Militants ambushed a group of about 30 civilians in northeastern Congo and killed many of them before fighting a fierce battle with the army, politicians said on Sunday.

The attack took place near the city of Beni and, if the deaths are confirmed, would be the first mass-killing this year in that area. It has seen relative peace since more than 800 people were killed in dozens of massacres between 2014 and 2016.

The spate of attacks raised serious questions about the state’s ability to impose order over a region full of ethnic tensions and plagued by pockets of lawlessness where armed groups prey on populations and exploit rich mineral reserves.

In the latest attack, on Saturday, assailants armed with machetes and guns ambushed travelers on the main road linking Beni territory in North Kivu province to neighboring Uganda, Boris Maelezo, a member of parliament from the area, told Reuters.

He said about 30 civilians were riding on motorbikes, with several people on each vehicle, and that most of them could have been killed.

Albert Baliesima Kadukima, another lawmaker from the area, said two women freed by the militants had told local authorities the assailants had slit the throats of more than a dozen people.

Mak Hazukay, a local army spokesman, said Congolese forces were battling the militants and attempting to dislodge them from a section of the road that was several kilometers long.

The two lawmakers and the army spokesman said the militants belonged to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan extremist group active near the border between Congo and Uganda.

Eastern Congo is a tinderbox of ethnic tensions and has been racked by conflict for more than two decades. It is the world’s biggest source of coltan, used in mobile phones and other electronic products.

Various armed groups have committed atrocities around Beni since late 2014 to settle scores and undermine rivals, with attacks sometimes sectarian in nature.

(Source: Reuters)

Cameroon has disputed a report that said 100 people died in anti-government protests. The African Union has largely remained quiet as secession sentiments gather steam in the central African nation.

Cameroonian authorities on Thursday rejected a report by a human rights group which said at least 100 people were killed by government forces during last weekend’s protests. Initial reports stated 17 people had been killed.

Didier Badjeck, Cameroon’s army spokesman, also disputed figures released by Amnesty International which put the death toll at 17. Badjeck said they recorded 10 deaths. “A lot of countries in Africa have decided to use heavy handedness to squash opposition,” Christian Ani, an analyst at the Institute for Security Studies in Addis Ababa, told DW. “This is the challenge of lack of foresight within government.”

Violent protests broke out in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions following a symbolic declaration of independence from the rest of the country. President Paul Biya has completely ruled out independence, he also strongly opposes the return to a federal structure, which existed in Cameroon from the time it gained independence in 1961 until 1984, when Biya abolished the federal system for a unified Republic of Cameroon.

Cameroon’s security service has been cracking down hard on protesters

English speaking Cameroonians make up 20 percent of Cameroon’s population of 23 million. They have long complained that they are treated like second-class citizens by the predominantly French speaking government in Yaounde. The root of the grievances date back to the end of World War One when the League of Nations decided to split Kamerun, a former German colony, between the allied French and British powers.

AU tight-lipped on Cameroon and Nigeria

The African Union has so far refrained from intervening in the ongoing crisis in Cameroon. Efforts by DW to get the AU’s position on the contentious issue were unsuccessful. “It’s a failure of the African Union and the UN collectively,” Ayo Johnson, Director of Viewpoint Africa and an expert on African politics told DW in an interview. “Nigeria and Cameroon are experiencing separatist calls from unsettled, unhappy, disgruntled parts of the country.”

In Nigeria, Igbo people are calling for a separatist state which they call Biafra. “These two [separatist movements], are pulling their respective countries apart,” Johnson said. “Sequentially, the international community; the African Union and the UN have been unable to take drastic action which is being called for by many people right now.”

External interference in such issues is very sensitive. The Biafran war (1967-1970) was devastating. More than one million people died, most of them through hunger and famine. It also left the Igbo people feeling further marginalized. “They have always thought they are not involved in politics, their voices are not heard, opportunities never come their way and they don’t have access to jobs,” Johnson said.

These are  similar sentiments which are being heard locally in the English speaking regions of Cameroon. “But the international community is unable, unwilling and does not have the appetite to take strong measures which could put pressure on President [Muhammadu] Buhari of Nigeria and President Biya of Cameroon, therein lies the problem.” The EU, US and rights group Amnesty International have all spoken out against the violence in Cameroon.

The AU’s intervention options

For Johnson, there are a couple of options at the AU’s disposal. “Sanctions could be one, revoking of membership could be another.” He said, however, that revoking membership is symbolic as it doesn’t really affect the country. “But psychologically it has an impact.” Sanctions on the other hand are different; they could mean travel bans, restrictions on access to services in the international arena. Alternatively, they could be calls for a special rapporteur for the UN and the African Union.

Pro and anti-government protests in Cameroon have been steadily growing

That type of special envoy could be sent, not necessarily to mediate, but to find out what’s acceptable or unacceptable on the ground; more so for those who are calling for separatism, to find out how those flames could be doused. “Such reports can be tabled at the UN Security Council and further action collectively across the UN and its African Union affiliate would be able to make stronger decisions.”

Source: Deutsche Welle

Thousands of protesters have turned out in the West African state of Togo for the second day running, in a campaign aimed at forcing out President Faure Gnassingbe.

On Thursday,demonstrators converged from three points in the capital Lome for what was billed as a “march of anger” against a family which has ruled Togo for 50 years, culminating in a rally on the seafront.

“Demonstrators have used rocks to block the road from Gakpoto to St. Joseph’s school, and others are preventing cars from going through,” Amnesty International’s director for Togo, Aime Adi, said.

In Atikoume district, angry youths refused to follow the march itinerary set down by the 14-party opposition coalition, and said they would block streets, an AFP journalist saw.

However, in some neighborhoods on the march route, tension that was noticeable on Wednesday seemed to have eased somewhat.

Marchers said they would maintain pressure on the Gnassingbe government.

“I am not tired and I will never be tired so long as the struggle is not over. Even if we have to march every day, I will be there,” said a protester.

In the north of the country — a region previously seen as reliably pro-government — several other rallies, also drawing thousands of people, took place in the northern cities of Sokode, Bafilo and Dapaong, local residents told AFP.

However, there were no protests in the far northern town of Mango, where a young man was killed in a demonstration on September 20, which was followed by a crackdown by the authorities.

The protests are the seventh in a wave of agitation that began in August. At least four people have been killed and dozens injured.

The government is proposing an overhaul of the constitution under which presidential terms would be limited to two five-year spells in office.

Gnassingbe, in power since the death of his father in 2005, was re-elected in 2010 and again in 2015, in votes that the opposition denounced as unfair.

If the two-term limit applies from the next elections, scheduled in 2020, he could theoretically remain in office until 2030.

As a result, the opposition wants the two-term restriction to be applied retroactively by restoring the 1992 constitution, in order to force Gnassingbe from office.

The president’s father, General Gnassingbe Eyadema, ruled the country with an iron fist from 1967 until his death in 2005.

According to a source close to the presidency, the proposed change to the constitution will be put to a referendum “by the end of the year.”

(Source: AFP)