France has praised its troops who killed civilians during a standoff in Niger last month after allegedly conducting an investigation into the incident.

Florence Parly, the French defense minister, said on Sunday that the country’s army had carried out an “internal investigation” into the clashes during in three people lost their lives during one of its convoy patrols in Niger.

The investigation came after Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum pressed for a probe into the Mali-bound French military convoy that sparked violent protests and led to the fatalities.

In November, the convoy ran into trouble in Niger after being delayed by protests in Burkina Faso, with the Nigerien government reporting three deaths and more than a dozen wounded.

French army spokesman Pascal Ianni said at the time that “no French soldier was wounded,” however, “two civilian drivers in the convoy were wounded through stones pelted at them.”

Declining to accept France’s responsibility in the deadly clashes, Parly said in an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche that, “There was an internal investigation, which showed that in the face of great violence, our soldiers demonstrated the necessary control and reacted adequately.”

She added, “We continue to discuss with the Nigerien authorities to understand what happened before, during and after these clashes.”

The supply French convoy, which arrived on African soil in Ivory Coast earlier in the month, had crossed into Burkina Faso before entering Niger on its way to Mali.

It was heading for a base at Gao, central Mali, a hub of France’s Barkhane operation which claims to be protecting the Sahel region against militancy that began in northern Mali nearly a decade ago despite strong opposition from the said countries.

French troops are stationed in the Sahel region under the pretext of fighting the spread of extremist militant forces there, while reports have emerged that their convoys deliver arms to the Takfiri militants.

France recently deployed more troops in the Sahel despite opposition to its presence in the volatile region.

The United Nations declared in July last year that the spread of terrorist attacks in West Africa was so fast that the region had to consider bolstering its response beyond current military efforts.

Source: Presstv

Equatorial Guinea has begun deporting thousands of Cameroonians who were residing in the country illegally, citing national security concerns. Authorities in the capital Malabo said the Cameroonians fled conflict in western Cameroon, where government troops have been fighting anglophone separatists. Hundreds of those already deported are trying to return to Equatorial Guinea to gather their belongings.

About 40 people in Kiossi, a Cameroonian southern commercial town, want to enter neighboring Equatorial Guinea this Tuesday morning. Among them is Philippe Oyono, a 33-year-old building material shop owner.

Owono said police in Equatorial Guinea forcefully removed him from his home in the town of Bata. He said he was sent back to Cameroon on November 5 alongside 65 other Cameroonians.

He said he is pleading that President Paul Biya of Cameroon raises their concerns with President Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea so that authorities can allow undocumented migrants who have been deported to Cameroon to return to Equatorial Guinea and gather their belongings. Oyono said it is not common for Equatorial Guinea to deport mothers and fathers without their children and merchants without their goods.

Government officials in Cameroon’s South region say at least 600 Cameroonians have been deported from neighboring Equatorial Guinea in the past month.

This week, Cameroon said it had negotiated with Equatorial Guinea to give undocumented migrants three months to get residency permits or to voluntarily return to Cameroon.

Cameroon’s ambassador to Equatorial Guinea, Desire Jean Claude Owono Menguele, said about a thousand Cameroonians have opted to voluntarily return.

Last week, Nguema Obiang Mangue, vice president and son of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, said concerns about rising theft and banditry are behind Equatorial Guinea’s decisoin to ask undocumented migrants to leave.

He spoke on Radio Malabo, Equatorial Guinea’s state radio while addressing a crowd that supports deportation.

Mangue said he is surprised that the decision the government of Equatorial Guinea has taken to deport undocumented migrants is generating controversy and criticism. He said rising insecurity in Equatorial Guinea has pushed President Obiang Nguema to ask all undocumented migrants and those who have criminal records, including violence and theft, to leave. Mangue said Equatorial Guinea, like other countries, will not tolerate undocumented migrants.

Mangue added that legitimate refugees, including those fleeing separatist crisis in Cameroon, will not be affected by the deportations. However, he said some people displaced by the crisis in the Central African Republic and Cameroon prefer to hide within the community and work instead of registering as refugees.

In September, Equatorial Guinea announced that it was to deport all undocumented migrants from countries, including Nigerians, Cameroonians, Chadians, Central Africans, Ghanaians and Kenyans.

Source: VOA

Thirty endangered white rhinos arrived in Rwanda on Monday after a long journey from South Africa in a Boeing 747, conservationists said, hailing it as the largest single transfer of the species ever undertaken.

The majestic animals, which can weigh up to two tonnes, travelled some 3,400 kilometres (2,100 miles) from South Africa’s Phinda Private Game Reserve as part of a programme to replenish the species’ population, decimated by poaching since the 1970s.

Once plentiful across sub-Saharan Africa, white rhino suffered first from hunting by European settlers, and later a poaching epidemic which largely wiped them out.

The rhinos began their 40-hour journey to the new home in Akagera National Park in eastern Rwanda following months of preparation, said African Parks, a charity headed by Britain’s Prince Harry which is involved in the exercise.

“We had to tranquillize them to reduce their stress, which is itself risky, and monitor them,” said African Parks’ CEO Peter Fearnhead, calling the project a success.

The animals were transported in a chartered Boeing 747 and were placed in two grassy enclosures — each the size of a football stadium — after arriving in the park.

Later they will be allowed to roam the expansive park, authorities said.

“This will provide an opportunity for them to grow in a safe environment from South Africa where three are killed per day by poachers,” said the park’s regional manager Jes Gruner.

Wildlife transfers are not without risks. In 2018, four out of six relocated black rhinos died a few months after arriving in Chad.

The southern white rhino, one of two subspecies of white rhino, is now considered endangered with about 20,000 individuals remaining, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

It is classified as near-threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Breeding programme

The northern white rhino has all but vanished, with only two females left alive.

Scientists are attempting to save the species from extinction by harvesting eggs from the younger of the two animals, Fatu, and using sperm from two deceased males to create embryos in an unprecedented breeding programme, which is their last chance at survival.

Rwanda, which is positioning itself as a top Big Five safari destination, received five eastern black rhinos in 2019 from the Czech Republic and 17 from South Africa in 2017.

Not a single eastern black rhino has been poached at the Akagera park since their re-introduction in 2017, according to its regional manager Gruner.

Rhinos have few predators in the wild due to their size but have been devastated by poaching for their horns — used in traditional Chinese medicine.

According to the IUCN, there are around 5,000 black rhinos left in the wild, compared to more than a million in the mid-19th century.

Source: AFP

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday called on countries to “immediately and urgently” reverse scientifically “unjustified” travel bans linked to the discovery of the new coronavirus variant Omicron.

Dozens of nations from Europe to Asia have blacklisted South Africa and its neighbours since South African scientists flagged Omicron on November 25.

The flight bans have angered several African leaders.

“We call upon all those countries that have imposed travel bans on our country and our southern African sister countries to immediately and urgently reverse their decisions,” Ramaphosa said in his first address to the nation following last week’s detection of the new variant.

The World Health Organization has labelled Omicron a variant of concern, while scientists are still assessing its virulence.

A “deeply disappointed” Ramaphosa argued that the ban was “not informed by science”.

The countries that have already imposed travel restrictions on southern Africa include key travel hub Qatar, the United States, Britain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Netherlands.

‘Afrophobia’

Earlier Sunday, Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera accused Western countries of “Afrophobia” for shutting their borders.

And in Botswana, the other southern African country to detect the strain — among a group of foreign diplomatic visitors in the first instance — two ministers cautioned against “geo-politicising this virus”.

“We are concerned that there seem to have been attempts to stigmatise the country where it was detected,” Health Minister Edwin Dikoloti, said on Sunday.

The head of the WHO in Africa was equally worried.

“With the Omicron variant now detected in several regions of the world, putting in place travel bans that target Africa attacks global solidarity,” said WHO regional director general Matshidiso Moeti in a statement.

Ramaphosa warned that the travel ban would “further damage the economies (and) undermine their ability to respond to and recover from the pandemic”.

South Africa, the continent’s most industrialised country, is struggling with slow economic growth and a more than 34 percent unemployment rate.

The travel curbs are another major blow to its key tourism industry, which had set high hopes on the upcoming southern hemisphere summer.

‘Unjustified restrictions’

Ramaphosa blasted the G20 countries for abandoning commitments made at a meeting in Rome last month to support the recovery of the tourism sector in developing countries.

On Sunday, he added: “Instead of prohibiting travel, the rich countries of the world need to support the efforts of developing economies to access and to manufacture enough vaccine doses for their people without delay.

“These restrictions are unjustified.”

Ramaphosa called on rich countries to stop fuelling vaccine inequality, describing jabs as the “most powerful tool” to limit Omicron’s transmission.

He once again appealed to South Africans to get their shots, and said the government was considering making vaccines mandatory for certain activities and locations in a bid to increase uptake.

“Vaccines do work,” he said. “Vaccines are saving lives.”

The country is Africa’s worst hit by Covid, with around 2.9 million cases and 89,797 deaths reported to date.

Omicron is believed to be fuelling a rise in infections, with 1,600 new cases recorded on average in the past seven days compared to 500 the previous week.

Source: AFP

At least two people have been killed and 18 others wounded after French forces fired shots to disperse angry protesters blocking a French military convoy in western Niger.

The armored vehicles and logistics trucks had crossed the border on Friday after being blocked in Burkina Faso for a week by demonstrations there against French forces’ failure to stop mounting violence by Takfiri militants.

Anger has been rising against the French military presence in Niger, Burkina Faso and other countries in West Africa’s Sahel region. 

Last weekend, hundreds of people in the Burkinabe city of Kaya blocked the French convoy, which is on its way from Ivory Coast to Mali.

It was able to leave Burkina Faso on Friday but ran into new protests on Saturday morning less than 30 km across the border in the western Niger town of Tera, where it was confronted by protesters.

Video shared by a local official showed the protesters chanting “Down with France,” as black smoke rose from a burning barricade.

“In its attempt to extricate itself, it (the French forces) used force. Sadly, we deplore the death of two people and 18 injuries, 11 of them serious,” Niger’s interior ministry said in a statement.

French military spokesperson Pascal Ianni admitted that soldiers had “fired warning shots” and tear gas at protesters, but dismissed as “false information” reports on social media that French forces had killed civilians in Tera.

Ianni said the convoy eventually crossed the town and continued toward the capital, Niamey.

France intervened in Mali in 2013 to purportedly beat back militants who had seized the desert north, before deploying soldiers across the Sahel. While it has deployed more troops, violence has continued to intensify and spread in the region.

In the demonstrations in Burkina Faso and elsewhere, protesters have cited widespread belief that France is secretly supporting the militants to justify its continued military presence in its former colonies.

Rise of anti-colonial sentiments

France has been one of the world’s colonizing countries that after many years of slavery still controls countries spread over more than 12 territories and treats their people as second-class citizens.

The Caribbean territory of Guadeloupe and nearby Martinique have recently been wracked by rioting and strikes that reflect long-running frustrations over inequality with the French mainland.

France’s minister for overseas affairs, Sebastien Lecornu, on Friday said Paris was ready to discuss some autonomy for Guadeloupe, but the overnight offer drew sharp criticism Saturday from conservative and far right candidates for France’s April presidential election.

Guadeloupe uses the euro currency and has close political ties with the mainland. But high unemployment in Guadeloupe and Martinique, high costs of living and lingering anger over historical abuses have prompted some local officials to demand change.

A third of the Guadeloupe population lives below the poverty line, and unemployment rate is 17%. The cost of living, meanwhile, is high because the island relies heavily on imports from the mainland. Water supplies have been a major problem in recent years because of obsolete pipes.

Some residents denounce a relationship with Paris reminiscent of colonial times, and note an ongoing scandal over the use of a dangerous pesticide on islands in the Antilles for years after it was banned on the mainland.

Many people were systematically exposed to toxic pesticides used in banana plantations in the 1970s in Martinique and Guadeloupe.

The product was banned in the US in 1976 and in France in 1990, but special provisions were made for its continued use in the Caribbean territories until 1993.

There have been numerous attempts at autonomy since the Second World War, though none have been successful. The anger of people living in Guadeloupe is because a country 7,000 kilometers away is governing them, constantly treating them as second-class citizens.

Guadeloupe receives 972 million euros from the EU each year, but its youth-unemployment rate has hovered around 50 percent for decades.

Source: Presstv

Cameroonian, Nigerian and Chadian troops fighting terrorism in the Lake Chad basin say attacks on military positions have been increasing since Boko Haram leader Aboubakar Shekau was declared dead in May.

Military officials from the three countries say the Islamic State in West Africa Province group, or ISWAP, is completely changing terrorism tactics to gain the sympathy of Lake Chad basin civilians. They say ISWAP is emerging as the terrorist group that is taking over from Boko Haram, which is weakened by the death of its leader Shekau.

Major General Saly Mohamadou is commander of Cameroon’s troops fighting terrorism in the Lake Chad Basin. He says, unlike Boko Haram, which attacked civilians for supplies and killed both the military and people who opposed the terrorist group when it was very active, ISWAP only attacks military positions to gain support from civilians. He says ISWAP is fighting to control border areas between Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria.

Mohamadou said senior military officials of the Multinational Joint Task Force or MNJTF met in Maroua, Cameroon this week to formulate a strategy toward the new terrorism threat.

The task force, headquartered in the Chadian capital of N’djamena, is made up of more than 10,000 troops from Niger, Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria.

The MNJTF says militants have carried out scores of attacks on its military positions since May, causing many casualties, but gives no further details.

Officials accuse ISWAP of infiltrating areas along the Cameroon-Nigeria-Chad border. Cameroonian authorities say ISWAP promises jobs and better living conditions to convince vulnerable and jobless youths to join the terror group.

The governor of Cameroon’s Far North region, on the border with Nigeria and Chad Midjiyawa Bakari says Cameroon is carrying out actions that will keep its civilians from sympathizing with terrorists. He says besides fighting terrorists, Cameroon troops have been teaching children in schools abandoned by teachers because of terrorism. He says military medical teams treat wounded and sick civilians who are in villages on Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria that are hard to reach. Bakari says the military distributes food and water to civilians in former Boko Haram strongholds.

The governor also said that to stop ISWAP from recruiting vulnerable youths, Cameroon ordered the creation of militias in all northern villages.

ISWAP has not made any formal statement on its expansion to the Lake Chad Basin.

In August though, the International Institute for Strategic Studies said African states should act quickly to stop the restructuring of ISWAP. It says if the countries fail to act, Islamic State’s plans to expand in the region will further endanger millions of Africans.

Source: VOA

The United Nations Security Council has expressed “deep concern” over the escalation of fighting in Ethiopia, calling for a ceasefire and the initiation of peace talks in the restive northern region of Tigray.

“The members of the Security Council expressed deep concern about the expansion and intensification of military clashes in northern Ethiopia,” the 15-member body said in a joint statement on Friday.

“They further called to put an end to hostilities and to negotiate a lasting ceasefire and for the creation of conditions for the start of an inclusive Ethiopian national dialogue to resolve the crisis.”

The council also expressed concern over the humanitarian situation and national stability, and “reaffirmed their strong commitment to the sovereignty, political independence, territorial integrity and unity of Ethiopia.”

A public meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the Ethiopia issue is set to be held on Monday.

The UNSC issued the statement as members of the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) have threatened to march on the capital Addis Ababa, a year into the fighting, prompting Ethiopia to declare a six-month state of emergency.

Tigray has been the scene of conflict since November 2020, when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops there to topple the TPLF in response to attacks on army camps.

Three weeks later, the government declared victory when it gained control of the regional capital, Mekelle. However, the TPLF forces resumed fighting later and retook Mekelle and most of Tigray at the end of June after the government withdrew its soldiers and declared a ceasefire.

The fighting has continued since then.

The conflict between Ethiopian troops and TPLF has raised fears of a more devastating humanitarian crisis in a region the United Nations says is already in the grip of famine following a yearlong conflict.

Tigray is under a de facto blockade that is preventing most aid from getting in, according to the UN. Ethiopian authorities and the TPLF have blamed each other for obstructing deliveries. Ethiopian officials also accuse the international community of ignoring alleged abuses by the TPLF.

The conflict in Tigray has killed thousands of people and pushed 400,000 people to the brink of famine, according to analyses by UN agencies and aid groups. Ethiopia’s government, however, has disputed those claims.

Abiy’s government has faced criticism over the conflict, notably from the US, a longtime ally, with President Joe Biden signing an executive order allowing for sanctions against the warring parties if they fail to commit to a negotiated settlement.

Americans urged to urgently leave Ethiopia

In a separate development on Friday, the US embassy in Addis Ababa called on Americans to leave Ethiopia “as soon as possible” over fears of a rebel advance on the capital.

The US embassy warned in an advisory that, “the security environment in Ethiopia is very fluid.”

It urged “citizens who are in Ethiopia to leave the country as soon as possible.”

The TPLF said Wednesday that its fighters had reached the town of Kemissie in the Amhara region, 325 kilometers northeast of the capital, and were running “joint operations” with the so-called Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), which predicted Addis Ababa could fall in a matter of weeks.

The Ethiopian government dismissed rebel claims of territorial gains, saying on Thursday that the TPLF was “encircled” and close to defeat.

The TPLF and the OLA were officially designated as terrorist groups by the government in May.

Source: Presstv

French aid worker Sophie Pétronin, freed a year ago after four years in the hands of jihadist militants in northern Mali, is back in Mali and missing again, FRANCE 24’s sister station Radio France Internationale (RFI) reported on Tuesday.

Pétronin, 76, who ran a charity for malnourished and orphaned children in the desert city of Gao until her abduction in 2016, discreetly returned to Mali in March. The West African nation refused to issue her a visa for her return, but she eventually managed to enter the country by taking an overland route from Senegal, RFI reported.

Pétronin was reportedly unhappy in Switzerland, where she had been living since her release from captivity in October 2020, and wanted to return to the country where she had spent the last 20 years of her life. Sources close to the family told RFI that she was keen to be reunited with her adopted daughter.

Pétronin had always said she planned to return to Mali to continue her work.

More than seven months after her return, the Mali police issued a wanted notice for Pétronin on October 29, asking police to apprehend her, and to “escort” her to the capital Bamako.

Pétronin was reportedly last seen near Sikasso in the southeast of the country, more than 350 km from the capital Bamako.

But sources close to Pétronin told RFI that she hadn’t left Bamako since her return to Mali, and had never been to Sikasso. They are mystified as to why Malian authorities are searching for her.

French diplomatic sources have said that they are not interpreting the wanted notice as a “hostile act” from the Malian authorities, despite tense relations with France.

Source:  REUTERS

Hundreds of Malian protesters have taken to the streets in the capital, Bamako, to demonstrate against the French military presence in the West African country.

The protesters gathered in central Bamako on Friday, chanting anti-France slogans and calling for the total withdrawal of French troops from their country.

“We are here for Mali, we are here to demonstrate our national sovereignty. To remind the whole world that sovereignty belongs to the people and that those who have not understood this must get up to speed today,” said Mohamed Ousmane Mohamedoun, a member of Mali’s National Transition Council and a protest organizer.

“Because the transition for us today is the result of decades of mismanagement, misgovernance of our country and bad partnerships,” he added.

Mali has become increasingly engulfed in violence since a Tuareg uprising in 2012 was hijacked by extremist militants, who perpetrated ethnic killings and attacks on government forces and civilians despite the presence of French and UN troops.

Earlier in the month, Mali’s Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga said there is evidence that France has been training “terrorist” groups operating in the West African country.

A French mission began operating in Mali in 2013 to allegedly counter militants that Paris claims are linked to the al-Qaeda and Daesh terrorist groups.

This summer, French President Emmanuel Macron announced a gradual drawdown of France’s military presence in the Sahel and the end of the French military operation known as Barkhane.

Mali accused France of abandoning the conflict-ravaged country with the “unilateral” decision to withdraw troops. Mali’s military-dominated government then asked private Russian security companies for help in its fight against terrorism.

Ever since, tensions have been high between France and its former colony.

The French Barkhane force, operating in Mali, Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mauritania, currently has 5,000 troops in the region.

Source: Presstv

France says one of its soldiers has been killed during a “maintenance operation” in northern Mali.

French Defense Minister Florence Parly said on Wednesday that non-commissioned officer Adrien Quelin “died [on Tuesday] following an accident that occurred during a maintenance operation in Timbuktu.”

According to French government spokesperson Gabriel Attal, an investigation is underway into the incident.

The latest death brings the total number of France’s fatalities in the Sahel region to 53.

A French mission began operating in Mali in 2013 to allegedly counter militants that Paris claims are linked to the al-Qaeda and Daesh terrorist groups. This summer, French President Emmanuel Macron announced a gradual drawdown of France’s military presence in the Sahel and the end of the French military operation known as Barkhane. The total number of French troops in the region is to be cut from 5,000 to 2,500-3,000 by 2023.

Mali accused France of abandoning the conflict-ravaged country with the “unilateral” decision to withdraw troops. Mali’s military-dominated government then asked private Russian security companies for help in its fight against terrorism. Ever since, tensions have been high between France and its former colony.

Last week, Mali said it had evidence that France has been training “terrorist” groups operating in the West African country.

Source: Presstv