Monthly Archives: June 2022

Visit Rwanda: UK to send first asylum seekers to Kigali

14, June 2022

Visit Rwanda: UK to send first asylum seekers to Kigali 0

The British government was to send a first plane carrying asylum seekers to Rwanda on Tuesday despite last-gasp legal bids and protests against the controversial policy.

A chartered plane was to leave one of London’s airports overnight and land in Kigali on Tuesday, campaigners said, after UK judges rejected an appeal against the deportations.

Claimants had argued that a decision on the policy should have waited until a full hearing on the legality of the policy next month.

Thirty-one migrants were due to be sent but one of the claimants, the NGO Care4Calais, tweeted that 23 of them had now had their tickets cancelled.

Those due to be deported include Albanians, Iraqis, Iranians and a Syrian, Care4Calais said.

Other claimants included the Public and Commercial Services Union, whose members will have to implement the removals, and immigration support group Detention Action.

PCS chief Mark Serwotka said on Sunday it would be “an appalling situation” if Tuesday’s removals were subsequently found to be illegal at the full hearing.

Home Secretary Priti Patel should wait for the July hearing if she “had any respect, not just for the desperate people who come to this country, but for the workers she employs”, Serwotka told Sky News.Protesters gathered outside the Royal Courts of Justice and the Home Office on Monday.

In Geneva, UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi called the UK government policy “all wrong” and said it should not be “exporting its responsibility to another country”.

Church of England leaders, including the most senior cleric the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, reiterated criticism of the policy as “one that should shame us as a nation”.

“Our Christian heritage should inspire us to treat asylum seekers with compassion, fairness and justice, as we have for centuries,” Welby and 24 other bishops wrote in Tuesday’s Times newspaper.

“This immoral policy shames Britain.”

“Evil trafficking” must be combatted by providing safe routes to the UK to “reduce dangerous journeys”, The Times quoted the bishops as saying ahead of the letter’s publication.       

‘Hate speech and discrimination’                

Patel and Prime Minister Boris Johnson insist the policy is needed to stop a flood of all-too-often deadly migrant crossings of the Channel from France.

“It’s very important that the criminal gangs who are putting people’s lives at risk in the Channel understand that their business model is going to be broken,” Johnson told LBC radio on Monday.

“They’re selling people falsely, luring them into something that is extremely risky and criminal.”

Under the agreement with Kigali, anyone landing in the UK illegally is liable to be given a one-way ticket for processing and resettlement in Rwanda.

The government says that genuine asylum claimants should be content to stay in France.

And contradicting the UN refugee agency UNHCR, it insists that Rwanda is a safe destination with the capacity to absorb possibly tens of thousands of UK-bound claimants in future.

Doris Uwicyeza, chief technical adviser to Rwanda’s justice ministry, pushed back against criticism of the human rights record of President Paul Kagame’s government — which is set this month to host a Commonwealth summit attended by Prince Charles and Johnson.

Rwanda’s 1994 genocide made it particularly attentive to “protecting anybody from hate speech and discrimination”, including gay people, she told LBC radio.

British newspapers reported that Prince Charles had dubbed the plan “appalling”.

The reported comment prompted unnamed cabinet ministers to tell Queen Elizabeth II’s heir to stay out of politics.

International NGO Human Rights Watch issued a public letter warning that “to this day, serious human rights abuses continue to occur in Rwanda, including repression of free speech, arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, and torture”.

Source: AFP

Southern Cameroonian man shot dead, several others injured by Francophone troops

14, June 2022

Southern Cameroonian man shot dead, several others injured by Francophone troops 0

Cameroon government forces have shot and killed a young Southern Cameroonian man and injured several others in a raid in Bamenda the chief city in the North West region, as tensions have been running high in the entire Southern Cameroons in recent months.

Our correspondent in Bamenda says the victim is yet to be identified and noted that he sustained critical wounds after being shot by troops loyal to the Francophone regime in Yaoundé on Sunday.

Cameroon Concord News gathered from eyewitnesses that the bullet penetrated the young man’s abdomen, diaphragm and aorta, and all attempts to save his life did not succeed.

The Ambazonia Interim Government described the killings going on in Southern Cameroons as French Cameroun executions and called for a UN Security Council resolution on the situation.

The bitter clashes broke out when a large number of Francophone soldiers reportedly killed nine innocent Southern Cameroons civilians in Missong, a village in the North West.

A Roman Catholic cleric said five Southern Cameroonians were also struck with live bullets on the Bamenda-Bali main road on Sunday.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Yerima criticizes front line leaders for acting poorly vis-à-vis the struggle

14, June 2022

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Yerima criticizes front line leaders for acting poorly vis-à-vis the struggle 0

The Vice President of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government has criticized some front line Ambazonian figures for acting very poorly in defending the Ambazonian cause against French Cameroun military occupation.

Dabney Yerima made the remarks in a meeting with a group of Southern Cameroonians in the Republic of South Africa recently that saw him addressed a rally with renowned South Africa politician Julius Malema.

Vice President Yerima took the Southern Cameroons leaders to task for wasting precious time on trivial issues while the French Cameroun regime is busy slaughtering innocent Southern Cameroons civilians.

“Frankly speaking, some senior figures of our struggle particularly those in North America are acting very badly vis-à-vis the resistance and are not even willing to support Ground Zero. Some of them imagine that changing our name from Interim Government to Revolutionary Council or whatever is the way to get to Buea, this is a very big mistake,” Yerima stated.

“Their actions would bear no fruit even for the new alliance and groups they intend to create” Yerima furthered expressing hope that the people of Southern Cameroons will soon regain their independence from La Republique du Cameroun’s occupation.

Dabney Yerima hailed the oppressed but powerful Ambazonia fighters who have been preventing the Southern Cameroons issue from sinking into oblivion through their resistance and sacrifices.

By Enowtaku Ebanghatabi Christelle

Mamfe hospital disaster triggers fear and inflation!

14, June 2022

Mamfe hospital disaster triggers fear and inflation! 0

It never rains but it pours. This is an apt description of what is happening in Mamfe following the violent fire that consumed seven of the nine wards which made up the Mamfe General Hospital.

While the population is still struggling to accept that the only hospital that they have in the Division has been razed by some criminal elements, food prices have kept moving up as fear that Amba Fighters will soon raze the town’s central market. 

Amba boys have issued many audio messages trying to distance themselves from the fire which has attracted condemnation from far and wide, but their threats have continued and this time, they are targeting the market. By threatening to burn down the market, the fighters have made themselves very unpopular in the town. The people who once professed to be the protectors of their people have morphed into a disaster to the same people.

Illiterates have become judges and lawyers in rural parts of the Division and the fines they impose on their people are mind-blowing. You pay CFAF 100,000 for having a round of sex with somebody’s wife. Sex has never been this expensive in Manyu! Many young men have simply escaped from their villages just because they have been suspected of having sex with women who are not their wives. An Islamic state is gradually playing out in many villages in Manyu. 

Residents of the Division hold that Amba fighters have made it hard for their children to go to school for more than five years and this act of irresponsibility is breeding a generation of frustrated and criminal elements who will grow up to become millstones around the necks of their parents. 

Their threat to burn down the market implies that they are willing to destroy everything in Mamfe in particular and Manyu in general. Many girls are already pregnant and there are many fatherless children running around, with no hope on the horizon. Threatening to burn down the market implies that they do not even want parents to put food on their tables. The population is bitter and confused, and does not know what to do to check these criminals who are making life unbearable for the population.

Speaking to some residents of Mamfe, the Cameroon Concord News Group’s special reporter to Mamfe, Fon Lawrence who has left the town via Nigeria, has said that there is a lot of tension in Mamfe. There are no lights and no water, and with the hospital gone, the population’s desperation has increased, and many people do not know where to turn to, as the government cannot even help them. Mamfe town is also not safe, as gun-toting Amba boys keep an eye on everybody, while soldiers make things worse by harassing ordinary citizens, especially those who may be new in town.   

“We are frustrated. We don’t feel safe in our own land. Our grandparents never witnessed what we are witnessing. How can our own children be burning our own infrastructure? They have burnt the motor park. The hospital has gone up in smoke and food prices are on the rise as traders close their shops in order not to incur the wrath of the trigger-happy Amba fighters who have clearly demonstrated their determination to ruin everything in their path. What are we supposed to be doing now? Soldiers kill our children. Amba boys kidnap our brothers, and they are now threatening to burn down the market. How do we survive?” the angry resident of Mamfe who elected anonymity said.  

“In less than four days, food prices have risen, and these escalating prices are hurting us. Not many people are heading to Nigeria to buy goods that might not be sold because of the fear that the Amba fighters will burn down the market. In less than twenty-four hours, the prices of garri, palm oil, rice, and other necessities have risen. How are we going to live? Mamfe is a small town with very few businesses and almost no financial institutions which can grant us credit. BICEC, the only bank that used to operate here, has shut down operations and its staff hurriedly left town, fearing that both Amba fighters and army soldiers could become a threat to them,” the frustrated resident lamented.

“We are already living in Hell. Escalating food prices simply imply many people will not be able to feed their families. It is like the Amba fighters have put us on a diet of hunger. Before long, many of us will be losing weight and we are not even big. Many elderly people will surely die if they cannot have their daily food rations. The war itself has already destabilized many, but this unannounced dry fasting will surely send many of them to an early grave. No food, no water, no electricity. We have simply been rolled back into the dark ages,” the resident said. 

The days ahead are bleak. Residents of Mamfe are looking for hope even in the wrong places. Churches are full of new Christians, but many do not have money for tithes, and this makes them unwelcome. Personal homes have been converted into churches just to give the depressed an opportunity to find hope and solace. 

The announcement that the Minister of Special Duties at the Presidency of the Republic will be in town on Saturday, June 18, 2022, and information that the Diaspora is raising funds to rebuild the hospital is giving the people some hope. 

“We are calling on our brothers abroad not to abandon us. We are aware that there are efforts underway for the mobilization of money to help us. I was told that our brothers in Toronto, Canada, are already making giant strides to raise money, and this has gladdened my heart. I think many others will emulate the example of our people in Canada. We are counting on them, and we are looking forward to hearing more good news,” a teacher at Grammar School Mamfe said. 

“I hear the drive is championed by Dr. Joachim Arrey. He is very credible person. I hear he is leading an institution which has been providing books to displaced children here in Mamfe. We should pray that things work so that much money can be raised. Back home, I hear Minister Mengot is also leading his own efforts to bring some relief to the people. Let other Manyu sons and daughters support any initiative that will lead to the rebuilding of our hospital. Diseases do not know if you are a federalist or a separatist. We will all perish if something is not done. This is not the time for politics. We must work together to restore hope,” the teacher stressed.

According to Fon Lawrence, the Cameroon Concord News Group’s reporter who has fled to Nigeria, something needs to be done. Before leaving the town, he visited the town’s Preventive hospital which will now serve as a full-fledge hospital, and he reports that the Preventive Hospital itself is small and run-down. It needs to be upgraded if it must play its new role.  

“There are no beds for hospitalization and no medications for the critically ill. The structure is begging for an upgrade and the staff are not very hopeful. The facility has been neglected for years and it is now being converted into a hospital. It will be a real miracle if things really work out, but from the look of things, Mamfe is in the grip of a massive health storm,” Fon Lawrence who is currently in Nigeria said over the phone.  

Meanwhile some of the patients who had been ordered out by the criminals who burned down the General Hospital have died. Two patients who could not access proper care gave up the ghost on Monday. They were unable to go to any private clinic due to lack of resources. Their families are devastated. This is the challenge that will be facing many people in the town. Lack of money will certainly send many people to an early grave, except the government and other well-wishers act very fast. A disaster is hovering over the town. Natives of Manyu Division must now step in to save their people from the jaws of death.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

French army quits Mali base ahead of total pullout

13, June 2022

French army quits Mali base ahead of total pullout 0

French troops were on Monday handing back a military base in northeastern Mali ahead of a final withdrawal from the Sahel nation, France’s army said, after nine years fighting a jihadist insurgency.

And the UN’s emissary there warned that their withdrawal could leave Menaka, where they were based, vulnerable to a jihadist attack.

The departure from the Menaka base “was conducted in good order, safely and in transparent fashion”, said French army spokesman General Pascal Ianni in Paris.

It comes ahead of the last withdrawal from Mali “at the end of the summer” when France’s main military base at Gao will be returned to Malian forces, he added.

But El-Ghassim Wane, the UN Secretary General’s special representative in Mali, warned that the pull-out could spell trouble for Menaka.

He had visited the town two weeks ago, he said, and people there he had spoken to “did not rule out an attack on Menaka town”, where 5,000 people forced to flee the violence in the region had taken shelter.

“Should this scenario come to pass, the MINUSMA base is likely to be perceived as the last haven for civilians fleeing violence,” Wane added, referring to the base of the UN peacekeeping force in Mali.

But he warned: “With minimal Malian forces in the area and some 600 peacekeepers available to protect civilians, UN personnel and assets, MINUSMA’s ability to mount an effective response is limited.”

Deteriorating relations

Former colonial ruler France set up the Menaka outpost in 2018 in the wild tri-border zone where Mali meets Niger and Burkina Faso. It housed French and European special forces under the name Takuba tasked with training up local troops.

General Ianni told journalists the Takuba operation would not be transferred to neighbouring Niger.

France launched anti-jihadist operations in the Sahel in 2013, helping Mali snuff out a revolt in the north.

But the jihadists regrouped to attack the volatile centre of the country, initiating a fiery insurgency that elected president Ibrahim Bubacar Keita was unable to crush.

In August 2020, protests against Keita culminated in a coup by disgruntled colonels — followed by a second military takeover in May 2021.

From then on, relations with France went steadily downhill, propelled by the junta’s resistance to setting an early date to restore civilian rule and by Bamako’s charges that France was inciting the region to take a hard line against it.The bust-up accelerated in 2021 as the junta wove closer ties with Moscow, bringing in “military instructors” that France and its allies condemned as mercenaries hired from the pro-Kremlin Wagner group.

France not quitting Sahel

The French operation across the Sahel counted at its peak in 2020 some 5,500 troops before Paris started to reduce the numbers gradually and close the most forward bases at Kidal, Tessalit and Timbuktu in northern Mali.

Last January, the French ambassador to Bamako was expelled and the following month President Emmanuel Macron announced the total withdrawal from Mali as relations and security deteriorated.

However, the army said Monday that French forces were not quitting the Sahel region.

“The commitment to the struggle against terrorism, alongside the states of the region, at their request, remains an absolute priority,” the spokesman said.

Source: AFP

FIFA approve permanent use of five substitutes for top games

13, June 2022

FIFA approve permanent use of five substitutes for top games 0

Football’s rules body on Monday said that five substitutes would be permanently introduced for all top games and that an automatic offside detector is closer to being introduced for this year’s World Cup.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said the substitute change, which was started after the coronavirus pandemic, followed “strong support from the entire football community”.

He said after the annual meeting of the International Football Associations Board that experts would decide on whether semi-automatic offside detection would be used for the World Cup that starts November 21.

FIFA’s referees chief Pierluigi Collina said he was “confident” that the system would be introduced in time for the 32-nation tournament.

The system monitors 29 data points on the limbs of players to create a skeletal, three-dimensional model that is reviewed pitchside by the referee.

It has been tested at the FIFA Arab Cup last year in Doha and the Club World Cup in February.

“We are very satisfied so far and our experts are looking into it before deciding whether it will be introduced for the World Cup,” Infantino told a press conference.

It is officially known as “semi-automatic” as it will still be the referee that makes a final decision on an offside ruling.

As well as making the five substitutes permanent, IFAB said that teams can now name 15 substitutes on a team sheet instead of 12.

IFAB said that trials with body cameras on referees may be started in a bid to counter a growing number of attacks on match officials.

“Lack of respect for referees and their safety were identified as global problems,” said an IFAB statement.

Source: AFP

Mamfe Hospital Disaster: Minister Mengot steps up to the plate to provide much-needed leadership

13, June 2022

Mamfe Hospital Disaster: Minister Mengot steps up to the plate to provide much-needed leadership 0

While the wrangling on who burned the hospital is still ongoing, many people of Manyu descent are already thinking of how to alleviate the pain the population of Manyu is going through. 

Many people in the town of Mamfe are still scanning the sky for hope and the future really looks bleak. However, there is hope on the horizon, as fundraising campaigns are underway around the world to rebuild the hospital, especially in Toronto, Canada, where there is already a bank account for people of goodwill to drop their donations.

There is no time to waste and the Minister of Special Duties at the Presidency, Victor Mengot Arrey-Nkongho, is well aware of this. He understands that the people of Manyu Division are in the grip of testing times and only they themselves can extricate themselves from this ugly situation.

He is therefore calling for all sons and daughters of Manyu to stand up and be counted among those who are bringing hope to their people in their time of need. 

“Dear brothers and sisters, since the arson on the Mamfe District Hospital, I have read and listened to your burning desire to do something, in short you were all calling for action. Well, it took the time it did for us to brainstorm and chart the way forward. This is no longer the time to make loud noises on different Manyu fora, it is time to stand up and be counted,” the minister said in a message to all Manyu sons and daughters. 

“Your donations are expected and of course your name on the list of those championing the descent on Mamfe came Saturday 18, June 2022. Let’s make hay while the sun shines. Be among those who contributed to put a stop to the suffering of our people and those who will be remembered by posterity. Thank you for your understanding and commitment,” he stressed. 

The minister’s message ties in well with a call earlier issued by the Executive Director of the Global Think Tank for Africa, Dr. Joachim Arrey, who had called on people of Manyu descent to act fast to preempt any disaster that might be heading to Mamfe due to the lack of a good hospital.

“We must rebuild our general hospital. Without this hospital, my siblings and I would not be alive today. It is preposterous for anybody to burn a hospital. If this hospital has been destroyed by Amba fighters, then they do not know what they are fighting for. They have stopped children from going to school and now they are burning health facilities which do serve them and their families. If it is the military that is behind this unfortunate event, then they are simply justifying why people in Mamfe should distrust and hate them. This is unfortunate, but we must not let the wicked destroy us. Our strength will be determined by how fast we rebuild our beloved hospital and not how much we speak,” Dr. Arrey said in an interview with the Cameroon Concord News Group.

“We cannot wait for our people to start dying like ants before we act. Be advised that when you have money, you have power. If we, the people of Manyu Division, can mobilize USD 1 million in a short time, we will force the government’s hands.  We have our people who are in government, and they should be telling us how to proceed. We are already working on a massive fundraising campaign and the Manyu Diaspora will have to demonstrate its love for our people in Manyu Division. I am already talking with many people, and they are willing to bring money to the table,” he stressed. 

“This is the time for us to demonstrate that love we all say we have for our beloved Manyu. We must avoid long speeches at this time. We must act if we do not want our people to perish. It is in our power to deliver our people from the disaster that is staring them in the face,” he underscored. 

The ball is rolling, and the political leadership is in place. It is up to the people of Manyu to do what others do when bad things happen in their communities.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai 

Mamfe Hospital Disaster: A new version emerges!

12, June 2022

Mamfe Hospital Disaster: A new version emerges! 0

The truth about the burning of the Mamfe Hospital might never be known, as no group has taken responsibility for the disaster which has left many ill people desperate, and residents of the Division frustrated.

Mamfe is gradually losing everything, and it is obvious that the town’s infrastructure is dwindling very fast and could face another disaster soon as Amba fighters are now threatening to burn the central market and any government offices which may be open for business. Mamfe has no electricity, no water and now, no hospital. 

Residents of the town are scared that a health disaster such as cholera outbreak could hit the town soon, and this could result in thousands of deaths. Even Médecins Sans Frontières has packed out of the town and banks and financial institutions have also wrapped up operations, making it hard for retirees to earn their pension while many people now move around with large sums of money for lack of a secure place to keep their earnings. 

Threats by Amba fighters to burn more public goods are making them guilty in the court of public opinion for the razing of the hospital which has been serving some 70,000 people.

Though some members of the public clearly hold that Amba fighters have crossed an invisible red line by burning a hospital, some others hold that to know the truth, investigators should scratch beyond the surface.

Following the razing of the hospital, the Cameroon Concord News Group has deployed undercover reporters to Mamfe for the organization to shed more light on an incident which is splitting the country. 

The first findings clearly indicted the military while the second investigations conducted by speaking to victims and some members of the public which saw how the operation unfolded clearly accused Amba fighters, as some Mamfe boys were identified by nurses and some of these nurses have now left the town for fear of being killed by the fighters they identified.

Our correspondents have continued digging into the matter and they are unearthing some gory details which are clearly incriminating the military. The Cameroon Concord News Group is not passing any judgment but is simply reporting what it has uncovered.

According to sources our correspondents talked to, the Mamfe boys who had been identified were those who had earlier surrendered and are part of the government’s DDR. They are being used by the military to track and kill Amba fighters. The boys are now being taken to various locations to enforce the military’s decisions on how to destroy Amba camps or health facilities that are treating Amba fighters who have been shot by the military.

The military has, for years, been monitoring the Mamfe hospital and it had even taken away some patients they suspected were ill because they had been living in the bushes for too long. Those who had gunshot wounds were immediately arrested and later killed and buried by the military in unmarked graves.

The former Amba fighters who are now in DDR centers have become the eyes and ears of the military and it is alleged that the plan carefully hatched by the military was implemented by former Amba boys who came to the Mamfe Hospital with mattresses soaked with gasoline. The mattresses were later shot at, triggering a massive fire in seven out of the nine wards which made up the hospital which was commissioned in 1973 by the country’s first president.

The nurses who identified those boys have confirmed that the accent they heard was typical Manyu accent, but those who understand how the military operates clearly point out that those boys had been taking into DDR centers across the Southwest Region where the military is keeping a tight leash on them.

Sources close to the military have confirmed that the military uses very illegal and brutal methods in its conduct of a war that has resulted in the deaths of some 7,000 Cameroonians.

Many medical workers have been arrested by the military for treating Amba fighters and even staff of Médecins Sans Frontières have also been arrested and taken to Buea where they are being held in very tough and inhuman conditions even when the government understands that Médecins Sans Frontières has a right to treat anybody regardless of the side of the fight in which they are.

The military does not even trust local authorities and our investigations have revealed the homes of traditional rulers are constantly being searched without any justifiable reason. The palace of Chief Godson Oben, the Paramount chief of Mamfe, was thoroughly searched not long ago. The chief was surprised, and he happily allowed the lawless military officials to search his Palace and the only thing they found were costly wines which the Chief uses to entertain his visitors. Though the Chief was not very happy with such invasive searches, he however offered a bottle of expensive wine to the lawless military men which they promptly took and walked away from the Chief’s Palace. 

Cameroon Concord New Group’s team is still on the ground, and it will continue to file in its reports as it uncovers new evidence. It should be pointed out that a military officer in Mamfe has informed his girlfriend that the military is looking for Cameroon Concord News Group’s journalists and he is seeking to use his girlfriend to identify any new faces in town.  

The girlfriend, who is a strong Amba supporter, has promptly informed people who are sympathizing with Cameroon Concord News Group and the Group has used the means available to it to inform its diplomatic contacts in Yaoundé.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Kingsley Betek, John Besong and Fon Lawrence

Russia strikes arms depot west Ukraine as battle for Severodonetsk rages east

12, June 2022

Russia strikes arms depot west Ukraine as battle for Severodonetsk rages east 0

Russian forces said Sunday they had struck a site in western Ukraine storing large amounts of weapons supplied by the United States and European countries, as the battle intensified for the key eastern city of Severodonetsk.

The strike on the town of Chortkiv, a rare attack by Russia in the relatively calm west of Ukraine, left 22 people injured, the regional governor said. Meanwhile the situation in Severodonetsk was “extremely difficult”, after the Russian army destroyed a second bridge into the city and was heavily bombarding the last one, regional governor Sergiy Gaiday said.

Away from the battlefield, the head of the European Commission on Saturday promised it would provide a clear signal by the end of next week on Ukraine’s bid to become a candidate to join the European Union. “Ukraine has achieved a lot in the past ten years and much still needs to be done. Our opinion will reflect this carefully,” Ursula von der Leyen said after a surprise trip to the capital Kyiv.

Despite reservations among some member states, EU leaders are expected to approve the bid at a summit later his month, although with strict conditions attached. “The challenge will be to come out of the (EU) council with a united position, which reflects the enormity of these historic decisions,” von der Leyen said as she travelled back to Poland.

Ukraine’s geopolitical vulnerability has been laid bare by Russia’s February 24 invasion, which has killed thousands, sent millions fleeing and reduced swathes of the country to rubble. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that it was a “decisive time”.

“Russia wants to ruin European unity, wants to leave Europe divided and wants to leave it weak. The entirety of Europe is a target for Russia. Ukraine is only the first stage in this aggression,” he said.

Extremely difficult  

The United States and EU have sent weapons and cash to help Ukraine fend off the Russian advance, alongside punishing Moscow with unprecedented economic sanctions. Russia’s defence ministry said the strike on Chortkiv destroyed a “large depot of anti-tank missile systems, portable air defence systems and shells provided to the Kyiv regime by the US and European countries”.

Regional governor Volodymyr Trush said that four missiles fired from the Black Sea had partially destroyed a military installation in the town, about 140 kilometres (85 miles) from the border with Romania, on Saturday evening. Residential buildings were also damaged and 22 people were hurt, all of them — including seven women and a 12-year-old — taken to hospital, he said in a Facebook post.

It was a rare attack in western Ukraine, with the east and south of the country having borne the brunt of Russian firepower. The cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, which are separated by a river, have been targeted for weeks as the last areas still under Ukrainian control in the region of Lugansk.

“The situation in Severodonetsk is extremely difficult,” said Lugansk governor Gaiday on Sunday, adding that by attacking the bridges, Russian forces wanted to cut off the city completely. “Most likely, today or tomorrow, they will throw all reserves to capture the city and also possibly in other directions to cut and fully control the road” southwest to Bakhmut. He said the Azot chemical plant was being shelled, with fighting around the area.

About 800 civilians have taken refuge in the plant’s bunkers, according to the tycoon whose company owns the facility.

Crisis and famine

The war has caused a spike in the global prices of energy — Russia is a major producer of oil and gas — and basic food stuffs. Before the war, Russia and Ukraine produced 30 percent of the global wheat supply, but grain is stuck in Ukraine’s ports and Western sanctions have disrupted exports from Russia.

Addressing the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore on Saturday, Zelensky warned of an acute food crisis, adding that the “shortage of foodstuffs will inexorably lead to political chaos”. Also Saturday, Gaiday cited reports of Russians loading trucks with Ukrainian wheat and taking it to Russian-controlled areas.

At the summit, Zelensky urged international pressure to end the blockade, speaking to delegates including Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe, who on Sunday reiterated Beijing’s position on the crisis. “On the Ukrainian crisis, China has never provided any material support to Russia,” he said, adding that it supported peace negotiations and hoped “NATO will have talks with Russia”.

The sanctions against Moscow have hit the Russian economy, and also caused major Western brands to leave the country, with US fast-food chain McDonald’s selling its businesses there. Its iconic restaurant on Moscow’s Pushkin Square — where the very first McDonald’s opened its doors to long queues and great fanfare in January 1990 — was set to reopen Sunday under new ownership.

It was named “Vkusno i tochka” (“Delicious. Full Stop”), Oleg Paroyev, the boss of the new group, told a press conference. Separately, Ukrainian nuclear operator Energoatom announced that the connection between the Zaporizhzhia plant, now part of Russian-held territory in the south, and the UN’s nuclear watchdog had been restored after a month and a half.

The Russian shelling of the plant — the largest in Europe — had sparked international outrage and fears over Ukraine’s 15 operational reactors. Energoatom said the Russians had cut off the mobile phone operator at the site on May 30, but the connection with the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had finally been restored on Friday.

The IAEA said this week it was planning to visit the Zaporizhzhia plant to carry out essential safety work. However, Energoatom said that such a trip would legitimise Russia’s control of the site, and said a visit would only be possible once Ukraine regained control.

Source: AFP

Referendum, release of all detainees, withdrawal of Francophone soldiers, gendarmes only solution to the crisis in Southern Cameroons

12, June 2022

Referendum, release of all detainees, withdrawal of Francophone soldiers, gendarmes only solution to the crisis in Southern Cameroons 0

The Southern Cameroons Secretary of the Economy Hon. Tabenyang Brado has told Cameroon Concord News that the sole solution to the Ambazonian crisis is the release of all Southern Cameroons detainees including President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his top aides, the complete and total withdrawal of all Francophone army soldiers and gendarmes from the Ambazonian homeland and the holding of a UN sponsored referendum to be attended by only Southern Cameroonians.

Comrade Tabenyang Brado made the remarks on Sunday during a telephone conversation with our London Bureau Chief Isong Asu.

The chartered member of the Southern Cameroons war cabinet noted that the people of Ambazonia will never back down on the rights of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia and will continue to resist and forge ahead with the struggle for the liberation of the Ambazonian people.

Tabenyang described the so-called Southern Cameroons CPDM elites still serving the French Cameroun regime in Yaoundé as betrayals of the Ambazonian cause and added that those Southern Cameroons citizens will forever regret their action.

After decades of chafing at perceived marginalization and discrimination, Southern Cameroonians declared an independent state in 2017, triggering a crackdown by the Francophone regime in Yaoundé.

The spiral of fighting has claimed more than 10,000 lives and prompted more than a million people to flee their homes, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank.

Ambazonia Restoration Forces are now targeting police, soldiers, officials and schools, which they deem to be symbols of the French Cameroun state.

By Enowtaku Ebanghatabi Christelle

«< 6 7 8 9 10 >»