A smoking trail of lava from a volcanic eruption appeared to have halted a few hundred metres from the edge of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s main city on Sunday morning, said a Reuters reporter at the scene.

Goma, a lakeside city of about 2 million people, was thrown into panic on Saturday evening as the nearby Mount Nyiragongo erupted, turning the night sky an eerie red. Thousands fled with their belongings on foot, some towards the nearby border with Rwanda.

As the sun rose on Sunday, much of the hillside to the north of the town was burned black and houses had been demolished. The sky was again a cloudy gray.

“Local authorities who have been monitoring the eruption overnight report that the lava flow has lost intensity,” government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said on Twitter on Sunday.

Nyiragongo’s previous eruption in 2002 killed 250 people and left 120,000 homeless. It is one of the world’s most active volcanoes and is considered among the most dangerous. Saturday’s eruption appears to have been caused when fractures opened in the volcano’s side, causing lava flows in various directions.

Experts were worried that the volcanic activity observed in the past five years at Nyiragongo mirrors that in the years preceding eruptions in 1977 and 2002.

The Reuters reporter said the lava flow had stopped short of Goma’s airport and the city limits but that surrounding villages were hit.

Lava crossed a main road out of Goma, cutting if off from cities to the north. Traffic was in gridlock in most places as people tried to leave or return to assess the damage to their homes.

It was not possible to estimate material damage or if anyone had died.

A separate lava flow that headed east over unpopulated terrain towards Rwanda also appeared to have stopped, the reporter said.

Source: REUTERS

The start of the corruption trial of South Africa’s scandal-tainted ex-president Jacob Zuma, which was slated to start on Monday, has been postponed to May 26, a judge said.

Zuma is facing 16 charges of fraud, graft and racketeering relating to a 1999 purchase of fighter jets, patrol boats and military gear from five European arms firms for 30 billion rand, then the equivalent of nearly $5.0 billion.

The 79-year-old Zuma, who was at the time serving as deputy president to Thabo Mbeki, is accused of accepting bribes totalling four million rand from one of the firms, French defence giant Thales.

The case has been postponed numerous times as Zuma lodged a string of motions to have the charges dropped.

In the latest snag last month, all of Zuma’s lawyers quit without explanation.

But his new lawyer, Thabani Masuku, told the court Monday: “Zuma is ready to proceed with trial, he has always been ready to proceed with trial”.

Zuma has previously described the trial as a “political witch hunt”.

Nearly everyone rose as Zuma, dressed in a dark blue suit, entered the wood-panelled courtroom at the Pietermaritzburg High Court.

In response, he clasped his hands in front of his chest.

A man in the public gallery chanted “Long live Jacob Zuma, long live!”

Dozens of people, including senior ruling African National Congress (ANC) officials like the recently suspended party secretary general Ace Magashule, rallied in a show of support for the embattled former head of state.

“I am here to support president Zuma,” Magashule told AFP, dismissing the trial as “so political”.

A crowd of supporters dressed in yellow party T-shirts chanted outside the court house, waving ANC flags.

“We should allow president Zuma, with grace and dignity, to rest at home,” said ANC lawmaker and former North West provincial premier Supra Mahumapelo.

He said Zuma has “consistently maintained no one is above the law. He has always submitted himself to the law. But at his advanced age, he should be allowed to go into obscurity and we to move forward as a society.”

In power between 2009 and 2018, Zuma was forced to resign by the ANC after a mounting series of scandals.

His successor Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed to root out corruption.

Source: AFP

Ivory Coast’s Prime Minister Patrick Achi returned home on Friday after receiving medical treatment in France, a source close to his office said.

No information was given on the 65-year-old’s state of health after his four days in France, and the Ivorian authorities declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

On Thursday political sources said Achi was receiving medical treatment in France after suffering intestinal bleeding.

Achi, a veteran government figure close to President Alassane Ouattara, is the West African country’s third prime minister in the past year after his two predecessors died.

He was confirmed in late March, replacing Hamed Bakayoko, 56, who had been flown to Germany with cancer and died two days later.

Bakayoko had taken office in July 2020 after Amadou Gon Coulibaly died aged 61 following heart problems.

The former French colony is still recovering from a violence-torn presidential election last October that claimed nearly 100 lives.

Source: AFP

Biafra Nations League, BNL and a troop of the Cameroon Brigade d’Intervention Rapide, BIR, were on Saturday engaged in a fierce gun battle at Isangele, Bakassi Peninsula area.

The gun battle reportedly left some members of the BIR dead.

The BNL Chief Head of Operations, Henry Edet, confirmed the attack in a brief statement saying, “Militant group loyal to BNL and Cameroon forces exchanged fire in Isangele, Bakassi Peninsula.”

He claimed the “Two Cameroon BIR dropped dead during an exchange of gunfire in Bakassi Peninsula.”

Recall that the BNL had recently revealed its plans to completely shut down the Gulf of Guinea, threatening to hoist the Biafran flag.

The group said it would carry out its threat of hoisting the Biafran flags in Bakassi Peninsula to mark the Biafra Day memorial.

Meanwhile, Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has issued a warning to top-ranking officers of the Nigerian army and police.

“If you’re the commander of troops in the Nigerian army or police, hear this: That you’re wearing a uniform and adorning a rank does not make you invincible,” he tweeted.

“If any #Biafran is killed on your orders, you will be hunted and punished, sooner than later. We’re taking stock and bidding our time.”

Source: Dailypost

Envoys from Chad’s ruling military council are seeking support from its central African neighbors in fighting rebels who they say endanger a smooth return to civilian rule. Chad’s delegation told Cameroon’s president that without peace, a transition to civilian rule will be impossible, but Chad’s opposition says the military rulers should immediately step down if they genuinely want peace to be restored.

 Abdelkerim Idriss Deby, deputy director of cabinet of the Republic of Chad, held discussions for close to two hours with Cameroon President Paul Biya Friday.  Abdelkerim is a son of Chad’s late president, Idriss Deby. 

 Abdelkerim said Cameroon is one of the five central African states Chad’s military council asked him to visit and give an account of the situation since Deby died April 20, 2021. 

 Abdelkerim said Chad has been witnessing a series of protests and deadly rebel attacks that are threatening its unity since Deby died. He said Chad’s military council has sent him to all member states of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community to explain plans the military leaders have for a smooth transition to civilian rule. He said Chad needs the assistance of its neighbors for peace to return. 

 When asked, Abdelkerim declined to comment on the type of assistance his country needs. He said, however, security will be threatened in the region and that threat will spill over to all central African states, should the situation in Chad remain fragile. 

 A rebel force known as the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT) has been involved in bloody battles with Chadian troops on the central African state’s northern borders with Libya, Niger and Sudan. Chad said several hundred troops, rebels and civilians have been killed within a month.

Chad under Deby was a key ally of France in the fight against jihadist groups across West Africa, including Boko Haram. These terror groups and other jihadist militants have over the years destabilized parts of Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger.  

 Joseph Vincent Ntuda Ebode, a lecturer in international security and defense at the University of Yaoundé-Soa, said Chad’s envoys are visiting central African nations to lobby for the kind of support the former president of Chad had from his neighbors all through his 30 years rule. 

He said Chad’s late president Deby and Cameroon President Paul Biya signed an agreement to assist each other in maintaining security in both countries and in providing support against attacks. He said Chad’s military council wants to maintain the agreement signed between Cameroon and Chad. He said the terms of the agreement between the countries are clear: An attack on Chad is synonymous with an attack on Cameroon and vice versa. 

 Marsa Success, a Chadian opposition leader of the Transformers Movement, said although there are serious threats to stability, civilians do not want Chad’s constitution violated. He said the military council is not showing signs of wanting to hand over power to a civilian rule. 

Marsa said the charter presented to Chadians by the military council states that the military rulers can renew their mandate of 18 months if insecurity persists. He said a national dialogue should be convened and a civilian designated to lead the transitional period while the military carries out its duty of maintaining peace.

Marsa said any civilian chosen to lead the transition should not be a candidate at the presidential election. He said Cameroon, Gabon, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea and Congo-Brazzaville, should help bring peace by advising Chad’s military to hand power to civilians. 

 Currently, Chad’s transitional military council is headed by Idriss Deby’s 37-year-old son, Mahamat Idriss Deby. Mahamat was named interim head of state by the council after his father who spent more than three decades in power, and was one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, was killed fighting rebels at the age of 68.

 Mahamat promised to hold elections within 18 months, but the opposition and rebels dismissed the takeover as a coup and said the military must relinquish power to a civilian-led government. 

 Thousands were the streets to protest military rule. The demonstrators said they do not support what they called a “Deby monarchy.” 

 The rebel group FACT has vowed to depose the transitional military council should it fail to hand over power to civilian rule. 

Source: VOA

At least 30 people were killed by gunmen in eastern Burkina Faso Monday, according to the government. The attack occurred in Kodyel village in the Komandjari province near the border with Niger, government official Labidi Ouoba told the Associated Press by phone after fleeing the attack.

Jihadists surrounded the village and went house to house setting fire to them and killing people, said Ouoba.

“I ran early because the terrorists usually look for authorities. We all pray that peace comes back now in our country. We are tired,″ he said.

The attack comes exactly one week after two Spanish journalists and an Irish conservationist were killed and a Burkinabe soldier went missing when their anti-poaching patrol was ambushed by jihadists in the same region. That same day last week, 18 people were killed in Yattakou village in the country’s Sahel region.

Another resident, Mediempo Tandamba, who fled Monday’s attack said approximately 100 Islamic extremists entered the town on motorcycles, tricycles and pick up trucks. Four of his brother’s children were killed.

“We are very afraid here today,” said Tandamba.

Burkina Faso’s ill-equipped army has been struggling to contain the spread of jihadists linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State who have killed thousands and displaced more than a million people. Last year the government enlisted the help of volunteer fighters to help the army, but the volunteers have incurred retaliation by the extremists who target them and the communities they help.

The jihadists killed civilians Monday because the village had provided fighters to the volunteer program, said Heni Nsaibia, an analyst with the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project.

(AFP)

The Chadian Transitional Military Council, CMT, expressed itself for the first time on the demonstrations against the establishment of the military council led by Mahamat Idriss Déby, one of the sons of the former Chadian president killed on 19 April.

The Ministry of Public Security and Immigration had earlier placed a ban on protests but various civil society and democratic opposition bodies defied it.

According to the spokesman of the Transitional Military Council, General Azem Bermandoa, the so-called peaceful demonstration paradoxically led to the deliberate destruction of 15 national police vehicles as well as two stations belonging to the Total company.

He further added that there were intentional assaults on law enforcement officers on mission where a retired policewoman was pulled out of a public transport vehicle to be lynched.

The General called on the organisers of demonstrations to discipline their militants and deplored the death of six people.

On another hand, President Xi Jinping sent condolences on Wednesday to Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, head of Chad’s transitional military council, over the passing of Chadian president Idriss Deby.

Source: Africa News

Chad’s ruling junta has dismissed a truce and negotiations offer from the Central African nation’s northern rebels, slamming them as “outlaws” that should be traced and detained for their role in the recent death of long-time President Idriss Deby.

“The time is not for mediation, nor for negotiation with outlaws,” said the military council’s spokesman Azem Bermandoa Agouna in a statement on Sunday, one day after the rebels – who stand accused of killing the impoverished country’s Western-backed ruler – declared their willingness to observe a ceasefire and discuss a political settlement.

The ceasefire offer by the rebels — known as the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT) – came two weeks after they launched an offensive near the border on election day, demanding an end to the 30-year rule of Deby, who visited troops in the battlefield a day after claiming re-election victory.

“FACT is ready to observe a ceasefire for a political settlement that respects the independence and sovereignty of Chad and does not endorse a coup d’état,” FACT spokesman Kingabe Ogouzeimi de Tapol said earlier on Sunday as quoted in a Reuters report.

The late leader’s son, Mahamat Idriss Deby, seized power following the death of Chad’s ruler — long regarded as a Western ally in the fight against fighters resisting his despotic rule. He then claimed the junta intended to oversee an 18-month transition to next elections. FACT rebels, on the other hand, insisted they would not tolerate a “monarchy” while the Sahel country’s opposition politicians slammed his rise to power as “a coup.”

France’s Macron hails Chad’s late ruler, threatens rebels

Chad on Friday staged a state funeral for the veteran leader as former colonial ruler in Chad, France, along with other regional allies threw their support behind Deby’s son Mahamat.

French President Emmanuel Macron paid personal tribute to Chad’s fallen ruler, proclaiming, “You lived as a soldier, you died as a soldier, weapons in your hands.”

“France will never let anyone, either today or tomorrow, challenge Chad’s stability and integrity,” Macron further vowed. He also called on the newly-installed military junta to foster “stability, inclusion, dialogue, democratic transition.”

Junta asks Niger to help nab rebel leader

Meanwhile, Chad’s military junta also called on neighboring Niger on Sunday for assistance in capturing FACT’s leader Mahamat Mahadi Ali after claiming that he had fled the country into Niger following heavy fighting.

“Chad calls for the cooperation and solidarity of Niger… to facilitate the capture and bringing to justice of these war criminals,” a junta spokesman declared.

FACT fighters reportedly poured into Chad over its northern border from Libya on April 11 calling for an end to Deby’s three-decade rule. They reached as close as 200-300 kilometers from the capital N’Djamena, before being pushed back by the army.

Chad’s air force has since bombarded rebel positions, the military and rebels confirmed. The military further claimed on Saturday it had “annihilated” the rebels.

“We have affirmed our availability to observe a truce, a ceasefire… but this morning we were bombarded again,” Mahadi Ali said late Saturday as quoted by AFP.

Mahadi Ali further warned that the truce had to be observed by both sides, insisting, “We cannot respect the truce unilaterally. A truce must be made on both sides. We will not fold our arms and let ourselves be massacred.”

The military council has come under pressure to hand over power to a civilian transitional government as soon as possible. The African Union has expressed “grave concern” about the military takeover, while France and regional powers are pressing for a civilian-military solution.

Chad’s junta spokesman, however, emphasized that the two sides were at war, saying, “They are rebels, which is why we are bombing them. We are waging war, that’s all.”

Source: Presstv

Rebels in northern Chad are ready to observe a ceasefire and to discuss a political settlement after the battlefield death of President Idriss Deby last week, a rebel spokesman said on Sunday.

The rebels, known as the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT), came over the northern border from Libya on April 11 calling for an end to Deby’s 30-year rule. They reached as close as 200-300 km (125-185 miles) from the capital N’Djamena, before the rebels were pushed back by the army.

Deby was killed on Monday while visiting troops at the front, just after he won an election. His death shocked the Central African country, which has long been a Western ally against Islamist militants.

The air force has since bombarded rebel positions, the military and rebels said. The military said on Saturday it had “annihilated” the rebels.

“FACT is ready to observe a ceasefire for a political settlement that respects the independence and sovereignty of Chad and does not endorse a coup d’etat,” FACT spokesman Kingabe Ogouzeimi de Tapol told Reuters.

A military council headed by Deby’s son, Mahamat Idriss Deby, seized power after Deby’s death, saying it intended to oversee an 18-month transition to elections. The rebels said it would not stand a “monarchy” and opposition politicians called it a coup.

Opposition politicians and civil society have called for peaceful protests and a national dialogue to end the crisis.

(REUTERS)

More than 100 Europe-bound migrants are feared dead in a shipwreck off Libya, independent rescue groups said.  SOS Mediterranee, which operates the rescue vessel Ocean Viking, said late Thursday that the wreck of a rubber boat, which was initially carrying around 130 people, was spotted in the Mediterranean Sea northeast of the Libyan capital, Tripoli.

The aid vessel did not find any survivors, but could see at least ten bodies near the wreck, the group added in a statement.

“We are heartbroken. We think of the lives that have been lost and of the families who might never have certainty as to what happened to their loved ones,” read the statement.

In the years since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi, war-torn Libya has emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East. Smugglers often pack desperate families into ill-equipped rubber boats that stall and founder along the perilous Central Mediterranean route.

The European humanitarian organization added that more than 350 people have drown in the sea so far this year, not counting the victims of this latest shipwreck.

“States abandon their responsibility to coordinate Search and Rescue operations, leaving private actors and civil society to fill the deadly void they leave behind,” added the statement.

Alarm Phone, a crisis hotline for migrants in distress in the Mediterranean, said in another statement that it had been in contact with the boat in distress for nearly ten hours before it capsized. Alarm Phone added that it had notified European and Libyan authorities of the GPS position of the boat but only non-state rescue groups actively searched for it.

“The people could have been rescued but all authorities knowingly left them to die at sea,” they said in the statement, describing the incident as “a maritime disaster”.

Alarm Phone accused European authorities of refusing to coordinate a search operation, and instead laid full responsibility on the Libyan coastguard, who also declined to launch a rescue operation.

In recent years, the European Union has partnered with Libya’s coast guard and other local groups to stem such dangerous sea crossings. Rights groups, however, say those policies leave migrants at the mercy of armed groups or confined in squalid detention centers rife with abuses.

“These are the human consequences of policies which fail to uphold international law and the most basic of humanitarian imperatives,” tweeted Eugenio Ambrosi, Chief of Staff for the International Organization for Migration.

Source: AP