Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi on Sunday authorized U.S. special forces to help the Congolese army fight the Allied Democratic Forces, an armed group linked to the Islamic State.The ADF, which the United States has deemed a terrorist group, is considered the deadliest of scores of armed militias that roam the mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).The Catholic Church in the country says the ADF has killed about 6,000 civilians since 2013, while a respected U.S.-based monitor, the Kivu Security Tracker (KST), blames it for more than 1,200 deaths in the Beni area alone since 2017.”President Felix Tshisekedi authorized the deployment of American anti-terrorism experts in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo,” said a statement from the presidency.The U.S. forces will boost the Congolese army’s fight against ADF in the national parks of Virunga and Garamba, it added.The mission will last several weeks and is specifically directed against the ADF.U.S. Ambassador Mike Hammer, who presented the team to Tshisekedi, said that their presence was part of a partnership agreed between the two countries in 2019, according to the presidency’s statement.In March, the U.S. State Department said the ADF is notorious across the region for its “brutal violence against Congolese citizens and regional military forces.” The U.S. has sanctioned alleged leader Seka Musa Baluku and said IS has acknowledged the ADF as an affiliate since 2019. Congolese authorities’ crackdown against ADF has included a “state of siege” in which members of the security forces have replaced top officials in North Kivu and neighboring Ituri province.
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Month: August 2021
Biden Administration Defends Afghanistan Withdrawal
As the United States continues to pull its embassy staff from Kabul, Afghanistan, the Biden administration is defending its withdrawal from the war-torn country while critics say the U.S. departure may create a humanitarian crisis and a haven for extremists. Michelle Quinn reports.Video editor: Mary Cieslak
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Westerners Rush to Leave Kabul, Rescue Afghans
The chop of U.S. military helicopters whisking American diplomats to Kabul’s airport on Sunday punctuated a frantic rush by thousands of other foreigners and Afghans to flee to safety as well, as a stunningly swift Taliban takeover reached Afghanistan’s capital.U.S. reports of gunfire at the airport threatened to shut down one of the last avenues of escape in an ever-more chaotic and compressed evacuation.NATO allies that had pulled out their forces ahead of the Biden administration’s intended August 31 withdrawal deadline were rushing troops back in this weekend to airlift their citizens, while the Pentagon was sending in fresh reinforcements. Some complained the U.S. was failing to move fast enough to bring to safety the Afghans who fear retribution from the Taliban for past work with the Americans and other NATO forces.”This is murder by incompetence,” said U.S. Air Force veteran Sam Lerman, struggling Sunday from his home in Woodbridge, Virginia, to find a way out for an Afghan contractor who had guarded Americans and other NATO forces at Afghanistan’s Bagram Airfield for a decade. Massouma Tajik, a 22-year-old data analyst, was among hundreds of Afghans waiting anxiously in the Kabul airport to board an evacuation flight. “I see people crying, they are not sure whether their flight will happen or not. Neither am I,” she said by phone, with panic in her voice. Educated Afghan women have some of the most to lose under the fundamentalist Taliban, whose past government, overthrown by the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, sought to largely confine women to the home. Taliban forces moved early Sunday into the capital and declared they were awaiting a peaceful surrender, capping a stunning sweep of Afghanistan in the past week. That arrival of the first waves of Taliban insurgents into Kabul prompted the U.S. to evacuate the embassy in full, apparently leaving only a core of U.S. diplomats at the airport for the time being. Even as CH-47 helicopters shuttled American diplomats to the airport — and facing criticism at home over the administration’s handling of the withdrawal — Secretary of State Antony Blinken rejected comparisons to the 1975 fall of Saigon.”This is being done in a very deliberate way, it’s being done in an orderly way,” Blinken said on ABC’s “This Week.”John Kirby, the chief Pentagon spokesman, said the evacuation was following plans developed and rehearsed months ago.”One of the reasons we have been able to respond as quickly as we have these past few days is because we were ready for this contingency,” Kirby said.To many, however, the evacuations, and last-ditch rescue attempts by Americans and other foreigners trying to save Afghan allies, appeared far from orderly.An Italian journalist, Francesca Mannocchi, posted a video of an Italian helicopter carrying her to the airport, an armed soldier standing guard at a window. Mannocchi described watching columns of smoke rising from Kabul as she flew. Some were from fires that workers at the U.S. Embassy and others were using to keep sensitive material from falling in Taliban hands.She said Afghans stoned an Italian convoy. She captioned her brief video: “Kabul airport. Evacuation. Game Over.”Hundreds or more Afghans crowded in a part of the airport away from many of the evacuating Westerners. Some of them, including a man with a broken leg sitting on the ground, lined up for what was expected to be a last flight out by the country’s Ariana Airlines.U.S. officials reported gunfire near the airport Sunday evening and urged civilians to stop coming. U.S. military officials later announced closing the airport to commercial flights, shutting one of the last avenues of escape for ordinary Afghans.U.S. C-17 transport planes were due to bring thousands of fresh American troops to the airport, then fly out again with evacuating U.S. Embassy staffers. The Pentagon was now sending an additional 1,000 troops, bringing the total number to about 6,000, a U.S. defense official said Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a deployment decision not yet announced by the Pentagon.The Pentagon intends to have enough aircraft to fly out as many as 5,000 civilians a day, both Americans and the Afghan translators and others who worked with the U.S. during the war.But tens of thousands of Afghans who have worked with U.S. and other NATO forces are seeking to flee with family members. And it was by no means clear how long Kabul’s deteriorating security would allow any evacuations to continue. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, whose government had been one of many expressing surprise at the speed of the U.S. withdrawal, told reporters in Berlin on Sunday that it was “difficult to endure” watching how quickly the Taliban took control of Afghanistan and how little government troops were able to do to stop them. At a North Carolina-based adoption agency, Mary Beth Lee King sought a way to extricate two Afghan boys, ages 11 and 2, due for adoption by families in America.”I am terrified and heartbroken. I can only imagine what they themselves are feeling,” King said of the children’s adoptive parents and Afghan families.”Even if the U.S. won’t admit them to the U.S., get them somewhere, so that … we know that they are alive and safe,” she said of the two Afghan children.In Virginia, Lerman, the Air Force veteran, stayed up overnight Saturday to Sunday to finish an application for a special U.S. visa program meant to rescue Afghans who had worked with Americans.When Lerman hit “send,” he got a message saying the State Department email box for the rescue program was full, he said, sharing screenshots.The Afghan security contractor he was working to get out was sitting frightened inside his home with the blinds drawn and Taliban fighters outside, he said.The State Department said late Sunday afternoon it believed it had fixed the problem.”Never in my life have I been ashamed to be an American before,” Lerman said. “And I am, deeply.”
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Zambia’s Opposition Leader Appears Poised to Win Presidency
Veteran Zambian opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema appears on the verge of clinching the southern African country’s presidency, with a commanding lead in votes.The 59-year-old businessman, contesting the presidency for the sixth time, has more than 2.3 million votes to President Edgar Lungu’s 1.4 million votes, according to results announced Sunday by the Electoral Commission of Zambia.Hichilema narrowly lost two previous elections to Lungu in 2015 and 2016. Lungu won by a margin of 100,000 votes in 2016.The winner of the election held Thursday must garner more than 50% of the votes cast to avoid a second round of voting, and Hichilema appears close to the 2.5 million estimated to be more than half of those who voted. The electoral commission has announced results for more than 100 of the country’s 156 constituencies.”With victory in sight, I would like to ask for calm from our members and supporters. Let us be the change we voted for,” tweeted Hichilema, whose United Party for National Development is in an alliance with more than 10 smaller parties. Celebrations by his supporters spread across the capital, Lusaka, and other parts of Africa’s second-largest producer of copper, ignoring calls by the Electoral Commission for people to wait peacefully for the final official results. Some of the 16 candidates who ran for president have conceded and congratulated Hichilema. But President Edgar Lungu has signaled that he may not accept defeat. Lungu asserted that the elections had not been free and fair in three provinces seen as opposition strongholds, citing violence and the killings of a few of his supporters, allegedly by the opposition. Lungu claimed that ruling party polling agents had been brutalized and chased away from voting stations, leaving his party’s votes “unprotected.” Lungu said Saturday that although he notified the electoral commission of his concerns, “they have continued announcing the results.” His Patriotic Front party is “consulting on the next decision we have to make,” he said in a statement released by his office. Lungu’s statement indicates that he may challenge the validity of the election in order to stay in power, analysts said. The overwhelming turnout of voters, particularly of youthful Zambians, was a strong indication that Hichilema was going to do well, according to analyst Nic Cheeseman, professor of politics at the University of Birmingham, who is in Zambia to watch the crucial election. Youthful voters make up a majority of registered voters. The electoral commission noted that the large turnout was unprecedented. For some of Lungu’s supporters, this is more than just a defeat at the ballot box. In a country where a large number of youths are unemployed, many of Lungu’s supporters, from the wealthy to the poorest, have relied on patronage and fear losing access to jobs. Hichilema’s UPND officials say it is a practice they plan to eradicate, noting the money going into the pockets of the politically well-connected should instead be channeled to government institutions. Hichilema’s supporters seem to have other ideas though. As results came in thick and fast Sunday following the tense, hard and sometimes violently fought election, his backers say they are preparing to take over these small-scale operations.
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Hong Kong’s Largest Protest Group Disbands
One of Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy organizations has announced it will close immediately. The Civil Human Rights Front, or CHRF, has been responsible for some of the largest street demonstrations in the city’s history, especially during the 2019 anti-government protests. Since Beijing enacted a National Security Law for Hong Kong in June of last year, the government has repeatedly rejected applications from the CHRF to hold any rallies, citing the coronavirus pandemic. Rumors of the group disbanding had been reported in local media for days, but on Sunday it was confirmed. A post on the group’s page read that member groups have been “suppressed” and civil society has faced “serious challenges.” 香港人加油，人在希望在﹗
民間人權陣線（下稱民陣）自2002年起，一直擔任公民社會團體的溝通平台，旨在推動香港的人權民主自由，以合法、和平、理性及非暴力的原則籌辦大型遊行集會，讓廣大市民發聲。
…Posted by 民間人權陣線 Civil Human Rights Front on Saturday, August 14, 2021The group added the decision to dissolve was “unanimous,” while thanking its supporters. “The record of the marching of one million people and two million people, let the aspirations go through the whole city, let the world see Hong Kong, let the lights shine on the darkness, and let democracy and freedom plant in the hearts of people,” part of the announcement read. The National Security Law has acted as a catalyst for a political crackdown in the city, with dozens of political figures arrested and jailed. The regulation — enacted to bring stability to the city following the 2019 demonstrations — has been widely criticized as a threat to Hong Kong’s once-vibrant free press. Under the law, subversion and foreign collusion are prohibited. Previous CHRF convener Jimmy Sham is one of 47 political figures charged in February with conspiracy to commit subversion under the law. And in May, the front’s current convener, Figo Chan, was jailed for 18 months after pleading guilty to unauthorized assembly two years ago. The front admitted that no members were willing to step up to form a new secretariat after Chan was sent to jail. Founded in 2002, the CHRF was an umbrella group affiliated with the majority of pro-democracy political groups in the city. Loud and proud, the group was a vital cog during the widespread pro-democracy rallies two years ago and was responsible for Hong Kong’s largest street protest ever. The organizers claimed nearly two million people – a quarter of Hong Kong’s population – opposed a now-withdrawn extradition bill on June 16, 2019. The city’s authorities claimed the turnout was a lot lower. The extradition measure called for some criminal suspects to be sent to mainland China for trial. Richard Tsoi, former secretary of civil society group the Hong Kong Alliance, told VOA the CHRF’s disbanding is a big blow to the pro-democracy movement. “From 2002 until now, the Civil Human Rights Front acted as the umbrella organization for the civil society to organize Hong Kong people through collective actions to protect human rights and fight to democracy. Without this civil society forum, it would be hard for large-scale collective actions fighting for democracy in the near future. It will definitely have [a] negative impact to Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement.” The announcement comes after a Hong Kong police chief said the group may have previously violated the National Security Law, according to a report by the South China Morning Post. Chow Hang-Tung is the vice president of the Hong Kong Alliance, a group which organizes an annual vigil to mark the anniversary of the 1989 crackdown on protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. Chow told VOA in June that she believes the government is going after pro-democracy civil society groups. “Apart from media, I think they want to target civil society organizations, NGO’s and all these political parties and groups. And it looks like ours. A lot of people saying the Civil Human Rights Front or us [Hong Kong Alliance] are the authorities’ next target.” When asked for comment, a spokesman for Hong Kong’s Security Bureau responded to VOA via email. “Any law enforcement actions taken by Hong Kong law enforcement agencies are based on evidence, strictly according to the law, for the acts of the persons or entities concerned, and have nothing to do with their political stance, background or occupation. It would be contrary to the rule of law to suggest that people or entities of certain sectors or professions could be above the law.” Political analyst Joseph Cheng, formerly of Hong Kong but who is now in New Zealand, told VOA via email the closure of the CHRF is “a severe blow…” “The closing is expected. Most of the leaders are detained or imprisoned. The majority of the constituent groups have left. There is no action program and no strategy ahead.” “It means that the Chinese authorities are not ready to tolerate any large-scale protest activities, so there’s no freedom of assembly. Any organizer will be arrested and prosecuted,” he said. Cheng praised the front, saying it was “respected and trusted” and that it served as a “broad spectrum” for all levels of political and social causes. The front’s announcement following the recent disbanding of Hong Kong’s largest teachers’ union. The union did so last week after the government cut ties with it, accusing the group of spreading anti-Beijing and anti-government sentiment. The Professional Teachers’ Union (PTU), a member of the CHRF, was founded in 1973 and was the city’s largest single-industry trade union. Up until its closure, it had 95,000 members. Largest Hong Kong Teachers’ Union Disbands Amid Crackdown The Professional Teachers’ Union is the city’s largest single-industry trade union, with 95,000 membersThe split came hours after Chinese state media called the union a “malignant tumor” and called out other pro-democracy groups in the city. Ronson Chan, chairperson of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) told VOA that the pressure on Hong Kong’s civil groups is mounting. “I think that the pressure from the north is very obvious and very strong. It seems that no civil community will exist,” he said.The HKJA was founded in 1968 and was another member with ties to the CHRF. Chan said the association remains defiant despite it reportedly being a target of authorities. “We have done nothing special or nothing different after the National Security Law has passed. We are trying to stand as (long) as possible as we can. But if you say, can you guarantee to be safe, I’m sorry; I cannot make this promise,” he added.
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Cameroon Creates, Trains Militias Against New Terrorism Ideology
Cameroon’s President Paul Biya has sent his top military officials and a governor to reactivate old militias and create new ones to combat terrorism on the central African state’s northern border with Nigeria. The militias are, for the first time, to tell people about what the government says is a new strategy by the Islamic State in West Africa Province, or ISWAP, to attract supporters away from rival Boko Haram through gifts of food and money, and attacking only military positions, unlike Boko Haram, which attacked schools and other civilian targets.About 30 people, most of them youths, sing in Mora that Boko Haram is a capricious terrorist group. The singers call for caution in all villages on Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria, where, they say, jihadist groups have relaunched activity.Abdoul Oumar is coordinator of nine militia groups fighting Boko Haram terrorism in Mora, a town on the border with Nigeria’s Borno state. Nigeria says Borno is an epicenter of the jihadist group.Oumar saif the number of jihadists infiltrating villages in Mora within the past three months is increasing.Oumar said militias that were discouraged by the lack of flashlights, motorcycles, telephones, bows and arrows, and guns to fight terrorists will now be able to resume work. He said besides moving through the bush and hills to inform the military of suspicious activities, militias are now expected to teach people not to accept gifts from unknown visitors.Oumar spoke Saturday, after receiving food, flashlights, motorcycles and an undisclosed amount of money from Cameroon’s President Paul Biya. He said the militias expect more food and financial assistance from the state.Midjiyawa Bakari, governor of the Far North region, on the Nigerian border, led a delegation that included senior military officials to Mora. Bakari said Biya wants militias to be reactivated to stop terrorist incursions.Bakari said since May, when Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau was declared killed, the Islamic State in West Africa Province, or ISWAP, has been very active along the Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad border. Bakari said Cameroon’s militias should denounce jihadist groups and educate people to reject their teachings. He said if militias collaborate with government troops and state officials, the jihadists’ new modus operandi will be short-lived.Bakari promised more government support but did not say when the support would be given. He promised to visit all border towns to reactivate militias. In January, Cameroon’s military said many militias complained of lack of government support and stopped helping government troops. Bakari said militias thought Boko Haram had been defeated.Joseph Beti Assomo is Cameroon’s minister of defense.He said the war Cameroon launched against Boko Haram in 2014 is now taking a new dimension with jihadists disguising themselves as charity groups. He said he is inviting all civilians along Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria to denounce strangers preaching peace and reconciliation. He said jihadists in general are infiltrating into villages pretending to be peacemakers and recruiting followers.Assomo said it is not known how many jihadist groups are operating along the border. He said the jihadists have reduced attacks on civilians and only target military installations and government officials. He said there may be other new jihadist groups created after the death of Shekaou, but did not name any of the jihadist besides ISWAP.The Cameroon military says that since May, more than nine jihadist attacks have been reported on its troops’ positions. At least 25 troops and 13 civilians have been killed since May.Boko Haram terrorists have been fighting to establish an Islamic caliphate in Nigeria’s northeast. The fighting extended to Cameroon, Niger and Chad in 2013.30,000 people have been killed and 1.8 million displaced according to the United Nations.Assomo said civilians should report all strangers in their towns and villages to the military.
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Thai Riot Police, Anti-Government Protesters Clash in Bangkok
Thai riot police fired tear gas and sprayed water cannons Sunday as more than 100 anti-government protesters marched on an army base in the capital Bangkok where Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has his residence.The group of mainly young demonstrators pelted the police lines that blocked their way, hurling rocks, fireworks and small explosives known as “ping-pong bombs.”Televised images of a Thai police station showed a traffic control booth in flames.Sunday marked the fourth time in the past seven days that protesters and police have fought in the Din Daeng area of the city.Demonstrators are calling for Prayuth’s resignation over his perceived bungling of the government’s coronavirus vaccination program. Thailand has seen infection rates surge in the past few weeks while vaccination rates remain low.But the protests are also part of a wider push for sweeping political change that includes the resignation of the government, a new constitution and – most contentious of all – fundamental reform of the powerful but opaque monarchy.Elsewhere, Sunday saw thousands of protestors gather in vehicles and on motorbikes for a mobile anti-government rally. They met in three locations to hear speeches before slowly driving around the city. By staying in vehicles they hoped to minimize participants’ potential exposure to COVID-19.One of the main organizers, veteran activist Nattawut Saikua, appealed to those taking part to keep it peaceful, saying violence would alienate many potential supporters.
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Tropical Storm Grace Crossing Caribbean Sea
Tropical Storm Grace is crossing the northeastern Caribbean Sea, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, threatening to bring heavy rainfall to the Lesser and Greater Antilles over the next few days.Tropical storm warnings and watches are in effect as Grace moves with maximum sustained winds of 65 kph.A warning means tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area, while a watch means that tropical storm conditions are possible within the watch area, generally within 48 hours.Tropical storm warnings have been issued for Saba and Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, St. Martin and St. Barthelemy, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, including Vieques and Culebra, and the Dominican Republic from Cabo Caucedo to Samana.Grace has also produced a tropical storm watch for the southern coast of the Dominican Republic from the Haitian border to Cabo Caucedo.Meanwhile, the remnants of Fred are expected to redevelop into a tropical storm over the Gulf of Mexico Sunday, as it moves with maximum winds of 55 kph, the hurricane center said.Fred, however, could produce as much as 20 centimeters of rain to portions of Cuba on Sunday and as much as 7.6 centimeters across the Bahamas. Beginning Sunday night, forecasters predict Fred could bring heavy rainfall across portions of Florida and southern Alabama.
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Tunisia’s Saied Is in Charge, but for How Long?
Two years after vaulting to power as a nerdy, conservative outsider, Tunisia’s president, Kais Saied, tests another paradox: Can he save the Arab Spring’s only democracy through arguably undemocratic means?There is no immediate answer, more than halfway through a 30-day suspension of parliament that Saied ordered last month — and later hinted at extending — after seizing emergency powers amid Tunisia’s many crises.Since then, the 63-year-old president has moved swiftly to crack down on alleged corruption, lifting parliamentary immunity and arresting officials tied to the phosphate industry, but also targeting lawmakers critical of him. He enlisted the army, which so far appears to support him, for a major COVID-19 vaccination drive to fight a galloping pandemic.But Saied has yet to replace the government he ousted in late July or offer a comprehensive plan for emerging from the political and economic turmoil gripping the North African country.Some hoped he might set milestones Friday, which marked an important date for Tunisian women’s rights. But instead of making a keynote speech, he visited female artisans.FILE – Tunisians walk past a military armored personnel carrier at Avenue Habib Bourguiba in Tunis, July 30, 2021. Political turmoil in Tunisia has left its allies in the Middle East and West watching to see if the fragile democracy will survive.As many Tunisians and some hardline Arab governments root him on, rivals decry a coup. Rights groups and pundits worry about shrinking freedoms and a restrained response thus far from Western governments — although a U.S. delegation visiting Tunis on Friday urged Saied to “urgently” appoint a new prime minister and swiftly restore the country’s parliamentary democracy.“The question is: What will Saied do now?” said Brahim Oumansour, a North Africa analyst for the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs, a Paris-based research organization.“Will he really carry through the big reforms he promised Tunisians, and keep these new powers temporarily to deal with the crisis? Or will he keep them long term?”Unlikely candidateA constitutional scholar with no political party backing him and a penchant for long-windedness, Saied seemed an unlikely presidential candidate in 2019, as he bucked Tunisia’s establishment politics.He waged a shoestring campaign on the streets and online.Seemingly stiff and austere, he earned nicknames like RoboCop and Robespierre, after the French revolutionary, yet rocketed to victory, capturing nearly three-quarters of the runoff vote.Saied’s clean image also earned him the backing of young voters fed up with growing corruption — and despite his conservative stances in areas like homosexuality and gender equality in inheritance.But he clashed with the country’s gridlocked parliament and its most powerful member, the moderate Islamist Ennahdha party that has been a major player in post-revolution Tunisia.FILE – Tunisian President Kais Saied waves to bystanders as he strolls along the Avenue Habib Bourguiba in Tunis, Aug. 1, 2021.”His conservative stances could have facilitated dialogue with Ennahdha,” analyst Oumansour said, comparing Saied unfavorably with his experienced predecessor, Beji Caid Essebsi. “It could have helped him reach a consensual outcome to better steer the country, but he chose to feed divisions within parliament to reinforce his powers.”Popular for nowFor now, many ordinary Tunisians see Saied as a savior, not a spoiler. Instead of getting better, life has gotten harder since the euphoric revolutionary days a decade ago, which touched off the wider Arab Spring revolt.The coronavirus pandemic — driving Tunisia’s death rate to the highest in the Middle East and Africa — deepened poverty, unemployment and the country’s fiscal crisis. Many blamed the government’s shambolic pandemic response on bickering parties, starting with Ennahdha. Saied’s power grab followed anti-government demonstrations and attacks on Ennahdha offices.FILE – Tunisia’s President Kais Saied presides at a security meeting with members of the army and police forces in Tunis, July 25, 2021.“Kais Saied has opened the door on the unknown … and a breath of fresh air,” Tunisian writer Emna Belhaj Yahia opined in France’s Le Monde newspaper, describing Tunisians as asphyxiated by their myriad woes. “Only this possibility can explain their joy.”“I think the president has a bit of a grace period when it comes to the streets,” Fadil Aliriza, editor in chief for Tunisian news website Meshkal, said in a recent forum hosted by London policy research group Chatham House.But unless Saied brings other political and social actors on board, Aliriza added, “his political capital may diminish very quickly.”The president already has dismissed Ennahdha’s call for a national dialogue, which helped Tunisia emerge from an earlier crisis, saying at least when it came to the Islamist party, no discussion was possible with “cancerous cells.”Critics say sidelining Ennahdha, representing a still sizable chunk of Tunisian voters, does not bode well for democracy.Tougher response?Rights groups also are alarmed at the closure of news channel Al-Jazeera’s Tunis office a day after Saied’s power move. And while a number of Western governments, including former colonial power France, have called for restoring democracy and the rule of law, analysts urge a sharper response.The United States and European nations need to “take tougher lines, even if behind the scenes,” said the International Crisis Group research organization, to commit Saied to a detailed road map by October for getting democracy back on track.Others suggest conditioning Tunisia’s receipt of International Monetary Fund assistance, now under negotiation, to adhering to democracy markers like rule of law and accountability.Yet Western concerns about maintaining stability and security in the Arab world have traditionally outweighed pro-democracy rhetoric, analyst Oumansour noted.“Western leaders have a key role to play to support Tunisia,” he added. “For the moment, Tunisia is a democracy that’s succeeded, despite its fragility and uncertainty.”Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
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Heavy Rains Lead to Flooding in Turkey, Russia
Flooding caused by heavy rains in regions around the Black Sea have left dozens of people dead in Turkey and forced the evacuation of hundreds in southern Russia.The Turkish provinces of Bartin, Kastamonu and Sinop along the Black Sea suffered torrential rains midweek that led to flooding.Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD) said the flooding destroyed dozens of homes and several roads and bridges and cut off electricity to hundreds of villages.The death toll from flooding in Turkey rose to at least 57 people, AFAD said Saturday. At least eight people were hospitalized, agency officials said.Speaking late Saturday in Kastamonu, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said 15 of the dead had not been identified yet.Across the Black Sea, heavy rains also triggered widespread flooding in southern Russia, forcing the evacuation of more than 1,500 people in the Krasnodar region, including nearly 1,000 children from summer camps, officials there said Saturday.More than 1,400 houses had been flooded following storms and heavy rains that swept the area this week. About 108,000 residents of 11 settlements were left without power, the regional Russian emergency headquarters reported.The Black Sea resort city of Anapa was among the worst affected, officials said. Heavy rain in the region was expected for another two days.Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty contributed to this report. Some material also came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
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Ivory Coast Detects First Ebola Case in 25 Years
Ivory Coast has confirmed its first case of the Ebola hemorrhagic virus in 25 years, the health minister and the World Health Organization (WHO) said separately on Saturday.Health Minister Pierre Dimba said on national television that it was an isolated case of an 18-year-old woman who traveled from neighboring Guinea.The World Health Organization said in a statement that Ivory Coast confirmed the country’s first case of Ebola since 1994.”This came after the Institut Pasteur in Ivory Coast confirmed the Ebola virus disease in samples collected from a patient, who was hospitalized in the commercial capital of Abidjan, after arriving from Guinea,” the WHO said in the statement.The WHO said initial investigations found the patient had traveled to Ivory Coast by road and arrived in Abidjan on Aug. 12.”The patient was admitted to a hospital after experiencing a fever and is currently receiving treatment,” it said.Guinea — site of the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak, the deadliest on record — experienced a four-month Ebola outbreak earlier this year that was declared over on June 19.Guinea early this week confirmed a first case of Marburg virus in West Africa. Marburg virus disease is a highly infectious hemorrhagic fever similar to Ebola.Transmission of both deadly diseases occurs through contact with infected bodily fluids and tissue. Symptoms include headache, vomiting blood, muscle pains and bleeding.The WHO said there was no indication the current case in Ivory Coast is linked to the outbreak in Guinea earlier this year. It said further investigation and genomic sequencing will identify the strain and determine if there is a connection.”It is of immense concern that this outbreak has been declared in Abidjan, a metropolis of more than 4 million people,” Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, said in the statement.”However, much of the world’s expertise in tackling Ebola is here on the continent, and Ivory Coast can tap into this experience and bring the response to full speed,” she said.
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Botswana Tightens COVID-19 Restrictions Amid Rising Death Toll
Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi, whose country has one of the world’s highest COVID-19 infection rates per capita, has announced new COVID-19 restrictions, including extension of a nighttime curfew and postponement of the reopening of schools.In a televised address, Masisi said the country was seeing an exponential increase in COVID-19 cases.”The disease burden is weighing heavily on us, with infections continuing to increase across the country, and precious lives being lost on a daily basis here at home and across the continent,” Masisi said. “Our nation has attained the highest prevalence ever.”By Friday, 1,973 people had died of COVID-19, with the death toll rising from about 300 in February.FILE – Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi takes part in a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 21, 2020.Masisi announced restrictions Friday meant to blunt the spread of the virus, including a ban on public gatherings.”Interzonal movement continues to be restricted to essential travel only,” he said. “Reopening of schools [will] be delayed for a further three weeks, except for those students preparing for their final examinations. The ban on sale of alcohol remains. Curfew will now start earlier at 8 p.m. and end at 4 a.m. for the next three weeks, after which there will be a review.”Masisi said the country would accelerate its vaccination program in the next three weeks. About 5 percent of the population, or 146,299 people, are fully vaccinated.Vaccine slow to arriveThe president blamed the slow delivery of vaccine for the frustrating pace of inoculation.”Of course, it saddens me that many have not received a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and they are obviously exasperated,” he said. “It may look like government is not trying hard, but I can assure you the opposite is true.”Education unions welcomed the government’s decision to postpone the reopening of schools.The unions had urged their members not to return to class until they were vaccinated.Tabokani Rari, secretary-general of the Botswana Federation of Public Sector Unions, said the government should use the three-week break to vaccinate teachers.Rari called it “a progressive step” that the president, because of union pressure, had postponed the reopening of schools. “We have not heard anything from the president as to whether during the three weeks that schools will be closed, there will be any plan where teachers will be vaccinated in a fast-tracked manner.”This week, Botswana took its first delivery from Johnson & Johnson, with 108,000 COVID vaccine doses arriving. The country also received 38,400 doses of Astra Zeneca vaccine on August 8.
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Second Nigerian ‘Chibok Girl’ Freed in a Week, Seven Years After Abduction
A second young woman abducted seven years ago from the town of Chibok by Boko Haram militants was freed this week, Borno state’s governor said Saturday.The abduction of about 270 teenagers in the northeastern town in 2014 sparked an international outcry and a viral campaign on social media with the hashtag #bringbackourgirls.The army handed over Hassana Adamu, along with her two children, to Governor Babagana Zulum on Saturday, one week after his office announced that another of the victims had been freed and reunited with her parents.Adamu, like the other recently freed “Chibok girl,” as the victims became known, “presented herself to the Nigerian army,” the governor’s office said.Photos shared by his office showed a shell-shocked-looking young woman, in a pink striped hijab, speaking to the governor with her two small children, flanked by military officers.Eighty-two of the victims were freed in 2017 after mediation, adding to 24 who were released or found. A few others have escaped or been rescued, but just more than 110 remain missing.Earlier this week, the army said that more than 1,000 Boko Haram members and their families had recently surrendered because of “the intense pressure from troops’ sustained offensive actions.”Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau died in May following a battle with rival Islamist group Islamic State West Africa Province.ISWAP, the regional affiliate of Islamic State, has since sought to absorb Shekau’s fighters and unify the groups, which during Shekau’s tenure fought one another for control of territory in northeast Nigeria and around Lake Chad.
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Tropical Storm Grace Strengthens as Fred Weakens in Caribbean
Tropical Storm Grace strengthened slightly early Saturday but is expected to weaken in the Leeward Islands later in the day as Fred weakened from a tropical depression to a tropical wave before it is expected to re-develop Sunday over the Gulf of Mexico.The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said that Grace was about 425 kilometers east-southeast of the Leeward Islands as it traveled west at 37 kilometers per hour, while Fred was located about 80 kilometers west of Havana as it moved west-northwest at 19 kilometers per hour.With an eye on Grace, the Dominican Republic issued a tropical storm watch “for the south coast of the Dominican Republic from Punta Caucedo eastward to Cabo Engano, and for the north coast from Cabo Frances Viejo eastward to Cabo Engano,” the NHC said.The NHC also said the tropical storm warning for the U.S. Florida Keys has been discontinued due to the weakening of Fred.
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Cameroon Says Fight Over Water Leaves Many Dead or Wounded
Cameroonian officials say hundreds of people have fled its northern border with Chad after an ongoing conflict over water between cattle ranchers and fishermen killed 18 people and wounded 70. The wounded have been rushed to hospitals in Kousseri, a Cameroon border town and the neighboring Chadian capital, Ndjamena.Mouhamadou Evele, a 54-year-old fisherman, says he is a victim of clashes between cattle ranchers and fishermen in Cameroon’s Logone and Chari division on the northern border with Chad. Evele spoke through the messaging platform WhatsApp from the Kousseri government hospital where he says he has been receiving treatment from machete wounds for five days.He says three men armed with bows and arrows and machetes attacked him while he was fishing in a river near Kousseri, a northern town on the border with Chad. He says he does not know the whereabouts of his three children, who were abducted from the fishing ground and taken away on a motorcycle by the attackers. Evele said but for a deep wound on his right shoulder, he would have left the hospital to look for his three children. He said he was rushed to the hospital on another motorcycle by two people he did not identify but described as well-wishers.Cameroon says Evele is one of 70 victims of bloody clashes between cattle ranchers and fishermen in Logone and Chari. The government says the clashes started in July with cattle ranchers attacking and beating up fishermen with sticks. Within the past week, though, the situation has degenerated into an armed conflict between fishermen and cattle ranchers.Saturday, Cameroonian President Paul Biya sent a delegation led by Midjiyawa Bakari, governor of Cameroon’s Far North region, to Kousseri. Bakari says the ranchers are angry because their cows, sheep and donkeys are falling into holes dug by fishermen to conserve water and lure their catch.Bakari says 12 bodies were discovered in the conflict zone. More than 40 houses have been torched, dozens of cows killed, and food destroyed in farms and homes. “We have been instructed by the hierarchy [Biya] to go in the field, to talk about peace,” Bakari said. “To sensitize [educate] Mousgoum fishermen and Arab Choua cattle breeders [ranchers] to lay down their weapons, to revitalize vigilant committees [militias].”Frequent conflicts occur between the Mousgoum fishermen and Arab Choua cattle ranchers over water from the Logone river separating Cameroon from Chad.The Logone and Chari Division is part of the Lake Chad Basin. Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, the Central African Republic, Niger and Benin, member countries of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, say the lake’s water resources have diminished by 70% within the past 50 years. Cameroon says the advancing desert has pushed farmers, fishermen and cattle ranchers to settle along the Logone river for survival.
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UN Agency Calls for Protection from Sexual Attacks in D.R.C.
UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, is calling on Congolese authorities to increase security and protect women and girls from widespread, systematic sexual attacks by rival armed groups in Democratic Republic of Congo’s Tanganyika province. Horrific attacks against women and girls are taking place in the so-called “triangle of death.” This is an area bordering several localities between Tanganyika, Maniema, and South Kivu provinces. Over the past two weeks, humanitarian agencies have recorded 243 incidents of rape, including rape of 48 children. The U.N. Refugee Agency says these figures are shocking and extremely high, but do not reflect the true extent and gravity of these crimes.UNHCR spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo says the actual figures are thought to be significantly higher. She says many cases of sexual abuse are not reported. This is because gender-based violence remains largely taboo and women who are sexually abused can face stigma and exclusion from their families.”The attacks are reportedly being carried out by rival armed groups competing to maintain control over mining areas—especially gold mines—and as retaliation against government-led military operations,” said Mantoo. “Civilians find themselves trapped in the middle of intense confrontations between different groups.” Violence and insecurity in this region have uprooted nearly 310,000 people. Local authorities report more than 23,000 have been displaced since May in northern Tanganyika’s Kongolo territory alone. They say most have fled insecurity multiple times in the past three months.Mantoo says an average of 17 sexual attacks are reported every day. She says rape victims suffer huge physical and psychological trauma but have difficulty receiving needed medical and psychological care. “Our staff have heard horrific testimonies of extreme violence,” said Mantoo. “Forcibly displaced people have accused armed groups of carrying out mass rape as women attempt to flee their homes. Some women and girls have been abducted and used as sex slaves by armed group members. Ransoms have been demanded from families in exchange for their freedom.” The UNHCR is urging the Congolese government to do more to protect civilians, especially women and girls, and to ensure humanitarian access to the displaced. It also is calling for investigations into these atrocities and for the perpetrators to be brought to justice. The UNHCR Is appealing for greater international support, saying it has received only 36% of the $205 million required for its D.R.C. operation.
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Flooding in Turkey Kills at Least 44 People
The death toll from flooding in Turkey has climbed to at least 44 people, the country’s disaster agency said Saturday.Torrential rains Wednesday triggered flooding in the northern Black Sea region, destroying homes, closing roads, and cutting off electricity to hundreds of villages, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD).Fires Rage in Turkey as Anger Grows over Grounded Firefighting AircraftSome blame government political score-settling for stalling firefighting efforts parts of country burn Authorities said more than 2,200 people had been evacuated and that the search continued for missing residents.The floods are the second natural disaster to strike Turkey this month. Over the past two weeks, emergency crews battled wildfires in southern coastal regions that had been bought under control by the time the flooding began.Scientists blame climate change sparked by the burning of fossil fuels for extreme weather disasters that are expected to occur more frequently as the planet warms.Experts in Turkey maintain, though, that meddling with rivers and faulty construction also has contributed to the heavy damage caused by the floods.The Associated Press and Reuters provided some information for this report.
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Tropical Storm Grace, Tropical Depression Fred Menace Coastal Atlantic and Caribbean
The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Saturday that Tropical Storm Grace has joined Tropical Depression Fred over the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.
The NHC said Grace is moving westward and has sustained 65-kilometer-per-hour winds and is expected to reach the Lesser Antilles by Saturday night. Grace is a small tropical storm, according to NHC, with tropical-storm-force winds extending outward up to 35 kilometers from the center.
Tropical storm warnings are in effect for Antigua, Barbuda, Anguilla, St. Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, St. Martin and St. Barthelemy, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, including Vieques and Culebra.
Weather forecasters said, “disorganized Fred” is moving west-northwest into the Gulf of Mexico and produced heavy rain across Cuba and the Florida Keys, with winds of 55 kilometers per hour.
A tropical storm warning is in effect because of Fred for the Florida Keys west of the Seven Mile Bridge to the Dry Tortugas.
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Zambian Opposition Leader Hichilema Takes Early Lead in Presidential Vote
Zambian opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema took an early lead in the country’s presidential election over long-time rival and incumbent Edgar Lungu, according to first results issued by the electoral commission on Saturday.Lungu, 64 and in power since 2015, faces a potentially tight contest against Hichilema – known as “HH” – a businessman who has criticized the president’s management of an economy in turmoil.Investors are closely watching the outcome of Thursday’s election: the southern African country is highly indebted and suffered the continent’s first pandemic-era sovereign default in November.International Monetary Fund (IMF) support, already broadly agreed, is on hold until after the vote. So too is debt restructuring seen as an early test of a new global plan to ease the burden on poor countries.Results from 15 of the country’s 156 constituencies gave Hichilema 171,604 votes versus the 110,178 garnered by Lungu, who is running for a second five-year term.Those 15 constituencies include perceived Lungu strongholds, suggesting that Hichilema has gained ground since the last elections in 2016, when he lost by a slim margin in elections marred by allegations of rigging.The first results had initially been expected on Friday. They were delayed after counting went on overnight due to heavy voter turnout and because political parties objected to the electoral commission’s initial figures in one constituency, which differed with those from monitors on the ground.An estimated 7 million people registered to vote in the presidential and parliamentary elections in the country, Africa’s second biggest copper producer.SOCIAL MEDIA RESTRICTIONSThe Electoral Commission of Zambia allowed the last polling station to remain open until 5 a.m. on Friday to give people who had queued for hours an opportunity to cast their ballots. The election also saw violence in three regions and restrictions on internet access.In Chawama township in Lusaka, Lungu’s parliamentary constituency before he became president, residents said supporters of both Lungu and Hichilema both claimed victory and celebrated throughout the night.Lungu’s ruling Patriotic Front party said its vote tally showed a huge turnout in its strongholds and it was confident of victory.Hichilema is running for the United Party for National Development.Nevers Mumba, another presidential candidate who leads the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy opposition party, said on Friday the vote had been “a huge referendum against the Patriotic Front and their inability to lead the nation.” Mumba conceded defeat.Following a complaint lodged by local human rights’ organization, Chapter One Foundation, a high court on Friday overturned a decision by the government regulator to block social media platforms including Whatsapp, Facebook and Instagram.According to the court ruling seen by Reuters the Zambia Information Communication Technology Authority ordered the block on Thursday, the day of the election.Lungu has already cast doubt on the outcome of the election in three provinces after accusing the opposition of stirring violence on Thursday that killed an official from the ruling party.He directed the army to send reinforcements to the provinces on Thursday. However, European and African observers said the vote had been largely peaceful.
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Australia’s NSW Announces Snap Lockdown
The Australian state of New South Wales announced a snap lockdown Saturday due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the seven-day, statewide lockdown to begin Saturday evening. Schools will close for at least a week.“This is literally a war,” Gladys Berejiklian, the state’s premier, said. “The delta strain is diabolical.”Saturday was the state’s worst day of the pandemic, with 466 new cases and four deaths.Berejiklian said New South Wales is facing a “dire” situation.Earlier Saturday, Dr. Danielle McMullen, the Australian Medical Association’s New South Wales president, said in a statement, “We need to treat this virus like it’s everywhere, all the time. … Doctors from across NSW are exhausted and concerned for their community. Our already fragile rural and regional health system will be unable to cope with increases in cases.”United StatesAn advisory panel for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted unanimously Friday in favor of recommending a third coronavirus vaccine dose to 2.7 million people with weakened immune systems. The decision comes after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday authorized a third shot of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for extremely immunocompromised individuals, who represent less than 3% of the overall population. The FDA’s acting commissioner, Dr. Janet Woodcock, said in a statement late Thursday, “The FDA is especially cognizant that immunocompromised people are particularly at risk for severe disease.” “Other individuals who are fully vaccinated are adequately protected,” Woodcock said, “and do not need an additional dose of COVID-19 vaccine at this time.” The CDC recommended that vulnerable Americans, including cancer patients, HIV patients and others with immunodeficiencies, get the booster shot after multiple studies showed that it could better protect their immune systems from the virus. According to the CDC, 40% to 44% of people who are hospitalized with COVID-19 after being vaccinated are immunocompromised. The governor of Oregon said Friday she is deploying as many as 1,500 National Guard troops to hospitals in the state to help health care workers with the demands placed on them by the COVID-19 pandemic. Governor Kate Brown said the first group of 500 Guard members will be sent out Friday, August 20. Eventually the troops will be sent to 20 hospitals around the state that are experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the delta strain, Brown said. The Oregon Health Authority said the delta variant of the coronavirus currently comprises 96% of all samples tested.Oregon reported Friday that there are 733 people in the state’s hospitals with the virus, with 185 in intensive care.“When our hospitals are full with COVID-19 patients, there may not be room for someone needing care after a car crash, a heart attack, or other emergency situation,” Brown said. “The harsh, and frustrating reality is that the delta variant has changed everything.”RussiaElsewhere in the world, Russia reported Friday a daily record of 815 COVID-19 deaths, the highest toll of the pandemic.Health officials blamed the increase on the more contagious delta variant.Officials also reported 22,277 new coronavirus cases Friday, down from a peak in July.Moscow’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said daily hospitalizations in the city had fallen by half since late June. Moscow reported 2,529 new infections on Friday.CanadaThe Canadian government announced Friday that it would require vaccinations for all passengers traveling between provinces by plane, train or cruise ship.Officials said the government would also require all federal public servants to be vaccinated.Canada said Wednesday that it was developing a digital COVID-19 vaccine passport for its citizens to use for international travel.Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino said the federal government in Ottawa is working with provinces and territories, which are responsible for vaccinating residents, on a common approach in creating the passport, which should be available in the next few months.Mendicino said the vaccine passport is “a key step forward in ensuring Canadians will have the documents they need once it is safe to travel again.”US schoolsOn Friday, the Chicago school system, the third largest in the U.S., become the latest to require all its teachers and other employees to be fully vaccinated.The school system said all workers must submit proof that they are vaccinated by Oct. 15 unless they qualify for a medical or religious exemption.On Thursday, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced a universal indoors mask mandate for kindergarten through Grade 12.Earlier this week, California decided to require teachers and support staff to either be inoculated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing.California Governor Gavin Newsom said the new order applies to both public and private schools across the nation’s most populous state, and it includes teachers’ aides, bus drivers, cafeteria workers and volunteers.Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
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Australia on COVID-19 Alert as Sydney’s Delta Crisis Intensifies
For the first time in Australia, a state government has said visitors from virus-hit parts of the country must be vaccinated to enter. The state of Western Australia has insisted the tough measures, imposed on travelers from New South Wales, are designed to curb the spread of the delta variant as a record number of infections were reported Saturday in Sydney.Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the delta outbreak in neighboring New South Wales is a threat to the entire country.“New South Wales needs to have a clear plan for containment,” Palaszczuk said. “This is of serious concern to the rest of the nation.”On Saturday, a record number of 466 new infections were reported in New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state.The outbreak has prompted the state of Western Australia to impose its toughest-ever internal border controls. Entry to visitors from New South Wales now requires proof of a vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test.“This hasn’t been done before in Australia,” said Western Australia state premier Mark McGowan. “We haven’t actually ever said you have to be vaccinated to travel between the states, you have to be tested if you want to travel between the states. No one has ever done this before, but I think it is entirely fair.”Millions of Australians are in lockdown, including those in the city of Melbourne.Sydney, and surrounding regions, have been under strict stay-at-home orders since June 26. Authorities have said all of New South Wales will be locked down starting Saturday for a week to try to curb the spread of the virus.Sydney residents will need a permit to leave the city. Fines for people caught breaching lockdown orders are increasing from the equivalent of $735 to more than $3,600. Police will launch “Operation Stay at Home” Sunday with the support of 500 soldiers.Brad Hazzard, the New South Wales health minister, is urging people to obey the rules.“Delta is an extremely dangerous weapon, and some people are allowing it to be used as a weapon because of their ignorance, their stupidity,” he said.Australia has recorded 38,000 coronavirus cases and 948 deaths since the start of the pandemic.About a quarter of the population is fully vaccinated.
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1 Dead as Mudslides Hit Japan’s Nagasaki Prefecture
A mudslide triggered by torrential rain in in Nagasaki prefecture in southwestern Japan killed at least one person, while two others are still missing.The mudslide hit two houses with four people in the city of Unzen, where one was presumed dead, another one was rescued, and two others missing, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.Ryuta Kurora, director of Forecast Division of the Japan Meteorological Agency, called on residents to follow government orders and evacuate as soon as possible.Japan has broadened its highest risk alerts to include more than 1 million people, as one area in Nagasaki recorded nearly 50 centimeters of rain in 48 hours as of Saturday morning, considerably more than the average for the month of August.More rain is expected.The agency also issued heavy rain and mudslide warnings in parts of Kyushu island in the south of the country and in Hiroshima in the west, which have experienced record amounts of rain this week.
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1 Dead in New Mexico School Shooting; Student Detained
One student was killed and another was taken into custody Friday after a shooting at a middle school near downtown Albuquerque during the lunch hour, police said.The gunfire at Washington Middle School marked the second shooting in New Mexico’s largest city in less than 24 hours. Albuquerque is on pace to shatter its homicide record this year, having already matched within the first eight months of the year the previous annual high of 80 homicides set in 2019.Albuquerque Public Schools Superintendent Scott Elder said during a news conference with police that it was a terrible day for the district and the whole community.“I want to send out my thoughts and prayers to all of our students, all of our families that are impacted by this horrible event,” he said.Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said she was heartbroken and noted more work needs to be done to address gun violence in the state.Albuquerque police Deputy Commander Kyle Hartsock described the shooting as an isolated incident between the two students, who were believed to be about 13 years old. He said a school resource officer ran toward the two boys after gunfire erupted and prevented any other violence.Hartsock said investigators were trying to determine how the student obtained the gun and what may have prompted the shooting. He said other students will be interviewed as detectives try to piece together what happened.The school was locked down, and parents were asked to pick up their children.Friday marked just the third day of classes for Albuquerque’s public school district.While students won’t return until Tuesday, Elder said the school staff will be preparing to ensure students have access to counseling and any other support services they need.“Of course it’s extremely difficult,” he said of something like this happening so early in the school year. “There’s a lot of pressure in the community. People are nervous. It was a terrible incident that happened between two people. It should have never happened. … This shouldn’t happen in the community. It certainly shouldn’t happen at a school.”Police said more officers will be present when students return, hoping to provide a sense of security and in case students have any more information about the shooting.Gunfire also rang out Thursday night at a sports bar and restaurant near a busy Albuquerque shopping district. Police said one person was killed and three were injured after someone pulled out a gun during a fight.No arrests have been made in that case. Investigators were reviewing surveillance video and interviewing witnesses.Authorities identified the man who was killed as Lawrence Anzures, a 30-year-old boxer from Albuquerque.“Any small piece of information can help in turning this into a prosecutable case so that the family and friends of Lawrence can get the justice they deserve,” Hartsock said.While standing at an intersection near the school, top police officials were asked by reporters about the ongoing violence in Albuquerque. The city for years has had problems with high crime rates, but the officials pointed to other cities across the U.S. that are now also seeing increases.“I think it takes not only police, but the community as well to do something about this problem and address it head on,” said Deputy Chief Eric Garcia. “Right now, this is a community issue. It’s not just a police issue. We all have to work together.”
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US Warns 9/11 Anniversary Could Inspire Extremist Attacks
The upcoming 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks as well as approaching religious holidays could inspire extremist attacks, the Department of Homeland Security said in a terrorism alert issued Friday.DHS did not cite any specific threats in the National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin. But it noted that the U.S. is in a “heightened threat environment,” fueled by factors that include violent extremists motivated by racial and ethnic hatred and resentment of restrictions imposed during the pandemic.DHS issues the warnings to alert the public as well as state and local authorities. They reflect intelligence gathered from other law enforcement agencies.The bulletin is an extension of a similar one issued in May that expired on the day the new one was issued. DHS says domestic extremists remain a national threat priority for U.S. law enforcement and will for at least the remainder of the year.The agency noted that al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula recently released the first English-language edition of its Inspire magazine in four years, apparently to mark the upcoming anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.The anniversary and the approaching holidays “could serve as a catalyst for acts of targeted violence,” it said.DHS also noted that domestic extremists motivated by religious and ethnic hatred have in the past attacked houses of worship and other gatherings, but it said there aren’t any “credible or imminent threats identified to these locations.”As in previous bulletins, DHS expressed concern about both domestic extremists, motivated by “personal grievances and extremist ideological beliefs,” and foreign influences.The agency said Russian, Chinese and Iranian government-linked media outlets have helped spread conspiracy theories about the origins of the coronavirus and the effectiveness of vaccines against COVID-19 and have in some cases amplified calls for violence against people of Asian descent.
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