News Africa Extended

News Africa Extended

Al-Shabaab ‘execute four spies’

Posted: 11 Jun 2016 05:40 AM PDT

Somalia's militant al-Shabaab group said it had executed four people it accused of espionage.

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Mogadishu - Somalia's militant al-Shabaab group said late on Friday it had executed four people it accused of espionage, including one who was beheaded for allegedly giving information to the United States that led to the killing of the group's former leader.

The Islamist group wants to topple Somalia's Western-backed government and rule the country according to sharia law.

In 2011, al-Shabaab was ejected from Mogadishu by the African Union force AMISOM, and last year it was also pushed out of its southern Somalia strongholds by a combination of AMISOM and the Somali National Army.

In recent months, however, the group has stepped up attacks on AMISOM forces and conducted gun, bomb and suicide assaults on civilian targets in Mogadishu and other towns, underscoring its resilience.

According to al-Shabaab's radio, Al Andalus, the four executed men were sentenced to death on Friday afternoon “after they were proved working with (the) CIA, Kenya and Somalia.”

“They were publicly executed in a field in Bula Fulay village of Bay region,” Al Andalus said, referring to an area in southern Somalia.

Ahmed Nur, a local resident, told Reuters by phone people in the area had been asked by al-Shabaab to gather near its camp.

“We thought there was a lecture, however we witnessed three men shot dead and another beheaded in front of us,” he said

According to the radio broadcast, the beheaded man was Mohamed Aden Nur, 26, who was accused of “working with (the) CIA” and facilitating the killing of al-Shabaab's former leader Ahmed Godane, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2014.

Another of the executed men, Muhaydin Hiraab Ahmed, 27, was accused of spying for the CIA and Somalia's neighbour Kenya, and in aiding the killing of Adnan Garaar.

Garaar, who allegedly masterminded the deadly assault on the Westgate Mall in Kenya's capital Nairobi in 2013, was also killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2015.

Reuters

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Food poisoning kills 5 family members

Posted: 11 Jun 2016 03:23 AM PDT

Five members from a polygamous family died from suspected food poisoning in Mwenezi, about 470km south of Harare.

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Harare - Five members from a polygamous family have died from suspected food poisoning in Mwenezi, about 470 kilometres south of the Zimbabwe capital, Harare.

The five – four young children and a elderly woman – died soon after eating supper on Tuesday evening.

According to police, the five, Sylvia, 7, Beauty Baloyi, 4, Tafadzwa, 7, and Takudzwa Pote, 4, as well as 70-year-old Esther Kungali, complained of severe stomach aches and died within minutes of each other soon after eating sadza, a staple food, and fresh milk they had been served.

It is suspected the food had been laced with a herbicide.

National police spokesperson, Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba, described the deaths as “painful”.

“I can confirm five people died in Mwenezi after they developed stomach pains as they were eating supper. We are still investigating their deaths,” she said.

The incident occurred barely 12 hours after tragedy struck in another growth point east of Harare on the same day when six children from the same family died as they were being baptised by two self-styled prophets.

That incident happened near Sadza, a town about 150 kilometres south-east of Harare.

Two suspects, who were later arrested, had taken nine children to a nearby stream for the baptism ceremony.

The children reportedly died after being submerged repeatedly in the freezing cold water.

The children who died were two boys and four girls, aged between one and nine.

– African News Agency

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Mugabe ‘should admit failure’ over bond notes

Posted: 11 Jun 2016 12:38 AM PDT

President Robert Mugabe should admit failure regarding the proposed bond notes and step down immediately, the MDC said.

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Harare - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe should admit failure regarding the proposed bond notes and step down immediately, the Movement for Democratic Change said on Saturday.

“The introduction of bond notes as a strategy to arrest the ravaging cash crisis is a confirmation of dismal failure on the part of the Robert Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe, hence the need for him to step down now,” MDC national spokesman Kurauone Chihwayi said in a statement.

The MDC was shocked by Mugabe’s insistence to introduce bond notes as a solution for the worsening economic crisis currently affecting the ordinary poor people in Zimbabwe, he said.

“President Robert Mugabe has lost [his] grip on the economy and has resorted to meaningless strategies and measures that may create an acute shortage of products on the domestic market.

“We view the introduction of bond notes as an act of arrogance, cruelty, and a criminal strategy to create looting opportunities for Zanu-PF sharks in Zimbabwe after failing to account for the $15 billion that disappeared in their offices and diamond mine shafts.”

The MDC was raising the red flag to draw the attention of both locals and the international community to the man-made crisis in Zimbabwe.

The people had loudly spoken about the bond notes and expressed their dissatisfaction and anger over their introduction but the Mugabe regime had vowed to proceed, Chihwayi said.

– African News Agency

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Libyan forces ‘claim Sirte port from IS’

Posted: 11 Jun 2016 12:37 AM PDT

Forces aligned with Libya's new unity government had taken control of the port of Sirte, making gains in Islamic State's stronghold.

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Tripoli - Forces aligned with Libya's unity government said on Friday they had taken control of the port of Sirte, making further gains in Islamic State's North African stronghold.

Brigades largely composed of fighters from Misrata advanced this week to the perimeter of Sirte's city centre, after launching a counter attack against Islamic State last month and driving the militant group back along the coastal road between the two cities.

The brigades are part of an operation supported by Libya's UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), which arrived in Tripoli in March and has been gradually working to establish its authority.

Western powers see it as the best bet for trying to unite Libya's political and armed factions against Islamic State and for restoring some stability to the oil-rich North African country.

A source from the operations room in Misrata said fighters from the front line in the south of Sirte had looped round to the seafront to capture the port, which lies about 5km east of the city centre.

The brigades have advanced more swiftly than many expected, though their progress has been hampered by suicide bombers, mines and snipers.

Clashes in Sirte on Friday left 11 brigade members dead and 35 wounded, the operations room source said. More than 100 fighters from the GNA-backed brigades have been killed and more than 500 wounded since the campaign to recapture Sirte began in early May.

Islamic State started expanding into Libya in 2014 as the political turmoil and conflict in the country worsened. It took full control of Sirte last year, but has struggled to retain territory or win support elsewhere in Libya.

As the brigades based in Misrata have advanced on Sirte from the west, a separate force that controls some of Libya's key oil terminals and is also aligned with the GNA has pushed Islamic State back from the east. It reached Harawa, a town about 70km from Sirte, on Thursday.

Reuters

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