News Africa Extended

News Africa Extended

Nine killed while watching football on TV

Posted: 06 Nov 2016 11:53 PM PST

At least nine people were killed when a gunman opened fire on people watching a football match on television in Juba.

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Juba, South Sudan - At least nine people were killed and 11 wounded in South Sudan's capital, Juba, when an unidentified gunman opened fire on people watching a football match on television at the weekend, a police spokesman said on Monday.

The motive for the attack on Saturday night in Juba's southwestern suburb of Gure was not immediately clear.

South Sudan has been plagued by violence since a civil war erupted in December 2013, although it was not clear if the shooting was linked to political tensions.

South Sudan, a poor, oil producing nation, is awash with arms.

"The investigation is going on," South Sudan police spokesman Daniel Justin said. He said six people were killed at the scene and three died on the way to hospital.

Juba was the scene of fresh fighting in July between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and those of his rival Riek Machar.

Machar, who had returned to the capital to resume the post of vice president weeks earlier, fled Juba during that flare-up and is now abroad.

Reuters

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Kenya denies UN report of illegal trade in Somalia

Posted: 06 Nov 2016 11:09 PM PST

Kenya has dismissed a UN report linking its troops to illicit charcoal trade from a port under their control in Somalia.

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Nairobi - Kenya on Sunday dismissed a United Nations report linking its troops to illicit charcoal trade from a port under their control in Somalia.

State House spokesman Manoah Esipisu condemned the allegation "in the strongest terms possible," terming it "hogwash masquerading as research."

The Kenyan troops are part of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which is helping the Somali government battle terror group Al-Shabaab.

"We are focused on the job that took us to Somalia in the first place, and will not be distracted by the latest hogwash masquerading as research," Esipisu told journalists in Nairobi.

A UN Monitoring Group report, published by a Kenyan daily on Sunday, said Kenyan troops in Somalia received fees for allowing illicit exports of charcoal from the port of Kismayu. The report said the Kenyan troops received US$2 per bag of charcoal at Kismayu, citing charcoal industry and non-governmental organisation sources.

The report estimated that up to 6 million bags of charcoal had been exported annually from Kismayu and Buur Gaabo, another port adjacent to a Kenyan army base in Somalia.

Charcoal exports were banned by the UN Security Council in 2012 in an effort to cut off funding for Al-Shabaab.

Esipisu said the UN report appeared as a regurgitation of reports NGOs have issued over time, with the sole agenda of "demoralizing" Kenyan troops.

Last week, Kenya was angered by the UN chief's dismissal of Kenyan Lt. General Johnson Kimani Ondieki as the commander of the UN peacekeeping force in South Sudan.

Xinhua

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74 000 Nigerian refugees registered in Cameroon

Posted: 03 Nov 2016 11:59 AM PDT

A UN report has revealed that around 74 000 refugees from Nigeria fleeing violence committed by Boko Haram have registered in Cameroon this year.

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Yaoude - Around 74 000 refugees from Nigeria fleeing violence committed by Boko Haram have registered in Cameroon this year, according to a UN report.

United Nations Coordinator in Cameroon and United Nations Development Programme Cameroon Representative Najat Rochdi said recently Cameroon had received 74 618 refugees from Nigeria by the end of October.

The refugees are settling in a secured camp in Minawa of Far North Region, which has been frequently attacked by Boko Haram since 2013.

Since the regional African forces were established by Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, Benin and Niger in Feb. 2015, the activities of Boko Haram in Cameroon have been contained.

But persistent violence in northeastern Nigeria has continued to push many Nigerians into Cameroon. In 2015, the number of Nigerian refugees in Cameroon was around 60 000.

ANA-Xinhua

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