combat-tested. They know any mistake on their part will surely lead them to their graves. Ambazonian fighters are unpardonable.

Today, it now normal for junior officers to bribe their seniors so that they do not get sent to Southern Cameroons which in the minds of many army soldiers is synonymous with death. The military generals who are running the show are feathering their nests from the resources earmarked by the government for the prosecution of this unnecessary fratricidal war.

All across the country, it is also rumored that the country’s defense minister, Joseph Beti Assomo, is making a huge fortune out of the military chaos that is playing out in Southern Cameroons. A source close to the presidency has indicated that even the president is gradually questioning the rationale behind the war. His fear of a drawn-out war is gradually pushing him into suspecting those who had advised him against dialogue.

The Cameroon Concord News Group source at the country’s presidency has intimated that Mr. Biya is contemplating a troop draw-down in the two English-speaking regions, as the country’s finances dry up and the light at the end of the tunnel which his collaborators had shown him a few weeks ago is turning out to be a fire in a nearby burning house.

Though the power dynamics are in the government’s favor, many political analysts argue that Southern Cameroon crisis has simply overwhelmed the government. The country’s poorly trained military has been spread thin. With many armed groups popping up every day in different parts of the former West Cameroons, the government seems to be fighting a bloody war on many fronts.

What is more challenging is the fact that the war is not conventional, and the separatists’ hit-and-run tactics are hitting the frustrated and demotivated soldiers where it hurts the most. Since the armed conflict erupted in January 2018 following a declaration of war against Southern Cameroonians by the country’s old and ailing president, Paul Biya, more than 300 army soldiers have been hacked to death by Southern Cameroonian fighters who are thought to be using supernatural powers.

But the greatest victim is the country’s treasury. The conflict has messed up the government’s financial plans. It has hit the country’s economy like a ton of brick. Recently, the government had to review its grow figures. It has clearly acknowledged that Southern Cameroonian fighters have the potential to send the country’s economy into a tailspin.

The crisis that started as a joke has connived with other factors such declining oil production and falling oil prices to manufacture the perfect nightmare for the country’s leaders who had overestimated their financial ability to prosecute such a costly war.

The country’s leaky treasury is spelling hard times for the country’s burgeoning civil service. The country’s financial indicators are trending very low. Government coffers are empty, and many ministries do not have the resources to carry out some of the main projects that had been included in this year’s budget.

Mr. Biya is gradually losing sleep. The country’s empty coffers are gradually becoming a huge challenge. Over the last few months, Mr. Biya has been working overtime to find out where he can have money to pay the country’s military and civil servants. His Western backers are gradually back-pedaling, and this is pushing him into the hands of unconventional friends like China and Russians.

A recent trip to China only transformed him into a mobile buffoon. Mr. Biya’s trip to China was designed for him to sweet-talk the Chinese into giving him huge chunks of money for him to meet his mounting domestic financial commitments. But the Chinese, known for their craft and intelligence, carefully steered everything towards business and bilateral cooperation. To them, Mr. Biya and his huge delegation were simply circus animals which have come to China to entertain the moody Chinese population.

They understand that the Biya government is full of many thieves. They are aware that the country’s maximum-security prison is full of former cabinet ministers who have robbed their country blind.In their eyes, Mr. Biya himself is not a saint. A recent international report has clearly indicted the 85-year-old Biya for wasting his country’s resources on unnecessary trips abroad. The report also indicts his wife, noted for her flaming red hair, of being a “shopaholic” whose constant trips abroad have made a hole in the nation’s coffer.

The Chinese are simply not interested in pouring their money in a country wherein the president and his ministers have transformed the state treasury into their personal Automatic Teller Machine (ATM). Mr. Biya might have been promised lots of things, but he knows that it will be an uphill task for him to get free money from the Chinese who themselves are facing some financial headwinds, especially as the global economy has taken a nosedive.

Even the country’s defense minister, Joseph Beti Assomo has indicated that help from friends to help address the crisis could be welcomed. Mr. Assomo expressed that wish while on a recent trip to Russia where he spoke to the country’s press. Asked whether Cameroon was seeking foreign support to help curb the crisis, Mr. Assomo sounded ambiguous in his response. He said“we are not close to such prospects, but when you have a friend who is in trouble and if you are a real friend, you have to go to his rescue; you don’t wait for him to call for help. We are not asking anybody to come to our rescue, but if a friend, a real friend, comes and proposes to help us, we will examine his offer. We are not crying to the world to come and help us, we are open to all the opportunities that our partners and our foreign friends can present to us, but for now we are managing within Cameroon because to us, it’s a Cameroonian problem,” he said.

The Yaounde government is clearly staring down the barrel of bankruptcy. The government has a hot potato on its hands. The per diem paid to soldiers deployed to the South West and North West regions is gradually becoming a huge financial problem to the government. Besides, it is also causing huge cracks on the military’s wall as some soldiers hold that they are not paid their fair share of money for the risk they are taking.

But it won’t be long for these soldiers to figure out that the country cannot even pay their salaries. Like civil servants, they may be in for long, scary nights. The government’s recklessness is coming back to bite soldiers and civil servants and this may herald the beginning of the end of a government that has been conducting itself more as a crime syndicate than an institution that is supposed to be working in the intertest of its citizens. It is just a matter of time and the government will see the writing on the wall.

The government wants the Southern Cameroons crisis to end very fast. Its finances are in a total mess. Cleaning up the mess will take a long time. The shit will soon hit the fan if the government does not find alternative sources of funding. The noose is tightening and even the Prime Minister has been prompt at calling on government officials to cut down on cost. But a government wont to wasting taxpayers’ money will find it hard to mend its ways.

The wasteful government has been counting on the French, but the French alone will not be able to provide the much-needed resources to roll back the various armed groups in the English-speaking regions.

The French have their own problems and will not be able to help the Yaounde government to pay its shell-shocked soldiers. Mr. Biya has to come up with billions of dollars over the next months if he wants to continue to rule the beleaguered country. Elections are fast approaching and without money, the ruling party will surely not win the upcoming elections. It needs money to bribe voters, especially in the French-speaking regions of the country. If those resources are not forthcoming, then the government is in real trouble and it must know its days are numbered.

By Kingsley Betek, Cameroon Concord News Group West Africa Bureau Chief

16, April 2018

Ambazonia Self-Defence Council: Nso Foncha elected Spokesperson ⁰

Chairperson of the Ambazonia Self-Defence Council (ASC) today announced the appointment of Mr. Nso Foncha as new Spokesperson of the ASC Council. Mr. Foncha will provide a public voice for the Council by ensuring that public announcements are made in the most appropriate fashion and through the most appropriate channels. Within that role, Mr. Foncha will conduct most correspondences with media outlets, such as TV, newspapers, and radio stations. Mr. Foncha will also communicate with the members of the public who have questions about the Council and ongoing self-defence activities throughout Ambazonia. The spokesperson will brief regularly the people of Ambazonia at home and abroad on self-defence developments. The spokesperson will serve as the only official source of information regarding self-defence to the African Union, United Nations, governments and international organizations. For all self-defence related inquiries, email ASC Spokesperson Mr. Nso Foncha at official.asc@africamail.com

The Ambazonia Self-Defence Council brings together more than 95% of scores of self-defence groups across Ambazonia territory that are dedicated to defend Ambazonia people, their property and interests against all threats. While the Interim Government pursues diplomacy, the Council promotes the inherent right of individual and collective self-defence against ongoing armed attacks on the people and within the territory of Ambazonia perpetuated by armed soldiers of La Republique du Cameroun and mercenaries from République du Tchad ordered by President Paul Biya. However, the ASC Council does not assume responsibility for the actions of any self-defence group that violate international conventions and human rights laws.

The Council seeks to ensure that established and rapidly rising new self-defence groups by unemployed, frustrated and angry youths across Ambazonia exercise self-defence activities in a professional manner and consistent with international law and practices until the conclusion of a UN-backed negotiated solution to fully implement April 1961 UN General Assembly Resolution 1608(XV) on the Southern Cameroons right to sovereignty

16, April 2018

French Cameroun wins UNIFFAC U-17 championship ⁰

Host Cameroon was crowned champions of the Central African Football Federations’ Union (UNIFFAC) after beating DR Congo 1-0 in the final on Thursday (12 April 2018) in Yaounde.

The side guided by Thomas Libiih, a former Cameroonian midfielder, got the only goal courtesy Moctar Oumate in the 36th minute. Well-placed in the defence of the Congolese, Oumate made the most of an assist from Joel Awono Amah, firing past a hapless DR Congo goalkeeper Nsingui Bakutu Nahan.

The Congolese launched onslaughts for the equalizer, but the homers held on to claim victory. At the group stage, DR Congo beat neighbours Congo (3-2), followed by another victory over Central African Republic (1-0), and also Chad (1-0) at the semis.

On the other hand, Cameroon settled for a 1-1 draw with Chad and beat Sao Tome e Principe 2-1 to book their place at the last four, where they edged Congo 1-0.

In the third place, Congo beat Chad 2-0. The tournament served a preparatory test for the teams in the region ahead of the zonal qualifier for the Total U-17 Africa Cup of Nations Tanzania 2019 scheduled for DR Congo in August.

Source: Boxscorenews

16, April 2018

Nigeria:70-year-old arrested for abducting Southern Cameroon woman for 28 years ⁰

A 70-year-old man, Alhaji Aliyu Onmaya, has been apprehended by Benue State Police Command for allegedly abducting a Cameroonian woman, Martha Eyom, for 28 years.

The state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, who paraded the suspect, yesterday, in Makurdi, alleged that he abducted his victim in 1990, explaining that his arrest was effected in Makurdi after a tip-off by the victim and her father.

“We arrested him when the father of his victim alerted us, this was after the woman had escaped from the suspect’s home,” Owoseni said.

Narrating her ordeal, the victim said, “It all happened 28 years ago when my friends and I came from Cameroon to write JAMB examination in Calabar. “My abductor saw us and chatted with us after which he waved an handkerchief on my face. At that point, I lost my memory and did not know anything about myself”, she said.

“I’ve been living with him since then and we have two children, one of them is in the university now. “The last place we lived was Otukpo. A young man helped me and a pastor who prayed and set me free from the spell that was on me.

“With the help of the young man, who is from Nigeria but plays football in Cameroon, I was able to traced my place and returned home 28 years after he mysteriously took me away.” The father of the victim, Michael Eyong, who was with her at the police headquarters in Makurdi, said he accompanied his daughter back to Benue to seek justice.

“We are from Mamfe in Cameroon. The man kidnapped my daughter for 28years and, within this period of her disappearance, I lived in pains because she is my first child.

“My 16-year-old little daughter returned home a week ago as a 44-year-old woman, looking even older than her age. I thank God for answering my prayer.

“We were able to arrest his alleged abductor with the help of Benue State Police Commissioner. All I am asking for at the moment is justice. He should be made to face the wrath of the law for what he did to my daughter and my family”.

Source: Todayng

15, April 2018

London: Ambazonians protest for independence of Southern Cameroon ⁰

Anglophone secessionists protested in the United Kingdom on Saturday, calling for the international community to come to their rescue and free Southern Cameroon in Africa.

The secessionists have been protesting since the end of 2016, arguing that they were being marginalized by majority French speaking Cameroonians in virtually all areas of public life.

But impoverished French speaking Cameroonians have reacted with dismay, saying they were as impoverished, and as neglected, as the Anglophones, by an irresponsible dictatorial regime led by one man for almost four decades.

French speaking Cameroonians in the country’s far north who are being massacred by Boko Haram terrorists without a single visit by President Biya have found Anglophones’ blames incomprehensible.

But the Anglophones have argued that Cameroon should return, not to the united nation it was under the German occupation, but to an entity of two “separate” states that it became after the first world war, when French and British colonial powers divided the country and imposed their languages and cultures.

Many French speaking Cameroonians have argued that Anglophones’ claims that Cameroon should go back to the arrangement before the reunification in 1972, should also argue that Cameroon should go back to the unified country it was under the German occupation long before the British and the French divided it following the first world war.

Those who disagree with the Anglophones, argue in effect that Cameroon existed long before the brutal occupations by French and British forces.

Those in favor of this school of thought often react with sadness that today’s generations do not seem to remember the whole history, and are choosing to protest in the United Kingdom, a bloody country that caused the mess now being experienced in many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Cameroon.

Source: Today News Africa

15, April 2018

Biya regime investigates illegal ivory, Pangolin scales bound for China ⁰

Law enforcement officials in Cameroon say investigations continue following a large discovery of illegal wildlife products hidden in shipping containers bound for China. At least 1,000 kilograms of pangolin scales and several hundred elephant tusks were found April 6, in containers of cocoa that were to be transported to China from the Douala international airport.

Officials have not yet determined the country of origin for the contraband. Poaching of elephants and pangolins remains a problem in Cameroon; however, the country has also served as a regional hub for smugglers. Didier Ngono, an official from the wildlife department, told VOA that three Chinese nationals have been arrested and will help police with their investigation.

Ngono says that under the law, the penalties for smuggling include fines ranging from $6,000 to $20,000 and prison sentences of between one and three years.

Cameroon has intercepted and destroyed at least two other large shipments of pangolin scales bound for Asian countries in the past two years. Eric Kaba Tah, an official with The Last Great Ape, a nongovernmental organization that helps Cameroon enforce wildlife laws, says enforcement mechanisms remain weak.

“In 2016, two Chinese traffickers were arrested with five tons of pangolin scales that were about to be illegally exported from the country to China,” Tah said. “They were given three months’ imprisonment from … the one-year minimum imprisonment they were supposed to get, and this is why we are very dissatisfied. They should be given punishment that is commensurate to their crimes.”

Both pangolins and elephants are considered critically endangered. International trade in pangolin and ivory is banned, yet consumer demand remains high in Asian countries, fueling the illegal market. Pangolin meat is considered a delicacy and the scales are used in traditional medicine.

Source: VOA

15, April 2018

French soldiers, UN peacekeepers attacked in Mali ⁰

A rocket and car bomb attack left one UN peacekeeper dead, a dozen wounded and another dozen French soldiers hurt at Timbuktu’s airport area, Mali’s security ministry said Saturday. “A terrorist attack targeted” France’s Barkhan camp as well as UN troops stationed outside the northern Mali city during the afternoon, the ministry said on Facebook.

A dozen rockets were fired at the two camps with gunmen dressed as UN blue helmets riding two vehicles rigged with bombs. “One of the vehicles exploded, while the second bearing the UN sign was halted,” the statement said.

The ministry said the latest casualty toll was one UN soldier dead, a dozen wounded, five of them seriously, and a dozen French soldiers also hurt. “The fighting ended towards 18h30. The sector is being searched. The situation is under control,” it added.

A foreign security source told AFP that the assault was “unprecedented” in Timbuktu. The United Nations had earlier released the same toll for its troops. In a tweet, the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali announced, “One blue helmet was killed in gunfire exchanges with the assailants, a dozen wounded.”

MINUSMA had earlier “confirmed a major and complex attack on the camp at Timbuktu this afternoon (mortars + exchanges of fire + suicide attack vehicle)”. “It’s the first time there has been an attack on this scale against the MINUSMA in Timbuktu,” the security source said.

“We’ve never seen an attack like this,” an official from the Timbuktu governorate told AFP. “Shell fire, rockets, explosions and perhaps even suicide bombers.” Unrest in Mali stems from a 2012 Tuareg separatist uprising against the state, which was exploited by jihadists in order to take over key cities in the north.

More than a dozen of Timbuktu’s holy shrines, built in the 15th and 16th centuries when the city was revered as a centre of Islamic learning, were razed in a campaign against idolatry by jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in 2012. The United Nations has nearly 13,000 troops and police in Mali, many of whom are deployed in the country’s lawless north.

Seven UN peacekeepers have been killed in attacks in Mali this year alone, serving in a mission that has been described as the UN’s most dangerous. A total of 102 have been killed since MINUSMA’s deployment began in 2013.

Islamist extremists linked to Al-Qaeda took control of the desert north of Mali in early 2012, but were largely driven out in a French-led military operation launched in January 2013. Insurgents remain active, linked to drug, arms and migrant trafficking in the vast Sahel region.

(AFP)

15, April 2018

Syria strike nothing but ‘political theater’ ⁰

The recent airstrikes against Syria were nothing but “political theater” orchestrated to please the Deep State in Washington, which has been trying to remove President Donald Trump from office, says a writer and analyst in Indiana.

“The question here is, what was the mission?” asked Dr. E Michael Jones, editor of Culture Wars magazine. “The attack on Syria did not change anything on the ground. It was an elaborately orchestrated piece of political theater.”

On Saturday morning, President Trump declared “Mission Accomplished!” in a tweet about the airstrikes he had earlier ordered against Syria in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack outside Damascus last week.

Trump’s declaration was widely seen as premature and narrow-minded, an echo of former President George W. Bush landing on an aircraft carrier to declare “mission accomplished” in Iraq 15 years ago.

“The mission from Donald Trump’s point of view was to stay in office, to protect (himself) from the Deep State which has been trying to remove him for two years now,” Jones said.

“The strategy here is to do everything you can to foster the power of the Israel lobby, and Israel and the Jews in the United States,” he added. “The Jews are Trump’s only hope to stay in office. So that was his mission accomplished.”

The US reportedly notified Israel ahead of the missile strikes in Syria.

“The second part of this was of course the Deep State’s mission which was to keep the United States troops in Syria,” Jones said, adding that this “whole play of political theater” began when Trump said he was going to pull American troops out of Syria.

“This is what provoked the false-flag gas attack” in Douma, he noted. “And now the US troops are going to stay in Syria.”

Late last month, Trump announced that the US would withdraw from Syria “very soon,” just hours after the Pentagon highlighted the need for American troops to remain in the country.

“We will be coming out of Syria, like, very soon. Let the other people take care of it now,” Trump said during a speech in Ohio.

Culled from Presstv