Africa (except North Africa)

Somali PM orders probe into killing of 7 civilians in southern region

MOGADISHU, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Roble on Saturday ordered investigations into the deaths of seven civilians reportedly killed by the African Union troops during a counter-offensive in Golweyn, the southern part of the country.

The prime minister's spokesman Mohamed Moalimuu said Roble has formed a ministerial committee to probe reports of civilian killing by AMISOM forces on Aug. 10.

Covid-19: Serbia to donate 50,000 doses of vaccine to Angola

LUANDA, Aug 21 (NNN-Xinhua) — Serbia will donate at least 50,000 doses of Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine to Angola under an agreement signed Friday in Luanda between the two countries.

Russia’s Sputnik V is one of the five vaccine brands that are being administered in Angola, in parallel with AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Sinopharm.

Speaking at the ceremony, Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic said that the donation is a gesture of friendship and fraternity towards the Angolan people.

Lebanon joins opposition to Israel's AU membership

20 Aug 2021; MEMO: The Lebanese Foreign Ministry yesterday welcomed a recent announcement by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) opposing the unilateral decision of the African Union to grant Israel observer status.

In an official statement, the ministry said that the SADC stance was "in line with the provisions of international law and historical solidarity."

47 migrants found dead on Mauritanian coast

NOUAKCHOTT, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Forty-seven migrants were found drowned on Aug. 16 off the coast of Nouadhibou, northwest Mauritania, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) announced in a joint statement.

According to the statement received on Thursday by Xinhua, a boat carrying the migrants left on Aug. 3 from North Africa's Atlantic coast for the Canary Islands and was carrying 54 people, including three children.

South Africa's National Assembly elects former defense minister as Speaker

CAPE TOWN, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, who was recently replaced in the position of South Africa's defense minister, was on Thursday elected as Speaker of the National Assembly (NA), where country leaders including President and Deputy President are elected or selected.

Cameroon ethnic clashes kill at least 32 as villages are torched -UNHCR

DOUALA, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Clashes between herders and fishermen in northern Cameroon have killed at least 32 people this month, with 19 villages torched, the U.N. refugee agency said on Thursday.

Some 11,000 people fled to Chad and a further 7,300 were displaced in Cameroon's Far North after fighting broke out on Aug. 10 between Choa Arab herders and Mousgoum fishermen and farmers, the UNHCR said.

Officials described the fighting as Cameroon's worst ethnic violence in years.

Cholera death toll rises to 1,178 in Nigeria

ABUJA, Aug 17 (NNN-Xinhua) — The cholera epidemic has killed 1,178 people in 23 states and Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, since it broke out in January, the Nigeria Center for Disease Control(NCDC) said Tuesday.

In an update of the cholera outbreak in Nigeria, the health agency said 37,819 suspected cases of cholera were reported from 23 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as of Saturday.

“Out of the reported cases, 26 percent were aged 5-14 years, 51 percent were males and 49 percent were females,” the NCDC said.

Burkina army says killed 13 jihadists, destroyed camp

OUAGADOUGOU, Aug 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least 13 jihadists have been killed and a “terrorist logistics site” destroyed in a response to armed attacks in northern and eastern Burkina Faso, the west African country’s army
said.

  On Sunday, an air and land operation was mounted following an attack on the Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland (VDP) militia in Beleyanga in the Sahel region, said a statement from the Burkinabe chief of staff.

  The military was able to “neutralise around 10 terrorists, destroy weapons and about 15 motorbikes”, it said.

Three soldiers killed in NE Mali explosion

BAMAKO, Aug 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Three Malian soldiers were killed by an improvised explosive device as they were driving to an airport in the restive northeast, the country’s armed forces said.

  A military vehicle “en route to the airport in Menaka hit an improvised explosive device this Sunday,” the army said on Twitter.

Congo says U.S. to deploy counter-terrorism advisors to restive east

KINSHASA, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Special forces from the United States will soon deploy to Democratic Republic of Congo's restive east to gauge the potential for a local anti-terrorism unit to combat Islamist violence, President Felix Tshisekedi said on Sunday.

The Special Operations Forces arrived in Congo's capital Kinshasa on Friday to "conduct an assessment of a future Congolese counter-terrorism team," U.S. ambassador Mike Hammer said.

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