An estimated nine million Nigerians are deaf or have hearing impairments, and many cope with discrimination that limits their access to education and employment. But one initiative is working to change that — empowering deaf people with tech skills to improve their career prospects. Timothy Obiezu reports from Abuja.
Camera: Timothy Obiezu
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Category: Africa
Africa news. Africa is highly biodiverse, it is the continent with the largest number of megafauna species, as it was least affected by the extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna. However, Africa also is heavily affected by a wide range of environmental issues, including desertification, deforestation, water scarcity, and pollution
East African leaders call for ceasefire in DRC; humanitarian crisis worsens
NAIROBI, KENYA — East African Community leaders on Wednesday called for an immediate ceasefire in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where government forces are fighting rebel group M23, while aid agencies say the clashes are deepening the already dire humanitarian crisis there.
Kenyan President William Ruto led an online meeting for seven of eight of the trade bloc’s heads of state. The only member not participating was Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi.
In a statement afterward, the leaders called on the warring parties to cease hostilities in eastern Congo and facilitate humanitarian access to the affected areas.
The summit also asked the DRC government to protect diplomatic missions in the country, following attacks this week by protesters in the capital, Kinshasa, targeting embassies of several countries presumed to be sympathetic to the M23 rebel group.
The Congolese government has accused Rwanda of supporting M23, which this week took control of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province. Witnesses reported seeing bodies in the streets, but local officials have not determined a death toll.
The Congolese government said it is fighting to push out the rebels from the city of 2 million.
Edgar Githua, an international relations analyst in Nairobi, said animosity between Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame could derail any ceasefire talks.
“There’s still a lot of bad blood between DRC and Rwanda on how to approach this issue because DRC believes that these are Rwandese, and Kagame categorically keeps on saying M23 are not Rwandese, these are ethnic Tutsis who are Congolese by citizenship,” Githua said. “It is only that they share a language with Rwanda. So, this issue of identity is what is ailing this conflict and needs to be addressed deeply.”
Meanwhile, aid agencies say these latest clashes have made the dire humanitarian crisis in DRC even worse, as thousands of Goma residents, many of whom were already displaced due to earlier conflict, are forced to flee again.
Maina King’ori, the acting country director for CARE International in DRC, told VOA from Goma, “There’s been no electricity supply for the last several days in most parts of Goma. The water system is not functioning; it has been shut down, though slowly coming back in some places, and there has been no internet connectivity in Goma for the last three days. This makes living really difficult.”
King’ori urged parties to the conflict to adhere to international humanitarian law and protect civilians.
“Civilians cannot be a target,” he said. “Civilians are not party to this conflict, yet they’re having to bear the immense load. … They’re the ones that are having to feel the pain of sleeping outside, of being relocated several times, of losing loved ones.”
Democratic Republic of Congo is grappling with a decadeslong crisis that humanitarian agencies say has left over 6 million people displaced, with recent hostilities exacerbating their plight.
North Kivu, where Goma is located, hosts over 2.7 million internally displaced people, according to CARE International.
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South African, Rwandan leaders in war of words over DR Congo
Johannesburg — Rwandan President Paul Kagame has lashed out at South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa, after Ramaphosa accused Rwanda of backing the M23 rebels behind the escalating crisis in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo this week. Kagame has accused Ramaphosa of “lying” and warned of possible “confrontation.”
South Africa has troops deployed in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo as part of a U.N. peacekeeping mission there, as well as in a separate deployment by the Southern African Development Community, or SADC, aimed at backing up Congolese forces fighting rebels.
But Pretoria is under pressure this week after 13 South African soldiers were killed in a recent surge in fighting that resulted in the M23 militia – which Rwanda is widely accused of backing – making a rapid advance and seizing partial control of the key city of Goma in North Kivu province on Sunday night.
Ramaphosa said in a written statement on Wednesday that the M23, and what he called “a Rwandan Defense Force militia,” were responsible for the casualties, while his minister of defense, Angie Motshekga, went one step further.
“It’s just that at that stage, when they were firing above our heads, the president did warn them to say, ‘If you are going to fire, we’ll take it as a declaration of war.’”
The remarks by Ramaphosa and Motshekga have caused a diplomatic spat with Kigali.
Kagame verbally hit back in an angry statement posted to his social media on Wednesday night, saying the Rwandan Defense Force was not a militia and quote, “if South Africa prefers confrontation, Rwanda will deal with the matter in that context any day.”
He also disputed Ramaphosa’s statement that the dead South African soldiers were “peacekeepers,” saying the SADC force was engaged in “offensive combat operations.”
“I spoke with the president of South Africa, who sought me out to speak with me, on this matter, because of their involvement in eastern Congo, and he’s also there pretending to be playing a peacemaker role. M23 are not Rwandans, please, and South Africa dares even issue threats,” he said.
South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola has directly blamed Rwanda for backing the M23, saying reports by U.N. experts proved Kigali’s involvement. He said on Wednesday that South Africa had taken part in an African Union meeting on the crisis.
“As South Africa, we participated in that platform and put our position across, which is that there is a ceasefire, immediate cessation of hostilities… and, also, to request all the forces that are supporting M23, to also cease all support immediately,” he said.
Mineral-rich eastern Congo, which borders Rwanda, has been plagued by conflict for more than three decades. The current fighting stems partly from the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
The perpetrators fled across the border to North Kivu, and Rwanda says they now represent a security threat to its territory.
The Congolese government has accused Kigali of being active in eastern Congo, saying Kigali is after the area’s vast mineral wealth.
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Rwanda’s Kagame slams criticism of east Congo offensive as rebels push south
GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo — President Paul Kagame said Rwanda was ready for “confrontation” as he rejected criticism over his backing for M23 rebels who were pushing south on Thursday in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after capturing the major city of Goma.
M23 rebels, with support from Rwandan troops, marched into Goma this week and are now advancing toward Bukavu, capital of neighboring South Kivu province, in the biggest escalation since 2012 of a decades-old conflict.
Rwanda is facing an international backlash over its actions in eastern Congo, where it has repeatedly intervened either directly or through allied militias over the past 30 years in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide.
But the chorus of condemnation, which has included Germany canceling aid talks with Rwanda and Britain threatening to withhold $40 million of annual bilateral assistance, was having no apparent effect on the ground.
After seizing Goma, a lakeside city of nearly 2 million and a major hub for displaced people and aid groups, M23 fighters were advancing south from the town of Minova, along the western side of Lake Kivu.
They tried to take the town of Nyabibwe, about 50 km north of Bukavu, on Wednesday but were pushed back by Congolese forces, a local resident told Reuters by phone.
A civil society source in Bukavu, who has contacts around the region, said clashes were ongoing on Thursday morning in a location known as Kahalala, about 20 km away from Nyabibwe.
“The Congolese army seems to be putting up fierce resistance there,” the source said.
In the latest diplomatic initiative, France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot arrived on Thursday in Congo’s capital Kinshasa, more than 1,600 km west of Goma. He was due to meet President Felix Tshisekedi, the Congolese presidency said.
Barrot’s visit comes two days after Congolese protesters in Kinshasa attacked the French embassy and several other foreign missions over their perceived support for Rwanda.
Any successful push south by M23 would see them control territory previous rebellions have not taken since the end of two major wars that ran from 1996 to 2003, and magnify the risk of an all-out conflict that draws in regional countries.
Troops from neighboring Burundi, which has had hostile relations with Rwanda, support Congolese troops in South Kivu. A spokesperson for Burundi’s military declined to comment on the current situation in Congo.
In Goma itself, where M23 say they plan to administer the city and appear to be settling in for a lengthy period of control, the border with Rwanda, which is close to the city center, was re-opened under M23 control, its spokesperson said.
Kagame accuses South Africa
Kagame responded angrily on X to a post by President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, 13 of whose soldiers have been killed in eastern Congo since last week. Ramaphosa attributed the fighting to an escalation by the M23 and the Rwandan army.
Kagame accused South African forces of working alongside a militia in Congo with ties to perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide and “threatening to take the war to Rwanda itself.”
“If South Africa wants to contribute to peaceful solutions, that is well and good, but South Africa is in no position to take on the role of a peacemaker or mediator,” Kagame wrote.
“And if South Africa prefers confrontation, Rwanda will deal with the matter in that context any day.”
Since the fall of Goma, Rwanda has also reacted angrily to calls for restraint from Western nations, accusing its critics of “victim-blaming” and turning a blind eye to what it says is Congo’s complicity in the slaughter of Tutsis.
Congo rejects Rwanda’s accusations, saying Kigali’s true motive for involvement in its eastern provinces is to use its proxy militias to control lucrative mineral mines. U.N. experts have documented the export of large quantities of looted Congolese minerals via Rwanda.
M23 is the latest ethnic Tutsi-led insurgency backed by Rwanda to fight in Congo since the 1994 genocide, when extremist Hutus killed about a million Tutsis and moderate Hutus, and were then toppled by Tutsi forces led by Kagame, who has been Rwanda’s president ever since.
About a million Hutus, some refugees and some genocide perpetrators, fled into eastern Congo in the aftermath of the genocide, and Rwanda accuses Congo of harboring Hutu-led militias bent on killing Tutsis and threatening Rwanda itself.
The eight-member East African Community, to which Rwanda and Congo both belong, held a virtual summit late on Wednesday to discuss the crisis. The final communique largely embraced Rwanda’s position.
It called for a peaceful resolution of the conflict through direct talks between Congo and armed groups. Congo rejects direct negotiations with the M23, which it considers a terrorist group.
The EAC also recommended a joint summit to discuss the crisis with the Southern African Development Community.
SADC member Angola, which has led the most recent efforts to broker a peace deal but is also a firm ally of Congo, called on Rwanda to withdraw its forces shortly after hosting Tshisekedi for talks in Luanda on Wednesday.
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State Department says Trump froze foreign aid to ‘root out waste’
WASHINGTON — The State Department on Wednesday sought to clarify President Donald Trump’s order to freeze and review foreign development aid after the top U.S. diplomat blunted some of the chaos that ensued with an emergency order that could shield the world’s largest HIV program from the 90-day funding freeze.
At the White House, Trump said his pauses to foreign and domestic funding are part of his administration’s effort to root out “tremendous waste and fraud and abuse.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s late-Tuesday waiver exempts humanitarian aid, which he classifies as “life-saving medicine, medical services, food, shelter, and subsistence assistance, as well as supplies and reasonable administrative costs as necessary to deliver such assistance.”
The United Nations’ AIDS program welcomed the news, emphasizing the value of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, which serves 20 million people in 55 countries.
“UNAIDS welcomes this waiver from the U.S. government, which ensures that millions of people living with HIV can continue to receive life-saving HIV medication during the assessment of U.S. foreign development assistance,” said Executive Director Winnie Byanyima. “This urgent decision recognizes PEPFAR’s critical role in the AIDS response and restores hope to people living with HIV.”
‘Blocking woke programs’
In a Wednesday memo sent to journalists, the State Department explained its rationale for the freeze during the review and lauded early cost cuts, saying that “even at this early stage, over $1,000,000,000 in spending not aligned with an America First agenda has been prevented.”
The U.S. spent about $70 billion in foreign aid in fiscal year 2023, the most recent data available.
“We are rooting out waste,” the memo said. “We are blocking woke programs. And we are exposing activities that run contrary to our national interests. None of this would be possible if these programs remained on autopilot.”
The president, who said Wednesday at the White House that he “could stand here all day” and give examples of wasted fraud and abuse in the U.S. government, highlighted a few.
“We identified and stopped $50 million being sent to Gaza to buy condoms for Hamas,” he said. “Fifty million. And you know what’s happened to them? They’ve used them as a method of making bombs. How about that?”
The State Department echoed this, saying in a statement, “Without the pause, U.S. taxpayers would have provided condoms [and other contraceptive services] in Gaza, climate justice marketing services in Gabon, clean energy programs for women in Fiji, gender development programs in D.C., family planning throughout Latin America, sex education and pro-abortion programs for young girls globally, and much more. These types of programs do not make America stronger, safer or more prosperous.”
A day earlier, the State Department sent a memo citing examples of unworthy projects, including $102 million to fund humanitarian aid nonprofit International Medical Corps’ work in war-battered Gaza.
A USAID report says the agency delivered about $7 million worth of male condoms and about $1 million in female condoms in the 2023 fiscal year. In total, the agency said it disbursed nearly 138 million male condoms and 1.7 million female condoms worldwide.
Under USAID, the main administrator for U.S. foreign development funds, the bulk of contraceptive items were delivered to African countries, according to the report. Jordan was the only country in the Middle East to receive a shipment, which consisted of injectable and oral contraceptives valued at $45,680.
‘Dramatic overreach’
At the U.S. Capitol, lawmakers not only affirmed the need for accountability but also emphasized that Congress, not the White House, decides how U.S. taxpayer money is spent.
“I think it’s appropriate to have a review,” said Senator Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican.
“It would be my hope, however, that the aid can be reinstated and flow to Ukraine,” Cramer said. “And then we’ll see in the next appropriation cycle whether or not Congress still has the will to continue that aid.”
“This is dramatic overreach by the White House, by the president,” said Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, a Democrat. “It’s unprecedented, uncalled for. This is money that we have appropriated in our role as members of the Senate and the House.”
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UN: Fighting eases in DR Congo’s Goma as rebels gain ‘upper hand’
UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations said Wednesday that there is relative calm in the eastern Congolese city of Goma, following several days of intense fighting between the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels and the Congolese army for control of the city.
“There is, however, continued sporadic shooting, but an overall reduction in exchanges of fire within the city,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters. “Continued clashes have been reported in surrounding areas, including in Sake, northwest of Goma.”
Dujarric said bodies were in the streets, and humanitarians report at least 2,000 people have been injured by weapons and shrapnel since the fighting escalated.
In early January, M23 rebels broke a ceasefire agreement, launching a large-scale offensive in the mineral-rich east with the support of the Rwandan army. On Monday, M23 said it had captured Goma, the capital of North Kivu province and a city of more than 2 million people, thousands of whom have been displaced from other conflict areas. Rwanda has denied accusations that it supports the rebels.
Asked who controls the city, Dujarric said the U.N. assessment is that the M23 rebels clearly have “the upper hand.”
The U.N. has a peacekeeping mission in eastern Congo known as MONUSCO, currently with about 10,000 troops and police tasked with protecting civilians and disarming combatants. It has been in the process of drawing down its presence at the request of the Congolese government. In June, it left neighboring South Kivu province entirely. The rebels are reported to be pushing toward its capital, Bukavu.
In and around Goma, MONUSCO has reinforced its positions to counter the rebels’ advance deploying a quick reaction force, a rapid deployment battalion, a reserve battalion, a platoon of special forces and an artillery battery.
“The mission’s priority right now remains the protection of its personnel, its assets and the many civilians sheltering within U.N. premises,” Dujarric said. “Our peacekeepers are also planning on sending out patrols today in Goma to assess the situation, to conduct resupplies and assess routes.”
The U.N. says Goma’s airport remains closed, halting the flow of humanitarian supplies. Most of the roads connecting Goma with the rest of the country are also closed. Water and electricity have been cut off since Sunday, and internet access has been interrupted since Monday. Only mobile phones are working.
In the capital, Kinshasa, the situation was also calm Wednesday. Dujarric said the main roads were reportedly empty, and supermarkets were closed because of the high risk of looting. On Tuesday, protesters attacked, looted and burned some embassies, including those of Belgium, France and Rwanda. The United States said Tuesday it was closing its embassy until further notice. On Wednesday it advised Americans not to travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The U.N. Security Council and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres have called for the M23 to immediately cease hostilities and withdraw from occupied territories. They have also called for the withdrawal of Rwandan forces and a return to the Luanda process of mediation overseen by Angolan President Joao Lourenco.
The East African Community, which includes DRC and Rwanda among its eight members, was expected to hold an emergency summit Wednesday evening. Reuters reported that Rwandan President Paul Kagame would attend, but Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi was not expected to participate.
Before the latest round of violence, eastern DRC was mired in one of the largest and most protracted humanitarian crises in the world, with nearly 6.5 million people displaced due to efforts by armed groups to seize control of the country’s valuable mineral deposits.
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Online child sexual exploitation increasing in Kenya, says report
NAIROBI, KENYA — For young people like Winnie Muyam, accessing digital platforms was her way to connect with friends and entertainment, until last year when the 17-year-old said strangers began to chat with her.
“They started talking to me as a friend, telling me how beautiful I was,” she said. “From there they started sending pictures. They wanted to see my private parts and I felt so bad.”
The teenager said her efforts to flag her abusers through the platform’s reporting tools were futile. Her complaint was not acted upon.
While Muyam was able to avoid exploitation, up to 13% of minors online have been exploited or abused, according to a survey by Child Fund International and Africa Child forum.
A majority of the targeted children are 12 to 17 years old. The fund’s child advocacy and protection manager, Eunice Kilundo, said perpetrators try to play on their victims’ desperation for affection.
“They will pose as a very good friend,” said Kilundo. “They even give children rewards and lure them into going deeper and deeper up to the point where probably they may want children to send them their nudes and all that.”
In a fast-changing digital world, parents, caregivers, communities and governments face new challenges in keeping children safe, UNICEF said.
Researchers say a low capacity to investigate and prosecute online sexual exploitation in Africa creates a fertile ground for potential offenders. So Kenyan authorities are training officers in the justice system to handle such cases.
Kilundo said concerted efforts to combat such abuse will go a long way.
“It’s a high time everybody in the children sector — or even outside the children sector, the corporate, government, everyone — to demonstrate commitment and concern,” said Kilundo.
Kenyan law prohibits any sexual involvement with children under 18 years old, including online, without permission of a parent or guardian.
Dennis Otieno, senior counsel for Kenya’s Federation of Female Lawyers, told VOA that although such crimes can be prosecuted, some caregivers are oblivious to them and making them aware is crucial.
“The report rate for such cases is very low,” said Otieno. “Many people still do not understand there are crimes that can be committed through social media.”
More than 22 million people in Kenya have access to the internet, according to national data, and with increasing access to digital platforms, authorities believe programs such as this training will help keep children online safe.
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Somali general confident of defeat against IS
For almost a month, security forces in the semi-autonomous Somali region of Puntland have been advancing on the mountainous hideouts of Islamic State militants.
The fiercest clashes occurred late last week when the regional forces dislodged the militants from Turmasaale, a strategic location about 150 kilometers southeast of Bosaso.
Puntland’s leader, Said Abdullahi Deni, went to the airport over the weekend to meet wounded soldiers, including a senior officer, a sign of clashes taking place. Before the Turmasaale clashes, the region’s forces seized caves, camps and small villages largely unopposed.
Brigadier General Ahmed Abdullahi Sheikh, who until recently was the commander of special operations for the Somali army and has been following the offensive in his home region, said losing Turmasaale was a blow for IS as it was the militants’ main supply route.
“This is where they were coordinating both attacks — mainly drone-deployed ammunition, IEDs, attacking the Puntland forces — but also getting their resupply, whether it’s rations or whatever. So it was a strategic achievement by the Puntland forces,” he said.
He said both sides suffered casualties from the fighting over Turmasaale, the biggest confrontation so far.
“There has been almost daily fighting. The Puntland forces have suffered casualties, mainly from IEDs, which is the weapon of choice of terrorism everywhere,” he said. “But they have been progressing on very well for the past three weeks. And they have captured several important locations. The regional forces so far have the upper hand for sure.”
The IS group’s main camps, located in the vicinity of Dhaadaar village, have yet to be reached.
The IS group claimed responsibility for attacks against Puntland forces, including a deadly suicide attack on Dec. 31, 2024, which the group said was carried out by militants from multiple countries.
Sheikh said he believes Puntland forces can achieve a military victory against IS before Ramadan, which starts in four weeks.
“This operation was planned very well. It was prepared very well,” he said. “The mobilization was exceptional. and they have huge support from the local communities, which is very important.”
Sheikh said the presence of foreign fighters in the Islamic State camps gives both locals and Puntland forces extra motivation.
“If you capture their bases and camps and strategic headquarters, that for me will be the measurement of victory,” he added.
IS presence in Somalia small but growing
It has been 10 years since about two dozen al-Shabab fighters defected from the group, set up an Islamic State Somalia branch and gave allegiance to the group’s then-leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The group remained small for years but appealed to foreign fighters who came to Somalia, mainly from the Middle East and from other parts of East Africa.
Some U.S. officials also believe that IS Somalia’s leader, Abdulkadir Mumin, is also the emir of IS global. Others disagree but there is consensus that Mumin is nonetheless a pivotal figure, with a recent United Nations report naming him as the group’s directorate of provinces, “placing him in a leadership role over [IS] affiliates in Africa.”
On the ground, observers believe Mumin is in firm control of the group as leader, as well as a dealmaker who acts between the locals and militants.
The office of IS in Somalia was already documented to run the terrorist group’s financial network.
The U.S. supports Somali security forces, training the elite Danab forces in multiple locations. The U.S. has also conducted airstrikes against al-Shabab and Islamic State, with 10 reported strikes in 2024.
One of the strikes killed Mohamed Mire, a top al-Shabab commander, on Dec. 24 in southern Somalia. Sheikh himself was trained by the U.S. and previously served as the commander of Danab.
A U.S. defense official declined to comment on the anti-IS operation underway in
Puntland but said the United States has not wavered in its support for Somali forces.
“The Department [of Defense] remains committed to supporting our partners in our shared efforts to disrupt, degrade, and defeat VEOs [violent extremist organizations] in the Horn of Africa,” the official told VOA, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing counterterror efforts.
The Pentagon “has maintained a long-term focus on working with African partner nations to build defense institutional capacity and enable partnered operations … with a particular focus on countering al-Shabab and ISIS-Somalia,” the official said, pointing, in particular, to more than a decade of support for the Danab Brigade.
The Trump administration withdrew U.S. forces from Somalia during the last few weeks of its first term in January 2021. But President Joe Biden reversed the decision in May 2022, sending in about 500 U.S. special operation forces to help Somali forces counter both IS and al-Shabab.
Some Somali officials fear a similar disengagement with Trump back in the White House.
Sheikh said he “doubts” it will be repeated.
“The terrorism is still a real threat and obviously is the threat in Somalia,” he said.
Abdi Hassan Hussein “Abdi Yare” is Puntland’s former chief of police and former head of the region’s intelligence agency.
He said the campaign to combat Islamic State is crucial for the broader security of Somalia and the region, as this group poses a security danger to all countries in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East.
Abdi Yare cautioned that the fighting could last a long time.
“It is difficult to predict the damage that can be done, and it is true that the area to be fought is very difficult in terms of traffic, necessitating the troops to carry infantry or guerrilla warfare, which may prolong the war,” he said.
Yare does not think the group’s power has diminished significantly.
“The group’s power has not diminished; it is still quite strong, and it is prepared for a long-term conflict, having drilled holes in Mount Al-Madow to deliver food, military equipment, and all necessary materials,” he said.
He estimates the group has between 1,200 and 1,600 fighters. That number is still unverified. For a long time, experts believed IS fighters in Somalia numbered only a few hundred.
A report issued this past November by the United Nations Sanctions Monitoring Team for Somalia, based on member state intelligence, estimated IS-Somalia had more than doubled in size to between 600 and 700 fighters.
It further warned the terror group’s numbers in Puntland were boosted by an influx of fighters from Ethiopia, Morocco, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania and Yemen.
Some experts told VOA they expected the trend to continue.
Abdi Yare predicts Mumin could flee to Yemen if the group is defeated in Puntland. He also warned that IS militants could resort to desperate attacks targeting civilians in populated cities like Bosaso.
your ad herePlan to get electricity to more Africans wins $8B in new pledges
DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA — An initiative to connect 300 million Africans to electricity in the next six years has won new pledges worth more than $8 billion from lenders including the Islamic Development Bank and the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank.
The Mission 300 initiative, launched by the World Bank and the African Development Bank in April, is projected to cost $90 billion. Its implementation faces challenges because the economies of countries in the region are severely constrained, mainly due to sluggish revenue and high debt service costs.
“Our national balance sheets are insufficient… to achieve Mission 300’s objectives,” Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema told an Africa energy summit in Tanzania.
Funding for the project is expected to come from multilateral development banks, development agencies, private businesses and philanthropic organizations such as the Rockefeller Foundation, which is part of the initiative.
Muhammad al Jasser, chairman of the Islamic Development Bank, said in a statement released during the summit that ended on Tuesday, that the Jeddah-headquartered bank was committing $2.65 billion in project financing and another $2 billion to insure power projects in Africa.
Beijing-based AIIB is set to provide $1-1.5 billion in financing.
“Six hundred million people in Africa without access to electricity is intolerable,” said AIIB President Jin Liqun.
Others funding the project include the French Development Agency (AFD), which committed to providing $1.04 billion, and the OPEC Fund for International Development, which made an initial commitment of $1 billion, the AfDB said in a closing statement.
The additional finance builds on commitments of up to $48 billion from the World Bank and the AfDB, officials at the summit said. The two organizations’ contributions could be increased during implementation, they said.
Provision of 300 million people with access to electricity, half of those currently without power on the continent, is a crucial building block for boosting Africa’s development by creating new jobs, said World Bank President Ajay Banga.
Half of the targeted new connections will get electricity from existing national grids, officials said at the summit, while the other half will be from renewable energy sources, including wind and solar mini-grids.
Apart from lighting up homes and businesses, Mission 300 is expected to boost the provision of clean cooking energy to homes, cutting reliance on wood and charcoal which are harmful, said Tanzania’s president, Samia Suluhu Hassan.
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DRC tries to slow rebels’ assault amid reports of bodies in the streets
GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo — Congolese security forces on Tuesday tried to slow the advance of Rwanda-backed M23 rebels who say they have captured Goma after entering eastern Congo’s largest city. U.N. officials reported violence, looting and bodies in the streets.
The officials said hospitals are overwhelmed in Goma, a regional trade and humanitarian hub that is now a refuge for hundreds of thousands fleeing gunfire and shelling in the major escalation of one of Africa’s longest conflicts.
The M23 rebels are one of about 100 armed groups vying for a foothold in the conflict-battered North Kivu province, which includes Goma and is rich in minerals critical to much of the world’s technology.
Reports of rapes, looting
There were reports of gender-based violence and rape committed by fighters, looting of property, including a humanitarian warehouse, and humanitarian and health facilities being hit in the city, U.N. humanitarian affairs office spokesman Jens Laerke said at a media briefing on Tuesday.
“The humanitarian situation in and around Goma remains extremely worrying, and this morning (there were) heavy small arms fire and mortar fire across the city and the presence of many dead bodies in the streets,” said Laerke, adding that hospitals are “struggling to manage the influx of wounded people.”
Many continued to flee across the border into Rwanda, braving heavy rains and sometimes being caught between shootouts by the Congolese soldiers and the rebels.
“What we want is this war to come to an end,” said Christian Bahati, a Congolese teacher among hundreds now sheltering in the Rwandan town of Gisenyi. “You can see the level of frustration. Congolese people are victims, but now they find themselves seeking refuge from the aggressor.”
Growing anger in the capital
Dozens of demonstrators looted and set fires to parts of at least 10 foreign embassy buildings far off in the capital, Kinshasa, including those of Rwanda, U.S., France, Belgium and Kenya.
The protesters demanded that the international community condemn Rwanda over its role in the conflict.
“We denounce the hypocrisy of the international community,” said Timothée Tshishimbi, one of the protesters. “They must tell Rwanda to stop this adventure.”
The attacks were condemned by the respective countries as well as the Congolese government, which said it has reinforced the security at the embassies.
Several countries, including the United States, United Kingdom and France have condemned Rwanda for the rebel advance. The African Union Peace and Security Council demanded the M23 and other rebel groups “immediately and unconditionally withdraw and cease their attacks and permanently disband and lay down their arms.”
M23 rebels emboldened, plan to set up administration in Goma
It was unclear how much of Goma is controlled by the M23 rebels, though analysts say they are more emboldened than in 2012 when they temporarily took over the city before being forced to pull out under international pressure.
They resurfaced in late 2021 with increasing support from Rwanda, according to Congo’s government and U.N. experts. Rwanda has denied such support although U.N. experts estimate there are up to 4,000 Rwandan forces in Congo.
“Since morning, we have heard bomb explosions and crackling bullets,” Sam Luwawa, a resident of Goma, said of the fighting in the city. “So far we cannot say who really controls the city.”
Seventeen peacekeepers and foreign soldiers have been killed in the fighting, according to U.N. and army officials.
Manzi Ngarambe, a representative for the M23 diaspora, told the AP that the group is in control of Goma and plans to set up an administration in the city so people can continue living normal lives and displaced people can return home.
Ngarambe said they would be willing to sit at the table with Congolese officials and denied that they were being supported by Rwanda.
Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said that Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi “will have to accept talks with M23 to end the situation once and for all.”
Rwanda’s goal in Congo is to protect its borders against attacks, army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Ronald Rwivanga told the AP, adding that appropriate measures would be “all-encompassing,” including the use of water, air and land defense.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame recently accused Congo of enlisting Hutu rebels and former militiamen that it blames for the 1994 genocide.
Dire situation
“Key roads surrounding Goma are blocked, and the city’s airport can no longer be used for evacuation and humanitarian efforts. Power and water have reportedly been cut to many areas of the city,” said David Munkley, head of operations in eastern Congo for the Christian aid group World Vision.
Some analysts worry about the risk of a regional war if peace efforts led by Kenya fail. Past attempts at dialogue between Congolese and Rwandan leaders have failed, including in December when the meeting of the two leaders was canceled.
Congo might seek support from countries like South Africa — whose troops are among foreign militaries in Congo — while Rwanda might be motivated to continue backing the M23 rebels, said Murithi Mutiga, program director for Africa at the Crisis Group.
“The risk of a regional confrontation has never been higher,” Mutiga said.
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UN: Civilians’ suffering ‘unimaginable’ in Congolese city under rebel attack
UNITED NATIONS — A senior U.N. official in the eastern Congolese city under threat from Rwandan-backed rebels said Tuesday that civilian suffering there is “truly unimaginable” and called for “urgent and coordinated” international action to end the fighting.
“Immediate action is required to alleviate the suffering of civilians and enable lifesaving humanitarian efforts to proceed,” said Vivian van de Perre, the deputy head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the DRC, known as MONUSCO.
She briefed the second emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council in the last 72 hours on the situation in Goma. Van de Perre spoke from the city by video call, wearing a flak jacket and military helmet.
“Electricity and water supplies remain disrupted in Goma, and medical facilities are completely overwhelmed due to the intensity of the ongoing combat and the proximity of the front lines,” she said. “Humanitarian operations have been suspended or readjusted.”
The World Food Program said Tuesday it is temporarily pausing its operations in North Kivu province, of which Goma is the capital. WFP said that will affect 800,000 people who would not get food aid due to the insecurity. The agency warned that if the fighting is drawn out, it could lead to a food shortage and high prices in the city of 2 million to 3 million people.
Civilians are not the only ones running out of supplies.
“Many troops are now running out of critical equipment, especially water, food, medical supplies and blood,” van de Perre said. “In some camps, fuel shortages have rendered generators inoperable, affecting communications equipment.”
In early January, M23 rebels broke a ceasefire agreement, launching a large-scale offensive in the east with the support of the Rwandan army. The U.N. said the rebels have made significant territorial gains and are seeking to open a new front in neighboring South Kivu province.
The United Nations Security Council and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres have called for the M23 to immediately cease hostilities and withdraw from occupied territories. They have called for the withdrawal of Rwandan forces and a return to the Luanda process of mediation overseen by Angolan President Joao Lourenco.
At Tuesday’s Security Council meeting, Congolese Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner expressed her government’s frustration with the lack of a strong international response.
“Over this past 72 hours, we’ve seen a regional tragedy that could have been prevented if the Council had been able to take action,” she told its members. She said she had asked for action at its first meeting on Sunday and asked if “this council is unwilling to act?”
Some 2,574 kilometers away in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, protesters turned violent Tuesday, attacking, looting and burning some embassies, including those of France and Rwanda. The U.S. State Department said on its X account that its embassy is closed until further notice.
Rwanda’s U.N. ambassador condemned the attack, saying it was “totally burned down.”
“Rwanda calls on the DRC to take its diplomatic obligations seriously and hold perpetrators accountable,” Ambassador Ernest Rwamucyo told council members.
The U.N. peacekeeping mission, known by its acronym MONUSCO, has also reinforced its positions to counter the rebels’ advance on Goma, deploying a quick reaction force, a rapid deployment battalion, a reserve battalion, a platoon of special forces and an artillery battery.
In the past few days, three U.N. peacekeepers have been killed and several injured in the conflict.
Kenyan President William Ruto said he plans to hold crisis talks Wednesday with Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame at an emergency meeting of the East African Community.
The U.S. State Department said Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a phone call Monday with Tshisekedi, “condemned the assault on Goma by the Rwanda-backed M23 and affirmed the United States’ respect for the sovereignty of the DRC.”
Before the latest round of violence, eastern DRC was already mired in one of the largest and most protracted humanitarian crises in the world, with nearly 6.5 million people displaced due to efforts by armed groups to seize control of the country’s valuable mineral deposits.
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Surge in terror attacks in northern Nigeria raises analysts’ concern
ABUJA, NIGERIA — Security analysts in Nigeria are expressing alarm after a surge in attacks by terror groups in the country’s north near the border with Niger. The deterioration of relations between Abuja and Niamey following Niger’s July 2023 coup has disrupted joint military patrols, creating opportunities for armed groups to intensify incursions and attacks.
Last Friday’s killing of 20 soldiers, including a commanding officer, at a military base in the remote town of Malam Fatori is among the latest attacks by terror groups.
Malam Fatori is located near Nigeria’s border with Niger. Suspected fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) arrived in trucks outfitted with guns and overpowered Nigerian troops in a coordinated assault.
That attack took place three weeks after a similar raid on a military base in nearby Damboa, in Borno state, where six soldiers were killed.
On Sunday, Nigeria’s defense authorities announced that 22 soldiers died during military operations against militants in Borno state between Jan. 16 and 25.
They also said troops killed nearly 80 militants during those operations.
Kabiru Adamu, an analyst with Beacon Security and Intelligence Limited, explained the growing challenge.
“If the Nigerian military does not take steps to fortify those locations, we’d see attacks around that proximity increase. It appears to be that the objective of that particular attack is to weaken the response capability of the Nigerian military,” Adamu said. “The fact that they did not fortify that place, the fact that they did not quickly replenish what was lost — we’ve seen consistently where churches are being burnt, military bases are being attacked.”
The terror threat is not limited to northeastern Nigeria.
In the northwest, a new militant group called Lakurawa is wreaking havoc in remote communities and crossing the border into Niger.
Nigerian authorities first raised the alarm about the group in November, stating it has ties to jihadist factions in Mali and Niger, and had embedded itself in communities along the Nigeria-Niger border for years, marrying local women and recruiting young men.
Strained relations between Nigeria and Niger following the July 2023 coup have disrupted joint security operations, allowing groups like ISWAP and Lakurawa to expand their activities.
Nigeria is already engaged in a protracted counterinsurgency war, and Adamu said the situation is becoming increasingly complex.
“Lakurawa is a radicalized group and so the same counterterrorism approach that Nigeria is implementing in the northeast is what it will implement in the northwest,” Adamu said. “But what this means is that there’s a new theater of conflict — the northeast and the northwest. Given the fact that Nigerian military resources are strained, it poses a challenge.”
Security analyst Senator Iroegbu said the government must adopt a more proactive and comprehensive approach to addressing the insecurity.
“The Sahel region, for two years or more, has been regarded as the epicenter of terrorism and Nigeria shares a lot of borders with the core Sahelian countries. So it’s definitely a challenge now with the diplomatic spat that is affecting other areas of security and intelligence,” Iroegbu said. “I’m not surprised about their emergence. In past years, there were reports about the growing linkage between bandits and what is happening in the northwest as terrorist organizations, and I don’t think the authorities made any concrete effort.”
Last week, a federal court in Nigeria declared the Islamist Lakurawa group a terrorist organization, allowing the military to use maximum force against the group.
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AI technology helps boost forest conservation in Kenya
Conservationists in Kenya are using an artificial intelligence-powered application to monitor forest degradation and launch reforestation. The data collected by the application is also used to project the amount of carbon that can be stored by a growing patch of forest. Juma Majanga reports from Nyeri, Kenya.
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ICC prosecutor seeking arrest warrants for those accused of atrocities in Sudan’s West Darfur
UNITED NATIONS — The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court announced Monday that his office will be seeking arrest warrants for those accused of atrocities in Sudan’s West Darfur region, which has seen reported ethnic cleansing by paramilitary forces that have been fighting government forces for 19 months.
Karim Khan told the U.N. Security Council that crimes are being committed in Darfur “as we speak and daily” and are being used as a weapon of war. He said that conclusion is the result of “a hard-edged analysis” based on evidence and information collected by his office.
Sudan plunged into conflict in mid-April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between its military and paramilitary leaders broke out in the capital, Khartoum, and spread to other regions, including the vast western Darfur region.
Two decades ago, Darfur became synonymous with genocide and war crimes, particularly by the notorious Janjaweed Arab militias, against populations that identify as Central or East African. Up to 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million were driven from their homes.
Khan told the council in January there were grounds to believe both government forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Force, which was born out of the Janjaweed, may be committing war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide in Darfur.
The Biden administration, just before it left office this month, determined that the RSF and its proxies are committing genocide in Sudan’s civil war. And the ICC prosecutor told the council Monday that there are “very clear echoes” in the current conflict of what happened 20 years ago.
“The pattern of crimes, the perpetrators, the parties, tracked very closely with the same protagonists, the same targeted groups as existed in 2003” and led the Security Council to refer Darfur to the ICC, Khan said. “It’s the same communities, the same groups suffering, a new generation suffering the same hell that has been endured by other generations of Darfuris, and this is tragic.”
Human Rights Watch in a major report last May said the Rapid Support Forces and their allied militias carried out attacks against the ethnic Masalit and other non-Arab groups in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state, from April to June 2023, with attacks intensifying that November.
At least thousands of people were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced during the attacks, according to the report by the leading rights group.
“I can confirm today that my office is taking the necessary steps to put forward applications for warrants of arrest in relations to crimes we allege are being committed and have been committed in West Darfur,” Khan told the council on Monday.
He gave no details on the specific crimes or the people the ICC wants arrested. But he did say his office is particularly concerned about a stream of allegations of gender crimes against women and girls, which he said were “a priority” for the ICC.
He said the last six months have seen “a tailspin into deeper suffering, deeper misery for the people of Darfur,” with famine present, conflict increasing, children targeted, girls and women subjected to rape and the whole landscape “one of destruction.”
Khan had a simple message for those on the ground in El Geneina in West Darfur, the city of El Fasher in North Darfur, which is besieged by RSF forces, and elsewhere in Darfur: “Now, better late than never, for goodness sake, comply with international humanitarian law, not as a charity, not out of some political necessity, but out of the dictates of humanity.”
Khan told the council he made efforts to engage with the RSF to obtain information relevant to the ICC’s investigations, and members of his office met with representatives of the paramilitary force last week.
“I do expect, and hope, and require swift and meaningful action, and will be monitoring that,” he said.
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Zimbabweans turn to cheaper informal markets as economy struggles
Zimbabwe’s traditional stores are struggling to stay afloat as customers flock to informal vendors to buy cheaper products amid a struggling economy. Meanwhile, the government is working to ensure it does not lose critical tax revenue from informal business sales. Columbus Mavhunga reports from Harare.
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Fight for control of major Congolese city ‘ongoing,’ says UN official
UNITED NATIONS — A senior U.N. official in the Democratic Republic of the Congo said Monday that fighting between Rwandan-backed rebels and the Congolese army for an important provincial capital in the country’s east is “not over yet,” despite claims by the rebels to have captured the city of Goma.
“Fighting is still very much ongoing,” said Bruno Lemarquis, U.N. resident coordinator in the DRC. “It’s a very, very fluid situation. It’s a very dangerous situation.”
He told reporters via a video call from DRC’s capital, Kinshasa, that “active zones of combat have spread to all quarters” of Goma in North Kivu province. Lemarquis said there have been severe disruptions to water, electricity, internet and phone service. Humanitarian warehouses have been looted.
In early January, M23 rebels broke a ceasefire agreement, launching a large-scale offensive in the east with the support of the Rwandan army. The U.N. says the rebels have made significant territorial gains and are seeking to open a new front in neighboring South Kivu province.
The United Nations Security Council, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and senior U.N. officials are calling for the M23 to immediately cease hostilities and withdraw from occupied territories. They have called for the withdrawal of Rwandan forces and a return to the Luanda process of mediation overseen by Angolan President Joao Lourenco.
“On behalf of the humanitarian community, I call on all parties to agree on temporary humanitarian pauses in the most affected areas and establish humanitarian corridors to ensure humanitarian activities resume at scale. And more importantly, also to facilitate the safe evacuation of wounded individuals and civilians trapped in combat zones,” Lemarquis added.
The United Nations announced Sunday a $17 million disbursement from its central emergency fund for urgent humanitarian needs in DRC.
Lemarquis said nonessential U.N. staff, foreign and Congolese, are being temporarily evacuated from Goma to either Kinshasa or to a U.N. base in Entebbe in neighboring Uganda.
The U.N. peacekeeping mission, known by its acronym MONUSCO, has also reinforced its positions to counter the rebels’ advance on Goma, deploying a quick reaction force, a rapid deployment battalion, a reserve battalion, a platoon of special forces and an artillery battery.
“At this critical juncture now, the onus really is and has to be about bringing about an immediate cessation of hostilities,” U.N. peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix told reporters on the same video call, speaking from Damascus, Syria, where he is on a mission.
“The fate of the millions of civilians living in Goma or having been displaced is really the priority, along with the safety and security of U.N. personnel,” he said.
In the past few days, three U.N. peacekeepers have been killed and several injured in the conflict.
Before the latest round of violence, eastern DRC was already mired in one of the largest and most protracted humanitarian crises in the world, with nearly 6.5 million people displaced due to efforts by armed groups to seize control of the country’s valuable mineral deposits.
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Relief group pulls workers out of DRC’s Goma as M23 rebels advance
Nairobi, Kenya — Amid fighting between M23 rebels and government forces in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, some organizations are relocating staff because they no longer feel safe. This comes after the reportedly Rwandan-backed rebels said over the weekend they had taken control of Goma, the biggest city in the region.
Rose Tchwenko, the DRC’s country director for Mercy Corps, told VOA that since last week, the humanitarian group has closely monitored the situation as government forces and M23 clashed in and around Goma, a city of around 2 million people.
“From Wednesday last week, with the fall of Minova, followed by the fall of Sake, which are key supply routes into Goma, the situation looked a little bit more dire with the imminent takeover or incursion into Goma itself by the rebel forces,” she said. “We made some decisions, first to move out non-essential staff, pull back our teams from the ground where it was no longer safe to continue to provide humanitarian services.”
But that changed quickly, as the situation grew more unstable in Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, which is on the border with Rwanda.
“On Sunday with the escalation of the conflict around Goma, we had to pull out even the senior team into Gisenyi (across the border in Rwanda) so that we can continue to operate and provide the necessary support to our teams across the country,” she said.
She told VOA the situation was dire.
“As of yesterday, we know that the airport in Goma is closed and under M23 control,” she said. “We have heard reports of sporadic fighting throughout the center of Goma city. Some of us on this side of the border could actually [hear] gunshots at some point during the night. We are aware of M23 presence in Goma but still uncertain of what the actual situation is.”
As M23 rebels last week made advances into Goma, three U.N. peacekeepers died and seven South African soldiers and three from Malawi, serving in a separate Southern African Development Community mission, also were killed, according to U.N. and South African officials.
At an emergency meeting on Sunday, the United Nations Security Council called for an end to the hostilities.
Bintou Keita, the head of the U.N. mission in Congo, addressed the Council via video link, painting a bleak picture.
“Roads are blocked and the airport can no longer be used for evacuation or humanitarian efforts,” he said. “M23 has declared the airspace over Goma closed. In other words, we are trapped.”
Jack Mongi, a Goma resident who sent VOA an audio message in French via WhatsApp, said that fighting was still going on around the airport.
“As I speak, you can hear gunshots, we are under our mattresses, under our beds and if you listen, you can hear the gunshots….”
The Congolese minister of foreign affairs told the U.N. Security Council that this is “a frontal assault, a declaration of war.”
VOA reached out to the Rwandan government for comment but has not immediately heard back.
Many countries represented at the special Security Council meeting condemned the attacks, including the acting U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Dorothy Shea, who called for a ceasefire.
“The United States will consider all the tools at its disposal in order to hold accountable those responsible for sustaining armed conflict, instability and insecurity,” she said.
In Nairobi, Kenya’s President William Ruto said he spoke to both Congolese and Rwanda presidents and called for an “immediate and unconditional cessation of hostilities.”
Ruto, who’s also the chair of the East African Community, says he’ll be convening an extraordinary EAC summit in coming days to try to chart a way forward in this crisis.
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China bans livestock product imports from numerous countries on disease worries
BEIJING — China has prohibited imports of sheep, goat, poultry and even-toed ungulates from African, Asian and European countries due to outbreaks of livestock diseases such as sheep pox, goat pox and foot-and-mouth-disease.
The ban, which also includes processed and unprocessed products, comes after the World Health Organization released information of disease outbreaks in various countries, according to a series of announcements by China’s General Administration of Customs dated Jan. 21.
The ban from the world’s largest meat importer affects Ghana, Somalia, Qatar, Congo (DRC), Nigeria, and Tanzania, Egypt, Bulgaria, East Timor and Eritrea.
China also said it has stopped imports of sheep, goat and related products from Palestine, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal and Bangladesh due to sheep pox and goat pox outbreaks.
It also blocked the imports of even-toed ungulates and related products from Germany following an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, it said.
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Sierra Leone investigating reports Dutch drug kingpin took refuge in country
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — Sierra Leone’s information ministry said Sunday it was investigating media reports that European cocaine kingpin Jos Leijdekkers is in the country and benefiting from high-level protection there.
Two sources told Reuters on Friday that Leijdekkers, who was sentenced last June in absentia to 24 years in prison by a Dutch court for smuggling more than 7 tons of cocaine, had been in Sierra Leone since at least early 2023.
A spokesperson for the Dutch prosecutors’ office said in response to questions from Reuters about Leijdekkers’ whereabouts that he has been living in Sierra Leone for at least six months. Leijdekkers is on Europol’s list of most wanted fugitives.
In a statement, the Sierra Leonean ministry said the country’s police were ready to collaborate with the Dutch government, Interpol and other international law enforcement agencies about the case.
The statement said the country’s president “attended numerous family events during the festive season” and “has no knowledge about the identity and the issues detailed in the reports about the individual in question.”
Reuters was not able to reach Leijdekkers.
Videos and photos verified by Reuters of a church Mass in Sierra Leone on Jan. 1, 2025, show Leijdekkers, 33, sitting two rows behind Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio.
In the images, Leijdekkers was sitting next to a woman who three sources said was Bio’s daughter Agnes and who they said was married to Leijdekkers. Reuters could not confirm the relationship.
Bio’s daughter and the Dutch lawyer who last represented Leijdekkers in the Netherlands did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Three sources told Reuters Leijdekkers was benefiting from high-level protection in Sierra Leone, which international law enforcement officials say is a transshipment point for large volumes of Latin American cocaine headed to Europe.
The Sierra Leonean information ministry said the government had not received any formal communication on Leijdekkers from any state or institution, and was resolute in ensuring the country would not become a haven for any organized crime.
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UN chief calls for Rwandan forces to leave DR Congo
United Nations, United States — U.N. chief Antonio Guterres called Sunday on Rwandan forces to withdraw from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and halt support for fighters advancing on the key Congolese city of Goma.
M23 fighters backed by several thousand Rwandan troops have been quickly advancing toward the city, which lies along DRC’s eastern border and is home to more than a million people.
Several foreign peacekeepers have been killed in the mounting violence around Goma.
“The Secretary-General is deeply concerned by the escalating violence” and “calls on the Rwanda Defense Forces to cease support to the M23 and withdraw from DRC territory,” said a statement from his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
Guterres had previously referred to a U.N. experts’ report citing Kigali’s backing of the M23 but had not explicitly called on Rwanda to withdraw from DRC territory.
In his statement Sunday, made after three U.N. peacekeepers in eastern DRC had been killed within 48 hours, Guterres emphasized that “attacks against United Nations personnel may constitute a war crime.”
The U.N. in the meantime has begun to evacuate “non-essential” staff from the major city of Goma in eastern DRC, a United Nations source told AFP.
During an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council session Sunday, permanent member states France, Britain and the United States called on Rwanda to pull its forces back.
But others, including China and the African nations holding rotating council seats, did not specifically name Kigali.
The Security Council as a whole has yet to accuse Rwanda of taking part directly in the conflict, simply underlining the importance of the DRC’s territorial integrity.
But the French ambassador to the U.N., Nicolas de Riviere, indicated Sunday he was working on a Security Council statement that would “call a cat a cat,” a phrase essentially meaning to state directly what something is without sugarcoating it.
He urged the Council to condemn what he said was a grave threat to regional peace and security.
Congolese foreign minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner went further, urging the Council to impose sweeping economic and political sanctions on Kigali.
She accused Rwanda of having sent new troops into eastern DRC on Sunday, actions which she said amounted to a “declaration of war.”
But Rwanda’s ambassador to the U.N., Ernest Rwamucyo, rejected the accusations, accusing Kinshasa of being responsible for the deteriorating situation and failing to make a “genuine commitment to peace.”
He suggested that the U.N. peacekeepers in the DRC had joined a “coalition” seeking regime change in Rwanda.
The fighting in the region has forced some 230,000 to flee their homes.
Eastern DRC has vast mining resources and is a complex landscape of rival armed militias which has seen violence ebb and flow since the 1990s.
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Congo severs ties with Rwanda as rebels close in on Goma, displacing thousands
GOMA, DRC — Congo severed diplomatic ties with Rwanda as fighting between Rwanda-backed rebels and government forces raged around the key eastern city of Goma, leaving at least 13 peacekeepers and foreign soldiers dead and displacing thousands of civilians.
The M23 rebel group has made significant territorial gains along the border with Rwanda in recent weeks, closing in on Goma, the provincial capital of around 2 million people and a regional hub for security and humanitarian efforts.
Congo, the United States and U.N. experts accuse Rwanda of backing M23, which is mainly made up of ethnic Tutsis who broke away from the Congolese army more than a decade ago. It’s one of about 100 armed groups that have been vying for a foothold in the mineral-rich region, where a long-running conflict has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.
Rwanda’s government denies backing the rebels, but last year acknowledged that it has troops and missile systems in eastern Congo to safeguard its security, pointing to a buildup of Congolese forces near the border. U.N. experts estimate there are up to 4,000 Rwandan forces in Congo.
The Congolese foreign ministry said late Saturday it was severing diplomatic ties with Rwanda and pulling out all diplomatic staff from the country “with immediate effect.” Rwanda did not comment immediately.
The U.N. Security Council moved up an emergency meeting on the escalating violence in eastern Congo to Sunday. Congo requested the meeting, which had originally been scheduled for Monday.
On Sunday morning, heavy gunfire resonated across Goma, just a few kilometers from the front line, while scores of displaced children and adults fled the Kanyaruchinya camp, one of the largest in eastern Congo, right near the Rwandan border, and headed south to Goma.
“We are fleeing because we saw soldiers on the border with Rwanda throwing bombs and shooting,” said Safi Shangwe, who was heading to Goma.
“We are tired and we are afraid, our children are at risk of starving,” she added.
Some of the displaced worried they will not be safe in Goma either.
“We are going to Goma, but I heard that there are bombs in Goma, too, so now we don’t know where to go,” said Adèle Shimiye.
Hundreds of people attempted to flee to Rwanda through the border crossings east of Goma on Sunday while migration officers carefully checked travel documents.
“I am crossing to the other side to see if we will have a place of refuge because for the moment, security in the city is not guaranteed,” Muahadi Amani, a resident of Goma, told The Associated Press.
Earlier in the week, the rebels seized Sake, 27 kilometers from Goma, as concerns mounted that the city could soon fall.
Congo’s army said Saturday it fended off an M23 offensive with the help of allied forces, including U.N. troops and soldiers from the Southern African Development Community Mission, also known as SAMIDRC.
Two South African peacekeepers were killed Friday, while a Uruguayan soldier was killed Saturday, a U.N. official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak on the matter publicly.
Additionally, three Malawian peacekeepers were killed in eastern Congo, the United Nations in Malawi said Saturday.
Seven South African soldiers from the SAMIDRC were also killed during clashes with M23 over the last two days, South Africa’s Defense Department said.
Since 2021, Congo’s government and allied forces, including SAMIDRC and U.N. troops, have been keeping M23 away from Goma.
The U.N peacekeeping force, also known as MONUSCO, entered Congo more than two decades ago and has around 14,000 peacekeepers on the ground.
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WHO chief urges end to attacks on Sudan health care after 70 drone strike kills 70
The head of the World Health Organization called on Saturday for an end to attacks on health care workers and facilities in Sudan after a drone attack on a hospital in Sudan’s North Darfur region killed more than 70 people and wounded dozens.
“As the only functional hospital in El Fasher, the Saudi Teaching Maternal Hospital provides services which include gyn-obstetrics, internal medicine, surgery and pediatrics, along with a nutrition stabilization center,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted on X after the Friday strike.
“We continue to call for a cessation of all attacks on health care in Sudan, and to allow full access for the swift restoration of the facilities that have been damaged,” Tedros said.
The war between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces, which broke out in April 2023 due to disputes over the integration of the two forces, has killed tens of thousands, driven millions from their homes and plunged half of the population into hunger.
The conflict has produced waves of ethnically driven violence blamed largely on the RSF, creating a humanitarian crisis.
Darfur Governor Mini Minnawi said on X that an RSF drone had struck the emergency department of the hospital in the capital of North Darfur, killing patients, including women and children.
Fierce clashes have erupted in El Fasher between the RSF and the Sudanese joint forces, including the army, armed resistance groups, police, and local defense units.
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9 South African soldiers killed as conflict in eastern Congo escalates
Nine South African soldiers have been killed in eastern Congo’s conflict zone, the South African defense department said Saturday, as Congolese troops and peacekeepers battled to stop an advance by Rwanda-backed rebels on the city of Goma.
Democratic Republic of Congo and its allies earlier repelled an overnight advance on the provincial capital of over 1 million people, two army sources said. The sound of nearby heavy bombardment rocked the city in the early hours.
The three-year M23 insurgency in Democratic Republic of Congo’s mineral-rich east has intensified in January with rebels seizing control of more territory than ever before, prompting the United Nations to warn of the risk of a broader regional war.
As of Friday, two days of fierce fighting had killed two Southern Africans deployed with the U.N. peacekeeping mission and seven others in the Southern African regional bloc’s force in Congo, the South African National Defense Force said in a statement.
“The members put up a brave fight to prevent the rebels from proceeding to Goma as was their intention,” it said, adding that the M23 rebels had been pushed back.
The deaths follow an escalation in hostilities that also led to the killing of North Kivu’s military governor on the front line this week.
The situation appeared calm in Goma on Saturday with people tentatively going about their business amid a heavy police presence, Reuters reporters there said.
The Congolese government and army did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the status of the fighting in the area.
The United Nations said Saturday it had started temporarily relocating its non-essential staff from Goma due to the deteriorating security situation in the province.
Hundreds of thousands flee
Congo, the U.N. and others accuse neighboring Rwanda of fueling the conflict with its own troops and weapons. Rwanda denies this, but the surge in fighting has prompted renewed calls for it to disengage.
“Rwanda must cease its support for the M23 and withdraw,” the European Union said in a statement Saturday.
The Rwandan government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The M23 briefly managed to take over Goma during a previous rebellion in 2012, prompting international donors to cut aid to Rwanda. Even then, the rebels did not hold as much ground as they do now.
The insecurity has also deepened eastern provinces’ already dire humanitarian situation with 400,000 more people forced to flee their homes this year alone, according to the U.N. refugee agency.
“The situation facing Goma’s civilians is becoming increasingly perilous and the humanitarian needs are enormous,” Human Rights Watch said Saturday.
The U.N. Security Council is due to meet Monday to discuss the crisis.
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Drone attack on hospital in Sudan’s Darfur kills 30, source says
PORT SUDAN, SUDAN — A drone attack on one of the last functioning hospitals in El-Fasher in Sudan’s Darfur region killed 30 people and injured dozens, a medical source said Saturday.
The bombing of the Saudi Hospital on Friday evening “led to the destruction” of the hospital’s building where emergency cases were treated, the source told AFP, requesting anonymity for fear of retaliation.
It was not immediately clear which of Sudan’s warring sides had launched the attack.
Since April 2023, the Sudanese army has been at war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, who have seized nearly the entire vast western region of Darfur.
They have besieged El-Fasher, the state capital of North Darfur, since May, but have not managed to claim the city, where army-aligned militias have repeatedly pushed them back.
According to the medical source, the same building had been hit by an RSF drone “a few weeks ago.”
Attacks on health care have been rampant in El-Fasher, where medical charity Doctors Without Borders said this month the Saudi Hospital was “the only public hospital with surgical capacity still standing.”
Across the country, up to 80% of health care facilities have been forced out of service, according to official figures.
The war has so far killed tens of thousands, uprooted more than 12 million and brought millions to the brink of mass starvation.
In the area around El-Fasher, famine has already taken hold in three displacement camps — Zamzam, Abu Shouk and Al-Salam — and is expected to expand to five more areas including the city itself by May, according to a U.N.-backed assessment.
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