Someone in the RFS must have taken media studies.
The Africa Thread
- Thread starter Borachio
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Someone in the RFS must have taken media studies.
EnglishEdward
Deity
There are plenty of other Arab speaking Muslims countries that could help them.
So I am not sure what this has to do with Europe.
And we saw just how ineffective aid from the christian and secular west was received in Afghanistan.
You'd be surprised.
Another post-colonial party about to be ousted on Namiba?
A newcomer party is set to further loosen the grip of the governing SWAPO (South West Africa People’s Organisation) Party of Namibia. The party has governed the country since independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990.
Increasing dissatisfaction among the youth could mean that the party risks losing the presidency and parliamentary majority for the first time. Its vote share has declined rapidly over the last two elections.
However, analysts say that although SWAPO faces the same issues as its counterparts in neighbouring countries, the Namibian opposition lacks coordination.
“Opposition parties are not well organised here like in South Africa or Botswana. That might see SWAPO get off the hook and get on track to win parliament,” Graham Hopwood, the executive director of the Windhoek-based Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), told Al Jazeera.
Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah (72): She is the governing SWAPO Party’s first female presidential candidate and the favourite to win the election, although analysts say she faces strong competition. If she wins, she will become Namibia’s first female president.
Nandi-Ndaitwah was among a host of SWAPO members actively involved in the country’s fight for independence in exile. She returned from the United Kingdom to join parliament in 1990 and went on to serve as minister with several portfolios over the years. The late President Hage Geingob, who died of cancer in February, picked Nandi-Ndaitwah as deputy prime minister and had selected her as his successor before his passing.
Panduleni Itula (67): Itula was once a SWAPO youth leader before his exile to the UK in the 1970s. There, he studied and practised as a dentist for more than 30 years, and returned to Namibia in 2013.
In the 2019 elections, Itula shook up the political landscape when he ran as an independent candidate against late President Geingob, much to the anger of the SWAPO leadership. Itula managed to clinch a significant 29 percent of the vote. It was not enough to block Geingob’s second-term plans, but it was the best any challenger had done against the governing party.
Itula criticises the SWAPO government for what he describes as endemic corruption and general inefficiency in Namibia. He was expelled from SWAPO in 2020.
Now, he is back under his Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) party. He remains popular, especially among Namibia’s young. Itula has promised economic prosperity for the youth, and wants to reduce corporate taxes so more foreign companies can move to the country.
McHenry Venaani (47): He is the leader of the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), Namibia’s largest opposition party. Although the party holds 16 out of 96 seats in parliament, the most after SWAPO, Venaani only managed to clinch 5 percent of the votes in 2019 when he ran for president.
Bernadus Swartbooi (47): He leads the Landless People’s Movement (LPM) which campaigns for land redistribution to Namibians whose land was dispossessed by German settlers in the 1900s. The LPM has four seats in parliament. In 2019, Swartbooi, formerly of SWAPO, won 3 percent of the vote.
Job Amupanda (37): The university professor leads the Affirmative Repositioning (AR) movement which started off as an advocacy group. The entity focuses on land reform programmes as well, and advocates for more aggressive approaches, such as forceful takeovers of foreign-owned land.
Many absentee landowners are of German and South African descent, and live permanently in South Africa, Germany or other European countries.
Polls on Wednesday will close at 9pm CAT (19:00 GMT).
Results could be announced on the following day, November 28.
However, with the electoral commission reverting to ballot papers, the results might take a few more days to emerge. Numerous vote tallying problems in the 2019 elections marred the use of electronic card readers and prompted the switch.
A newcomer party is set to further loosen the grip of the governing SWAPO (South West Africa People’s Organisation) Party of Namibia. The party has governed the country since independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990.
Increasing dissatisfaction among the youth could mean that the party risks losing the presidency and parliamentary majority for the first time. Its vote share has declined rapidly over the last two elections.
However, analysts say that although SWAPO faces the same issues as its counterparts in neighbouring countries, the Namibian opposition lacks coordination.
“Opposition parties are not well organised here like in South Africa or Botswana. That might see SWAPO get off the hook and get on track to win parliament,” Graham Hopwood, the executive director of the Windhoek-based Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), told Al Jazeera.
- Some 1.45 million eligible voters will pick the president and members of the National Assembly.
- Twenty-one parties are competing for 96 parliament seats. There are 15 presidential candidates.
- Presidential candidates are required to win more than 50 percent of the vote to secure the top job.
- If no candidate wins the majority vote, the two highest-polling candidates will face off in a second election round. This has never happened in Namibia.
Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah (72): She is the governing SWAPO Party’s first female presidential candidate and the favourite to win the election, although analysts say she faces strong competition. If she wins, she will become Namibia’s first female president.
Nandi-Ndaitwah was among a host of SWAPO members actively involved in the country’s fight for independence in exile. She returned from the United Kingdom to join parliament in 1990 and went on to serve as minister with several portfolios over the years. The late President Hage Geingob, who died of cancer in February, picked Nandi-Ndaitwah as deputy prime minister and had selected her as his successor before his passing.
Panduleni Itula (67): Itula was once a SWAPO youth leader before his exile to the UK in the 1970s. There, he studied and practised as a dentist for more than 30 years, and returned to Namibia in 2013.
In the 2019 elections, Itula shook up the political landscape when he ran as an independent candidate against late President Geingob, much to the anger of the SWAPO leadership. Itula managed to clinch a significant 29 percent of the vote. It was not enough to block Geingob’s second-term plans, but it was the best any challenger had done against the governing party.
Itula criticises the SWAPO government for what he describes as endemic corruption and general inefficiency in Namibia. He was expelled from SWAPO in 2020.
Now, he is back under his Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) party. He remains popular, especially among Namibia’s young. Itula has promised economic prosperity for the youth, and wants to reduce corporate taxes so more foreign companies can move to the country.
McHenry Venaani (47): He is the leader of the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), Namibia’s largest opposition party. Although the party holds 16 out of 96 seats in parliament, the most after SWAPO, Venaani only managed to clinch 5 percent of the votes in 2019 when he ran for president.
Bernadus Swartbooi (47): He leads the Landless People’s Movement (LPM) which campaigns for land redistribution to Namibians whose land was dispossessed by German settlers in the 1900s. The LPM has four seats in parliament. In 2019, Swartbooi, formerly of SWAPO, won 3 percent of the vote.
Job Amupanda (37): The university professor leads the Affirmative Repositioning (AR) movement which started off as an advocacy group. The entity focuses on land reform programmes as well, and advocates for more aggressive approaches, such as forceful takeovers of foreign-owned land.
Many absentee landowners are of German and South African descent, and live permanently in South Africa, Germany or other European countries.
Polls on Wednesday will close at 9pm CAT (19:00 GMT).
Results could be announced on the following day, November 28.
However, with the electoral commission reverting to ballot papers, the results might take a few more days to emerge. Numerous vote tallying problems in the 2019 elections marred the use of electronic card readers and prompted the switch.
Broken_Erika
Play with me.
Zimbabwe abolishes death penalty
Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa has approved a law that abolishes the death penalty in the southern African state with immediate effect.Rights group Amnesty hailed the decision as a "beacon of hope for the abolitionist movement in the region", but expressed regret that the death penalty could be reinstated during a state of emergency.
Mnangagwa's move comes after Zimbabwe's parliament voted earlier in December to scrap the death penalty.
Zimbabwe last carried out an execution by hanging in 2005, but its courts continued to hand down the death sentence for serious crimes like murder.
About 60 people were on death row at the end of 2023, according to Amnesty.
They will be re-sentenced by the courts, with judges ordered to consider the nature of their crime, the time they spent on death row and their personal circumstances, the state-owned Herald newspaper reports.
Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said the abolition of the death penalty was "more than a legal reform; it is a statement of our commitment to justice and humanity".
The death sentence was introduced in what is now Zimbabwe during British colonial rule.
Mnangagwa has been a long-standing critic of capital punishment, citing his own experience of being sentenced to death in the 1960s for blowing up a train during the guerrilla war for independence.
His sentence was later commuted to 10 years in prison.
The Death Penalty Abolition Act was published in the government gazette on Tuesday after Mnangagwa signed it into law.
Amnesty said the move was not "just great progress" for Zimbabwe but also a "major milestone" in international efforts to end "this ultimate cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment".
It urged the Zimbabwean authorities to "remove the clause included in the amendments to the Bill allowing for the use of the death penalty for the duration of any state of public emergency".
Mnangagwa's Zanu-PF party has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980.
It has repeatedly been accused by opposition and rights groups of ruling with an iron fist in its bid to remain in power.
Globally, 113 countries, including 24 in Africa, have fully abolished the death penalty, according to Amnesty.
The five countries with the highest number of executions in 2023 were China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and the US, the rights group added.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn8gqz7n559o
Rwanda's government claims it's ‘ready’ to invade the neighbouring DRC a.k.a. Congo-LeopoldBrazzaville a.k.a. Zaïre in support of the rebel armies.
But this actually covers up the fact that the Rwandan army has already crossed the border. In the fighting, 13 UN peacekeepers have been killed.
But this actually covers up the fact that the Rwandan army has already crossed the border. In the fighting, 13 UN peacekeepers have been killed.
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Ajidica
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While I appreciate the post about Rwanda and the DRC, the pedant in me must point out that Congo-Brazzaville was the French Congo, not Belgian Congo. The DRC / Zaire was often known as Congo-Leopoldville to differentiate it before it changed its name.
Marla_Singer
United in diversity
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has as capital Kinshasa. It's a huge country of (2.5 million km² / 1 million sq mi) with a population of 110 million people. Rwanda which is about 100 times smaller, is neighbouring it on the East.
The Republic of the Congo has as capital Brazzaville. It's a much smaller country, located West of DRC, with a population of 6 million people.
The Republic of the Congo has as capital Brazzaville. It's a much smaller country, located West of DRC, with a population of 6 million people.
Snowygerry
Deity
Goma has fallen apparently,
M23 Rebels Capture Goma, FARDC Surrenders Weapons to MONUSCO
Goma – The city of Goma has fallen into the hands of M23 rebels following intense fighting between the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) Armed Forces (FARDC) and the rebel group in the early hours of Monday. Congolese soldiers, now in retreat, have begun surrendering their weapons and...
chimpreports.com
What is this conflict all about?
danjuno
Cole Phelps, Badge 1247
Tensions going back to the Rwandan Genocide and the Congo Wars:
en.wikipedia.org
Kivu conflict - Wikipedia
Snowygerry
Deity
Resources mostly.
amp.dw.com
Congo violence escalates as M23 follow raw materials trail – DW – 01/26/2025
The violence in eastern Congo has escalated. Near Goma in North Kivu, 13 peacekeepers have been killed by M23 rebels, while Congo has broken off relations with Rwanda. The North Kivu region is rich in gold and coltan.
amp.dw.com
Broken_Erika
Play with me.
Rwanda-backed rebels take control of airport in Goma, eastern Congo's largest city
Several embassies attacked in Congo's capital, including U.S., Belgium and France
Rebels seized the airport of east Congo's largest city, Goma, on Tuesday, potentially cutting off the main route for aid to reach hundreds of thousands of displaced people, after capturing the city in an offensive that left dead bodies lying in the streets.M23 fighters marched into Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, on Monday. It was the worst escalation since 2012 of a three-decade conflict rooted in the long fallout from the Rwandan genocide and the struggle for control of Congo's abundant mineral resources.
The United Nations has heard that the rebels control the airport and are inside Goma, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at a briefing, describing the situation as "tense and fluid."
"There are real risks of breakdown of law and order in the city, given the proliferation of weapons," he warned, adding that UN peacekeepers and personnel had been forced to shelter at their bases.
In the Congolese capital Kinshasa, 1,600 kilometres west of Goma, protesters attacked a United Nations compound and embassies, including those of Rwanda, France and the United States, expressing anger at what they said was foreign interference. Looters ransacked the Kenyan Embassy.
Goma is a major hub for people displaced by fighting elsewhere in eastern Congo and aid groups seeking to assist them. The fighting has sent thousands of people streaming out of the city, including some who had recently sought refuge there from M23's offensive since the start of the year.
Just across the border in Rwanda, trucks were unloading large numbers of people fleeing Goma with their children and bundles of possessions wrapped in pieces of fabric.
Congo's government and the head of UN peacekeeping have said Rwandan troops were present in Goma, backing up their M23 allies. Rwanda has said it is defending itself against the threat from Congolese militias, without directly commenting on whether its troops have crossed the border.
Dozens of troops surrender
Goma residents and UN sources said dozens of troops had surrendered, but some soldiers and pro-government militiamen were holding out. People in several neighbourhoods reported small arms fire and some loud explosions on Tuesday morning."I have heard the crackle of gunfire from midnight until now … it is coming from near the airport," an elderly woman in Goma's northern Majengo neighbourhood, close to the airport, told Reuters by phone.
Much of the fighting was concentrated around the airport, and by Tuesday afternoon several diplomatic and security sources said the M23 rebels had taken full control of it, putting them in charge of a vital link to the outside world.
"It was through the airport that the UN, the humanitarian groups, the peacekeepers and even the Congolese army were getting supplies in," said Congo researcher Christoph Vogel, adding that there was no viable access by road or by boat on Lake Kivu.
Reports of rape, looting
Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office, told a briefing in Geneva that colleagues had reported "heavy small arms fire and mortar fire across the city and the presence of many dead bodies in the streets.""We have reports of rapes committed by fighters, looting of property … and humanitarian health facilities being hit," he said. Other international aid officials described hospitals overwhelmed, with wounded being treated in hallways.
The city's four main hospitals have treated at least 760 people wounded by the fighting since Sunday, medical and humanitarian sources said, cautioning that they could not estimate an accurate death toll as many people were dying outside the hospitals.
- UN describes 'mass panic' in Goma as Rwanda-backed rebels claim control of key Congo city
- Congo severs ties with Rwanda, accusing it of backing M23 rebels
"Should it be hit in any way by shells which could affect the integrity of the structure, this could potentially allow germs to escape, representing a major public health issue well beyond the borders" of Congo, he said.
In Kinshasa, angry crowds chanted anti-Rwanda slogans and attacked embassies of several countries seen as favourable to Rwanda, setting fire to tires and buildings. The police fired tear gas to disperse them.
"What Rwanda is doing is with the complicity of France, the U.S. and Belgium. The Congolese people are fed up. How many times do we have to die?" protester Joseph Ngoy said.
The Rwandan, French, U.S., Ugandan, Kenyan, Dutch and Belgian embassies were targeted. Videos posted online and verified by Reuters showed dozens of people looting the Kenyan Embassy, while others showed looting had spread to other locations, including a supermarket.
Fear of wider conflict
M23 is the latest in a string of ethnic Tutsi-led, Rwandan-backed insurgencies that have brought tumult to Congo since the aftermath of the genocide in Rwanda 30 years ago, when Hutu extremists killed Tutsis and moderate Hutus, and then were toppled by the Tutsi-led forces that still govern Rwanda.Rwanda says some of the ousted perpetrators have been sheltering in Congo since the genocide, forming militias with alliances with the Congolese government, and pose a threat to Congolese Tutsis and Rwanda itself.
Congo rejects Rwanda's complaints, and says Rwanda has used its proxy militias to control and loot lucrative minerals such as coltan, which is used in smartphones.
The UN and global powers fear the conflict could spiral into a regional war, akin to those of 1996-97 and 1998-2003 that killed millions, mostly from hunger and disease.
Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance, which includes the M23, has suggested the rebels' aim is to replace President Felix Tshisekedi and his government in the capital.
UN peacekeepers have been caught up in the fighting. South Africa said three of its soldiers were killed in crossfire between government troops and rebels and a fourth had succumbed to wounds from earlier fighting, bringing the number of its fatalities in the past week to 13.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/rebels-congo-airport-goma-embassies-kinshasa-1.7443769
Ajidica
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The conflict is really about everything. The Great Lakes specialist Gerard Prunier has noted that although resources is often presented as the 'cause' of the conflict, what makes the conflict so intractable is that is it involves hyper local issues around land ownership.Resources mostly.
Congo violence escalates as M23 follow raw materials trail – DW – 01/26/2025
The violence in eastern Congo has escalated. Near Goma in North Kivu, 13 peacekeepers have been killed by M23 rebels, while Congo has broken off relations with Rwanda. The North Kivu region is rich in gold and coltan.
Going off the top of my head and without checking books, that eastern region (the Kivus) of the Congo saw significant migration of of Kinyarwanda speakers in the pre colonial and colonial times to serve as laborers in the colonial state. This brought them into conflict with the local autochtones (French term for the "native" tribes, i.e. those who were there when whitey showed up regardless of how long they had actually been living there) in the region. After the Rwandan 'Social Revolution' of 1959 saw Tutsi rule replaced by Hutu, a large number of Tutsi fled into the Kivus. This brought some of the Tutsi/Hutu conflict into the region (which had largely avoided such a split among the Kinyarwanda speakers because there were so many other groups in the area); but that conflict largely faded into the background as Tutsi monarchists became irrelevant and the swirl of identities in Zaire meant Hutu and Tutsi never really had a chance to surface, instead staying somewhat united as Kinyarwandan speakers.
After the Rwandan genocide, the ex-FAR, Interahamwe, and genocidaires ended up in the Kivus as a government and society in exile. Mobutu, that old cold war dinosaur, saw a way to come in from the garbage heap of history and get international support by showing he could be a massive nuisance if not kept happy. He played everyone off of each other and engaged in divide and rule. The genocide caused the Hutu-Tutsi split in the Congolese Kinyarwanda speakers to resurface. That, along with long standing tensions between Kinyarwanda speakers and the autochtones over land, economics, political influence, and access to corruption opportunities (Mobutu saw the "interloper" Kinyarwandan speakers as a ethnic group he could rely on and gave high offices to because they lacked enough of a power base to challenge him) saw the region explode into violence over both ethnic conflict and fights over land. Add into that resource exploitation and long running separatist tendencies, and you have a perfect storm.
The fighting has burbled on largely because of fights over land, crippling poverty, and Rwanda having the military restraint of Israel when it comes to security issues. Any aspiring warlord with a few tens of thousand dollars can recruit enough of a warband of unemployed young men with old rifles or machetes. Terrorize a few villages, scare off the local Congolese soldiers (who are often untrained, unpaid, and unfed), and start exploiting the locals for mineral resources. Fighters are easy to attract because you give them the opportunity to earn some money and feel powerful. Make a right nuisance of yourself and either the government and UN peacekeepers mobile enough force to send you into the bush for a few years to lay low, or they decide to engage in a "reconciliation process" where you and your loyalists get some plum government jobs and corruption opportunities. (Plus by the mid 90s Zaire had sunk beneath even the already low standards for state capacity when compared to its neighbors in sub Saharan African. It is still digging itself out of that pit.)
Plus the Hutu-Tutsi conflict is still rumbling along and is both conflict between Hutu-Tutsi Congolese and the Hutu-Tutsi Rwandan conflict.
You also have other neighboring conflicts wandering in from time to time, such as Uganda's conflict with the Allied Democratic Forces. (Which is an incredibly strange group that has its roots in an alliance between Bugandan ultra-monarchists and Islamic Jihadists.)
Conflict creates opportunities for low level banditry and score settling, leading the the formation of local self-defense groups, which are often little more than bandits themselves. These form a perfect force for any would be warlord. Conflict breeds conflict and grinding poverty. The fertility of the region and UN humanitarian activities means that, as brutal as it sounds, famine and mass death from disease is unlikely. So the population keeps growing, fighting keeps economic activity down, and there is a ready pool of young men willing sign up to any would be warlord for a couple bucks. The UN operation in the DRC, in particular its peacekeeping operation, is barely on speaking terms with the DRC government. The peacekeeping operation only barely avoided getting kicked out of the country last summer:
Understanding the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Push for MONUSCO’s Departure – Africa Center
Many Congolese dread the withdrawal of MONUSCO peacekeepers, believing government forces are unable to provide security in the eastern DRC.
africacenter.org
Military Group’s Expansion in Democratic Republic of Congo ‘Carries Very Real Risk of Provoking Wider Regional Conflict’, Mission Head Tells Security Council | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases
A careful, incremental approach is vital to the three-phase withdrawal of the longstanding United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, speakers told the Security Council today, stressing the need to avoid a domestic security vacuum and the regional spillover of...
Regretfully, I'm not as caught up on M23 as I would like to be, but an absolutely stellar book on the Kivus is Africa's World War by Gerard Prunier. Literally half the book is spent just setting up the ethno-economic mess that is the Kivus.
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Fixed!
Broken_Erika
Play with me.
DR Congo rebels vow to march all the way to capital
The rebel leader whose fighters have captured Goma, the biggest city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, has vowed to continue their offensive all the way to the capital, Kinshasa.Corneille Nangaa, who heads an alliance of rebel groups that includes the M23, said their ultimate aim was to topple President Félix Tshisekedi's government.
Unconfirmed reports say the Rwanda-backed rebels are currently advancing towards Bukavu, the second-biggest city in the mineral-rich east, despite international calls for a ceasefire.
In a televised address after the fall of Goma, Tshisekedi said a "vigorous and coordinated response" was under way to recapture territory from the rebels.
"Be sure of one thing: the Democratic Republic of Congo will not let itself be humiliated or crushed. We will fight and we will triumph," he said on Wednesday evening.
The fighting has forced about 500,000 people from their homes, worsening an already dire humanitarian crisis, according to the UN.
On Thursday, Nangaa presented the rebels as the new administrators of Goma, telling journalists they were there to stay and would get services up and running again.
Since fighting escalated last week, electricity and water supplies in the city have been cut off, and food is scarce.
- What's the fighting in DR Congo all about?
- South Africa and Rwanda go head-to-head over DR Congo war
- The evidence that shows Rwanda is backing rebels in DR Congo
Analysts say such an offensive would be unlikely given the vast size of the country - Kinshasa is 2,600km (1,600 miles) away. However, it did happen in 1997, when Rwanda-backed forces ousted long-time leader Mobutu Sese Seko.
Nangaa's comments will increase anger in Kinshasa, which has accused neighbouring Rwanda of backing the rebels, and even having its troops in Goma.
Rwanda is also facing a chorus of international criticism, despite its denials of direct military support.
M23 - the main rebel group in the alliance - is led by ethnic Tutsis, and says it took up arms to protect the rights of the minority group in DR Congo.
Rwanda's President Paul Kagame is also a Tutsi, and accuses DR Congo's government of harbouring Hutu militias who were involved in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
Both the UN and the southern African regional bloc Sadc have peacekeepers in the east, but they failed to halt the rebel assault.
Peacekeepers from several counties have been killed in the conflict, with South African troops suffering the highest casualties - 13.
On Wednesday, Kagame said Rwanda was ready for a confrontation with South Africa if necessary, following a claim by President Cyril Ramaphosa that M23 fighters and Rwandan forces were responsible for the deaths.
In a strongly worded statement on X, Kagame accused Ramaphosa of distorting their private conversations.
"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. And if South Africa prefers confrontation, Rwanda will deal with the matter in that context any day," he said.
The exchange marks a significant escalation in tensions between the two nations, whose relationship has been fragile for several years.
Southern African leaders are due to hold a summit on Friday, with Kagame saying their regional force was "not a peacekeeping force, and it has no place in this situation".
In contrast, Tshisekedi paid tribute to the killed Sadc soldiers "fighting alongside us", as well as UN peacekeepers.
The UN, the European Union and countries including the US and China have all called on Rwandan forces to leave DR Congo.
The UK and Germany are among donor countries that have threatened to withdraw their aid to Rwanda in the wake of the M23 offensive.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on Wednesday that £32m ($40m) of annual bilateral aid was under threat, while Germany has cancelled aid talks with the country.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgn1k9nleno
Ehm. The M23 reached the city of Goma two days ago and the Munzenze prison wasn't spared. About four thousand male inmates escaped while the women's area was set on fire and hundreds of women inmates raped and/or killed in the fire.
And now the M23 group has announced a unilateral ceasefire for ‘humanitarian reasons’.
Also, UN peacekeepers say that they've spotted Rwandan soldiers in Congolese territory.
And now the M23 group has announced a unilateral ceasefire for ‘humanitarian reasons’.
Also, UN peacekeepers say that they've spotted Rwandan soldiers in Congolese territory.
Broken_Erika
Play with me.
Villagers killed execution-style in Sudan, activists say
More than 200 unarmed civilians have been killed in a cluster of villages in Sudan over three days by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that is involved in a brutal conflict with the military, a local rights group has said.The Emergency Lawyers network said the attacks happened in al-Kadaris and al-Khelwat towards the north of White Nile state - areas where the military had no presence.
RSF fighters were guilty of "executions, kidnappings, enforced disappearances and property looting", the network added.
The RSF, which was allied to the military before the civil war broke out in April 2023, has not commented on the allegations.
The two had come to power together in a coup - but fell out over an internationally backed plan to move towards civilian rule.
Some senior RSF leaders are currently in Kenya where they are expected to announce plans to form their own government in areas under their control.
Analysts warn the move could deepen divisions in Sudan.
- Sudan war: A simple guide to what is happening
- BBC hears of horror and hunger in rare visit to Darfur massacre town
- Last surgeons standing in Darfur city's only hospital
Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed, with both the RSF and army accused of committing atrocities.
At the heart of this conflict is a falling out between Sudan's de facto ruler and army chief Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and his deputy-turned-rival Mohamed Hamdan "Hemedti" Dagalo, who leads the RSF.
The RSF was recently dealt a significant blow when the army regained control of parts of the capital, Khartoum - including its military headquarters.
Beyond the capital, the army has also won near total control of the crucial state of Gezira.
Following the setbacks, the RSF has rebounded with plans to launch a rival government in areas still under its control, which are mainly in Darfur and parts of Kordofan state.
The RSF is meeting allied groups in Nairobi to finalise the adoption of what it calls a "political charter for the Government of Peace and Unity".
Gen Burhan has rejected the move, and has vowed to reclaim the whole of Khartoum.
He is currently based in Port Sudan, having been forced to leave Khartoum months after the civil war broke out when the RSF seized the military headquarters and the presidential palace.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0rzw8wqn8vo
Snowygerry
Deity
The African World War lives up to its name :
www.dw.com
Uganda deploys troops to DR Congo to repel militias – DW – 02/18/2025
The Ugandan troop deployment comes as the Congolese army faces a major challenge from rebel groups seeking to control the mineral-rich region.
www.dw.com
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