News Africa Extended

News Africa Extended

Doubt over ‘second rescued Chibok girl’

Posted: 20 May 2016 06:16 AM PDT

Nigeria has claimed the rescue of a second Chibok girl, just days after the first, but campaigners cast doubt on her identity.

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Nigeria has claimed the rescue of a second Chibok girl, just days after the first, but campaigners on Friday cast doubt on her identity and attention turned to the circumstances of the releases.

The army said Serah Luka was among 97 women and children rescued in the Damboa area of northeast Nigeria on Thursday morning during military operations against Boko Haram Islamists.

The announcement came just hours after the first girl to be found, Amina Ali, met President Muhammadu Buhari, who said the discovery gave a “unique opportunity” to find the remaining hostages.

The 19-year-old was discovered with her four-month-old baby girl, Safiya, and a man she described as her husband near Boko Haram's Sambisa Forest enclave on Tuesday.

Nigeria's military, which has pushed out Boko Haram from captured territory in the last 15 months, has been conducting operations in the former game reserve in Borno state since late April.

Until this week, rebel fighters held 219 of the 276 students abducted from the Government Girls Secondary School in the remote town of Chibok on the evening of April 14, 2014.

Fifty-seven escaped in the immediate aftermath of the kidnapping, which provoked global outrage and brought unprecedented attention on the conflict, which has killed at least 20 000 since 2009.

The head of the Abducted Chibok Girls Parents group, Yakubu Nkeki, said unlike the first announcement about Amina, the military had not contacted them beforehand to establish the second girl's identity.

Only two girls with the surname Luka were on the list of abducted girls and none was from Madagali, in neighbouring Adamawa state, as the military said the second student had claimed, he added.

The military said the teenager was believed to be a Christian pastor's daughter but Nkeki said there were only four priests on the list of parents and none was called Luka.

“I can say in my capacity as the head of the Chibok Abducted Girls Parents group that this girl is not among the abducted Chibok girls,” he told AFP.

The head of the BringBackOurGirls campaign group in Abuja, Oby Ezekwisili, said they were “overjoyed” at the rescue but tweeted: “We have asked for some further verification of her identity.”

A senior military source stood by the army's statement, saying it was “beyond reasonable doubt” that she was among the girls snatched.

“The military personnel who carried out the rescue operation and the civilian vigilantes who assisted them and those who know the girl confirmed that she is among those abducted,” he added.

“We can only change our position if the principal of the school or the government of Borno state come out and refute this established identity of the girl.”

This week's developments have raised hopes that the remaining students will be released and follows a so-called “proof of life” video sent to the government earlier this year.

Until then, none of the kidnapped schoolgirls had been seen since May 2014, when they were shown in a Boko Haram video, apparently converted to Islam and reciting passages from the Koran.

Nigeria's government was cautious about the “proof of life” video because of difficulties establishing whether those who sent it had the authority of the group's leadership to request talks.

Security analysts tracking the conflict suggested Amina may have been released as a gesture of “good faith” by Boko Haram elements rather than by simply military action.

Ryan Cummings, from Signal Risk, said escape was unlikely given that the Chibok girls were said to have been heavily guarded at militant camps in the Sambisa Forest, a vast semi-desert scrubland.

“It seems very fortuitous that the hostage (Amina), child and BH husband just happened to run into a CJTF (civilian joint taskforce) patrol as described”, he told AFP in an email.

Nigeria's military have described the man found with Amina as a “suspected Boko Haram terrorist”.

Cummings also suggested reports of his “defection” with such a prized asset, straight into the hands of the Nigerian army and military intelligence, also seemed unlikely.

AFP

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AU urges international police force for Burundi

Posted: 20 May 2016 06:14 AM PDT

An African Union human rights report called for an international police force and more military and rights observers to be sent to Burundi.

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Bujumbura - An African Union human rights report called on Friday for an international police force and more military and rights observers to be sent to troubled Burundi.

The AU rights investigators said it was “necessary that, apart from strengthening AU human rights monitors and military observers, an international police mission is deployed.”

Last year the AU proposed a 5 000-strong peacekeeping force but the pan-African bloc buckled in the face of opposition from Bujumbura.

Hundreds have been killed and a quarter of a million people have left Burundi since President Pierre Nkurunziza's controversial decision in April 2015 to run for a third term, a vote he won in July.

Anti-government protests were brutally quashed and killings and attacks have become a regular feature in the troubled country as the political crisis grinds on.

The AU said the police would help boost security and ensure “protection of people in those areas most affected by violence and which continue to witness it.”

The report, from the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, was presented to the AU earlier this month but only released publicly on Friday.

The AU investigators also called for the “reopening of the various independent radio stations that were arbitrarily closed down” and to “reverse the collective closure of the 10 civil society organisations that play a key role in the promotion and protection of human rights.”

The report was based on a week-long mission in December 2015, during which time the investigators' movement was limited due to “an eruption of major fighting” in the capital.

“The major consequence of these limitations is that the delegation could not establish the exact identity of the perpetrators of the human rights violations,” it admitted.

Many of the abuses detailed in the 58-page report were therefore based on existing media and rights reports.

A team from the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights began a four-month investigation earlier this month.

The probe comes five months after the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva called for a team to be “urgently” sent there as concerns grow that Burundi risks descending once again into civil war.

Long-stalled peace talks aimed at solving the year-long crisis are due to begin in Tanzania on Saturday, but the main opposition group has not been invited, demolishing hopes of a deal.

AFP

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Three killed in mosque machete attack

Posted: 20 May 2016 06:14 AM PDT

Three people were killed in Tanzania after a group of young people armed with machetes stormed into a mosque slashing those inside, police said.

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Three people were killed in Tanzania after a group of youths armed with machetes stormed into a mosque slashing those inside, police said on Friday.

The attack took place late on Thursday in the northern Tanzanian town of Mwanza, on the shores of Lake Victoria.

“Police are holding three people in connection with the incident,” local police chief Ahmed Msangi said, but gave no details for any possible motivation for the killings.

Around a third of Tanzania's 51 million people are believed to be Muslim and around a half Christian although there are no official figures.

Communities traditionally live peacefully side by side, but there have been sporadic attacks on both mosques and churches in recent years.

Earlier this week a video was released on social media purporting to be Tanzanian men waving an Islamist black flag.

AFP

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Nun dies after being shot in South Sudan

Posted: 20 May 2016 06:13 AM PDT

A Slovakian nun working as a nurse in war-torn South Sudan has died after being shot earlier this week, UN radio said.

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A Slovakian nun working as a nurse in war-torn South Sudan has died after being shot earlier this week, UN radio said on Friday.

Sister Veronika Terezia Rackova was shot in the waist on Monday in the southern town of Yei as she drove to a nearby hospital with a patient.

She was evacuated for medical treatment to the Kenyan capital Nairobi, but died of her wounds.

Local state information minister Stephen Ladu confirmed her death to the UN's Radio Miraya.

Three people have been arrested in connection with the killing.

Civil war erupted in South Sudan in December 2013 but rebel chief Riek Machar returned to the capital last month as part of a peace deal which saw him become vice-president, forging a unity government with President Salva Kiir.

However, fighting continues among multiple militia forces who now pay no heed to either Kiir or Machar.

AFP

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SA resident on board missing #EgyptAir plane

Posted: 20 May 2016 03:40 AM PDT

One of the passengers aboard the plane that went down over the Mediterranean Sea was a Portuguese national based in Joburg, a report said.

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The Portuguese Consulate in South Africa has confirmed that one of the passengers aboard the plane that went down over the Mediterranean Sea on its way to Egypt from France was a Portuguese national based in Joburg.

The Consulate’s Madalena Pascoa said Joao Silva, 61, worked as an engineer for a company called Mota-Engil.

Search teams scouring the Mediterranean Sea on Friday, found the wreckage of the EgyptAir jet, which was carrying 66 people when it crashed after what Egypt said may have been a terrorist attack.

or saw anything suspicious. “We are in the early stage here,” the source said.

Airbus said the missing A320 was delivered to EgyptAir in November 2003 and had operated about 48 000 flight hours.

The missing flight’s pilot had clocked up 6 275 hours of flying experience, including 2 101 hours on the A320, while the first officer had 2 766 hours, EgyptAir said.

At one point, EgyptAir said the plane had sent an emergency signal at 4.26am, two hours after it disappeared from radar screens.

However, Egyptian Civil Aviation minister Sherif Fathi Fathi said later that further checks found that no SOS was received.

The EgyptAir jet, carrying 66 passengers and crew from Paris to Cairo, disappeared from radar over the Mediterranean south of Greece on Thursday, with Athens saying the plane swerved in mid-air before plunging from cruising height and vanishing.

Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said the Airbus had first swerved 90 degrees to the left, then spun through 360 degrees to the right.

After plunging from 37 000 feet to 15 000, it vanished from Greek radar screens.

According to Greeces civil aviation chief, calls from Greek air traffic controllers to flight MS804 went unanswered just before it left Greek airspace, and it disappeared from radar screens soon afterwards.

Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said it was too early to rule out any explanation, including an attack like the one blamed for bringing down a Russian airliner over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula last year.

The country’s aviation minister said a terrorist attack was more likely than a technical failure.

Greece deployed aircraft and a frigate to search for the missing Airbus and officials said they had found pieces of plastic and two lifevests that appeared to have come from an aircraft in the sea 370km south of Crete.

Egypt said it would lead the investigation and that France would participate.

Other countries also offered to help, including Britain and the US.

There was no official indication of a possible cause, whether technical failure or sabotage by ultra-hardline Islamists who have targeted airports, airliners and tourist sites in Europe, Egypt, Tunisia and other Middle Eastern countries over the past few years.

Reuters

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#EgyptAir: Navy searches for black box

Posted: 20 May 2016 03:27 AM PDT

The Egyptian military was sweeping the Mediterranean Sea in search of the black box after finding personal belongings of passengers.

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Cairo - The Egyptian military found the personal belongings of passengers and other debris from an EgyptAir jet floating in the Mediterranean, Cairo said on Friday, confirming that the plane had plunged into the sea with 66 people on board.

The navy said it had found the debris about 290km north of the coastal city of Alexandria and was sweeping the area in search of the plane's black box recorders.

President Adbel Fattah al-Sisi offered condolences for those on board, amounting to Cairo's official confirmation of their deaths.

Although fingers pointed towards Islamist militants who blew up another airliner over Egypt just seven months ago, no group had claimed responsibility more than 24 hours after the disappearance of flight MS804, an Airbus A320 that was flying from Paris to Cairo.

Three French investigators and a technical expert from Airbus arrived in Cairo early on Friday to help investigate the fate of the missing plane, airport sources said.

Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said on Thursday that it was too early to rule out any explanation for the disaster.

The country's aviation minister said a terrorist attack was more likely than a technical failure.

Friday's announcement that debris had been found followed earlier confusion about whether wreckage had been located.

Greek searchers found some material on Thursday, but the airline later said this was not from its plane.

While there was no official explanation of the cause of the crash, suspicion immediately fell on Islamist militants who have been fighting against Egypt's government since Sisi toppled an elected Islamist leader in 2013.

In October, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for blowing up a Russian jetliner that exploded after taking off from an Egyptian tourist resort. Russian investigators blamed a bomb smuggled on board.

Last year's crash already devastated Egypt's tourist industry, one of the main sources of foreign exchange for a country of 80 million people, and another similar attack would crush hopes of it recovering.

While most governments were cautious about jumping to conclusions, US Republican candidate for president Donald Trump tweeted swiftly after the plane's disappearance: “Looks like yet another terrorist attack. Airplane departed from Paris. When will we get tough, smart and vigilant?”

Many hours later his likely Democratic rival Hillary Clinton also said it appeared to be an act of terrorism, although she said an investigation would have to determine the details.

Officials from a number of US agencies told Reuters that a US review of satellite imagery so far had not produced any signs of an explosion. They said the United States had not ruled out any possible causes for the crash, including mechanical failure, terrorism or a deliberate act by the pilot or crew.

Amid uncertainty about what brought down the plane, Los Angeles International Airport became the first major US air transportation hub to say it was stepping up security measures.

“Lives are so cheap”

The plane vanished just as it was exiting air space controlled by Greece for air space controlled by Egypt.

Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said the Airbus swerved radically and plunged from 37 000 feet to 15 000 before vanishing from Greek radar screens.

According to Greece's civil aviation chief, calls from Greek air traffic controllers to MS804 went unanswered just before it left Greek airspace, and it disappeared from radar screens soon afterwards.

There was no official indication of a possible cause, whether technical failure, human error or sabotage.

Ultra-hardline Islamists have targeted airports, airliners and tourist sites in Europe, Egypt, Tunisia and other Middle Eastern countries over the past few years.

The aircraft was carrying 56 passengers, including one child and two infants, and 10 crew, EgyptAir said.

They included 30 Egyptian and 15 French nationals, along with citizens of 10 other countries. A320s normally seat 150 people.

The plane had made scheduled flights to Tunisia and Eritrea on Wednesday before arriving in Paris from Cairo.

At Cairo airport, a man sat on a brown leather couch crying with his hands covering his face on Thursday.

“How long will Egypt live if human lives are so cheap?” he said.

The mother of a flight attendant rushed in tears out of the VIP hall where families waited. She said the last time her daughter called her was Wednesday night.

“They haven't told us anything,” she said.

Reuters

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#EgyptAir plane debris found - military

Posted: 20 May 2016 02:18 AM PDT

The Egyptian military said it had found parts of debris from the missing EgyptAir plane 290km from Alexandria.

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Cairo - The Egyptian military said on Friday it had found parts of debris from the missing EgyptAir plane 290 kilometres north of the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria.

The navy has also found some of the passengers' belongings and is sweeping the area looking for the plane's black box, the military said in a statement.

Reuters

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Search resumes for missing #EgyptAir plane

Posted: 20 May 2016 12:20 AM PDT

The search is continuing for missing AirEgypt flight 804, which disappeared from the radar over the Mediterranean.

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Cairo - The search is continuing for missing AirEgypt flight 804, which disappeared from the radar while carrying 66 passengers and crew from Paris to Cairo.

Authorities are scouring a wide area south of the Greek island of Crete on Friday to search for wreckage, over 24 hours after the Airbus 320 lost contact.

The Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos says that the plane swerved wildly before plummeting into the sea.

The Egyptian military says that no distress call was received from the pilot. The country's aviation minister Sherif Fathi says the likelihood the plane was brought down by a terror attack is “higher than the possibility of a technical failure.”

The distressed relatives of those on board have spent the night in a hotel in Cairo while they await news.

AP

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