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Gunmen storm Somali hotel killing 26

Details: Written by northsouth; Category: Africa; Published: 13 July 2019; Hits: 52

KISMAYO, Somalia - At least 26 people, including a prominent journalist and several foreigners, have been killed in an attack on a hotel in southern Somalia.
A suicide bomber rammed a car containing explosives into the Asasey hotel in the port of Kismayo, and gunmen then stormed the building.
Journalist Hodan Naleyah and her husband are thought to be among the dead.
Islamist group al-Shabab has claimed the attack.
A local politician, three Kenyans, three Tanzanians, two Americans and and one Briton were also killed, authorities say.
Regional politicians and clan elders were inside the hotel discussing a forthcoming regional election when the attack began.
Witnesses said they heard a huge blast before several heavily armed men forced their way in.
"There is chaos inside, I saw several dead bodies carried from the scene and people are fleeing from the nearby buildings," one witness, Hussein Muktar, said during the attack.
It took several hours for authorities to regain control over the hotel.
Regional President Ahmed Mohamed put the death toll at 26 with more than 50 people wounded. Four attackers were also killed in the raid.
Local media and a Somali journalists' association said Nalayeh, 43, and her husband Farid were among the dead.
Nalayeh founded the media platform Integration TV to tell stories about life in Somalia and in the Somali diaspora. Recent episodes had focused on Somalia's female entrepreneurs and things to do in the city of Las Anod.
She moved to Canada with her family when she was six years old and went on to become a figurehead of the Somali community there. But the mother of two had recently returned to Somalia.
Tributes have been paid to her, with BBC journalist Farhan Jimale calling her "a beautiful soul" while Canada's immigration minister Ahmed Hussen said she was a "voice for many".(FA)

UNFPA urges global action on FGM

Details: Written by northsouth; Category: Africa; Published: 25 June 2019; Hits: 43

ACCRA - The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is mounting a campaign to end the scourge of female genital mutilation (FGM) and child-marriage by 2030, a UN official said.

Opening the Third China-Africa Conference on Population and Development in Accra, Ghana on Monday, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNFPA Natalia Kanem urged a concerted global effort to end these twin issues, especially in Africa.

Kanem said the UNFPA will also ensure contraceptives are available, especially in Africa where demand is high, as well as ending gender-based violence and maternal mortality.

"Women and girls deserve respect, full and equal participation, equity and equality," she added.

Kanem lauded China for its cooperation with Africa in promoting population and development, taking a cue from its success in reaping the demographic dividend in economic and social development.

The three-day conference is hosted by Ghana's Ministry of Planning, with support from the Chinese government.(FA)

Ethiopia army chief shot dead

Details: Written by northsouth; Category: Africa; Published: 23 June 2019; Hits: 58

ADDIS ABABA - The chief of staff of the Ethiopian army, Gen Seare Mekonnen, has been shot dead by his own bodyguard in the capital, Addis Ababa.

He and another officer died trying to prevent a coup attempt against the administration in Ethiopia's northern Amhara region, PM Abiy Ahmed said.

In Amhara itself, regional governor Ambachew Mekonnen was killed along with an adviser.

The government says the situation is under control after arrests were made.

The prime minister has gone on TV to urge Ethiopians to unite in the face of "evil" forces set on dividing the country.

The US state department has warned its staff in Addis Ababa to stay inside.

Ethnic violence has hit Amhara and other parts of Ethiopia in recent years.

Since his election last year, Mr Abiy has moved to end political repression by releasing political prisoners, removing bans on political parties and prosecuting officials accused of human rights abuses.

Africa's oldest independent country, Ethiopia is also the continent's second most populous (after Nigeria), with 102.5 million inhabitants from more than 80 different ethnic groups.

A transfer hub for long-haul air travel, it has one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, but a vast number of young Ethiopians are without work.

Gen Seare was killed on Saturday evening at his residence along with another general, Gezai Abera, by the bodyguard who is now in custody, the prime minister's press office says.

The government says it has reason to think the attack was linked to the assassination of the governor of Amhara a few hours earlier in the region's capital, Bahir Dar.

Mr Ambachew was killed at a meeting in his office along with his senior adviser, Ezez Wasie, while the region's attorney general was wounded.

Lake Ayalew has now been appointed as the region's acting governor.

The prime minister's office accused Amhara's regional security chief, Brig-Gen Asaminew Tsige, of plotting the coup attempt. It is unclear whether he has been arrested.

Many of those involved in the coup attempt are under arrest and operations are in progress to detain others, the PM's press office said.

"The coup attempt in Amhara regional state is against the constitution and is intended to scupper the hard-won peace of the region," it added.

"This illegal attempt should be condemned by all Ethiopians and the federal government has full capacity to overpower this armed group."(FA)

French allied forces kill Mali militants

Details: Written by northsouth; Category: Africa; Published: 16 June 2019; Hits: 51

BAMAKO - Allied French and Malian forces killed 20 militants in an operation in a part of northern Mali where Islamic State operates, a spokesman for the West African nation’s military said on Sunday.

The operation in the district of Akabar, a remote part of a game reserve near the border with Niger and not far from the Malian city of Menaka, was continuing, army spokesman Colonel Diarran Kone said by telephone.

“But I can tell you that 20 terrorists have been neutralised,” he said.

Mali has become increasingly engulfed in violence since a Tuareg uprising in 2012 was hijacked by Islamist militants, prompting France to intervene to push them back the following year.

Several jihadist factions and allied criminal gangs have regrouped and set up operations in parts of Mali, from where they have launched attacks across the Sahel.

They also now have a significant presence in swathes of neighbour Burkina Faso, and in some remote parts of Niger.

Despite the deployment of 4,500 French troops meant to contain the violence in the Sahel, it has steadily worsened, and the Islamists have succeeded in triggering an ethnic conflict.

Attackers believed to belong to the Fulani ethnic group raided the ethnic Dogon village of Sobane Da last Sunday and Monday, killing 35 people, according to the government, although a local authority maintains the real figure is 95 deaths. A bigger massacre by Dogon hunters in March left 150 dead.

Malians have become increasingly frustrated by the failure of the authorities to end regular attacks by jihadist groups with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State, as well as increasing tit-for-tat ethnic killing between Fulani and Dogon villagers.(FA)

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