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Southern Cameroons Crisis: Arson is the government’s policy

11, February 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Arson is the government’s policy 0

The roasting of a baby on February 11, 2021 in Batibo in the North West region of Cameroon seems to be shocking to millions around the world, but very few people remember that the burning of homes during an insurrection or insurgency in Cameroon is a government policy which dates back to the days of the marquisard movement in East Cameroon.

The burning of a baby in Batibo on the country’s Youth Day by government army soldiers is a clear reminder that peace and stability are still illusory in Cameroon though the government is giving the impression that things are stabilizing in Southern Cameroons.

The roasting of vulnerable people is nothing new during this conflict that has already sent more than 7,000 Cameroonians to an early grave.

Kwakwa and Ngarbuh are still fresh in many minds. In Kwakwa, an old woman and a sick old man were roasted alive by army soldiers who are supposed to protect innocent civilians.

In Ngarbuh, government troops gunned down scores of people and set homes ablaze, leaving many calcinated in their homes. These were young children and pregnant women who had nothing to do with the insurgency that has been playing out in the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon for over four years.

The government clearly holds that burning the homes of the poor and innocent people will cause the population to discontinue its support to the insurgents even when it has not been really proven that the population is supporting the fighters.

From every indication, it is also clear that the population has been caught between the devil and deep blue sea. The same population is being threatened by the Southern Cameroonian fighters when the fighters feel that they have been betrayed by somebody.

The population is confused and does not know who to turn to. The government is supposed to support these people who have lost their source of livelihood due to the fighting that is playing out in the Northwest and Southwest regions of the country.

The government of Cameroon has no pity for anybody. The death of children and pregnant women during this fighting does not arouse any pity in government officials. The government has one objective – proving that it can win a war – and the generals leading the troops clearly hold that the insurgency is an opportunity for them to enrich themselves.

The same government has been unleashing its army soldiers on the population just to demonstrate its strength. In Santa in the Northwest region, government forces mowed down some 20 young men in a hotel and the country’s territorial administration minister, Atanga Nji Paul, argued that the boys were fighters even when it was proven that it was the same government that had invited those boys to that hotel for reasons only known to Atanga Nji.

In Muyengue, the government was caught with its pants down with its soldiers setting homes ablaze though the soldiers were wearing blue helmets just to implicate the United Nations.

Government atrocities during this conflict have been carefully documented and whenever the war ends, those who committed these acts or commandeered these acts of extreme violence will be brought to book.

A government has the duty and responsibility of protecting its population but in Southern Cameroons, the Yaounde government is instead working hard to demonstrate that it is more devilish than the ragtag military that is fighting for the total liberation of Southern Cameroons.

Instead of seeking ways of ending the violence and engineering peace in the two English-speaking regions of the country, the Yaounde government is doing its best to prove a point that has no raison d’etre.

This is a war that could have been clearly avoided if the government had used known instruments of conflict management and resolution. Genuine dialogue, a key thrust of conflict resolution, was clearly ignored and to deceive the people of Southern Cameroons and the international community, the despicable Yaoundé government organized a semblance of dialogue wherein it chose who had to participate in it, which issues had to be discussed and what resolutions and conclusions had to be reached by the participants; an idea which only caused the conflict to escalate by multiple notches.

The roasting of a baby in Batibo is no accident and let nobody be deceived by whatever the government would say.

The Yaounde government is in the business of winning an argument and it will stop at nothing to prove its point. As usual, it will order an investigation, the findings of which will remain a dead letter like most of the other investigations conducted over the last 39 years by a government that has been conducting itself like a crime syndicate made in the same mould as the Sicilian Mafia.

Despite its efforts, the Yaounde government must understand that regardless of the ferocious brutality it is inflicting on the population, a clear military victory is a clear impossibility.

The more atrocities the government commits in Southern Cameroons, the more it creates more determined and angry fighters whose cardinal objective is to avenge the death of their loved ones.

The only way out of the quagmire the government has created will be sincere dialogue held with key Southern Cameroonian factions in a neutral place in the presence of a neutral third party.

But such dialogue cannot take place when the poster boy of the rebellion, Julius Ayuk Tabe, and other key elements of the Southern Cameroons struggle are still being held in the dungeons of East Cameroon.

A good first step will be releasing all those who have been arrested within the framework of the struggle and granting a general amnesty to all those who have directly or indirectly played a role in this struggle!

The burning of homes, babies and the old will never bring peace to Cameroon. On the contrary, it will only sow bitterness, revenge, death and destruction. The government must learn from history and it must acknowledge that times have changed.

If it defeated the marquisard movement in the 60s, it must understand that there was no internet and those involved in the marquisard movement were not many.

Today, there are some four million Southern Cameroonians out of their country and each one of them has been affected by the senseless fighting. And this is causing many of them to contribute money, ideas and time to ensure that the government stews in its own juice in Southern Cameroons by killing army soldiers and police officers who are collaborating with the corrupt Yaounde regime.

Despite the death and destruction that have already played out in Southern Cameroons, there is still room for genuine and sustainable reconciliation; an opportunity the government needs to seize if it is really looking forward to making Cameroon one and indivisible.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Chairman, Editor-In-Chief

Concord News Group

Southern Cameroons War: Vice President Yerima Launches Operation Big Rubbergun

11, February 2021

Southern Cameroons War: Vice President Yerima Launches Operation Big Rubbergun 0

OPERATION BIG RUBBERGUN…THE LAUNCH

Fellow Southern Cameroonians,

Let me start by asking all of us to maintain a minute of silence for the souls of our fallen heroes for they remain in our prayers.

Today marks the sixtieth anniversary of the attempted decolonization of the Southern Cameroons by the United Nations and the United Kingdom. Today marks 1133 days since our leader, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, and nine members of his leadership team were abducted at the NERA hotel in Abuja, Nigeria. It is seven days today since Human Rights Watch published a report stating clearly that the French Cameroun army executed 10 men, women, and children in Mautu, Fako County on 10 January 2021. I stand here after 550 of our villages have been burned down. Since 2016, we have witnessed the execution of over 20,000 of our people, amongst them a four-month-old baby and a 96-years old great grandmother. Today we have over one million internally displaced persons, 120,000 refugees in Nigeria, Ghana, and the Mexican border.

 I come to remind you of our dark past, dangerous present, and to elaborate on our goal to take back control of our destiny. So, I speak today of grave national sadness and danger but also a moment of national opportunity. Our efforts to defend our people began on 30 November 2017, when Paul Biya of French Cameroun declared war upon our people. Today, we announce a project that offers new hope for our young nation. We are persuaded that the project before you is essential, responsible, and deserving of your support.

The Responsibility to Protect populations from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing has emerged as an important global principle since its unanimous adoption at the UN World Summit in 2005. We are rolling out a plan to ruthlessly adhere to our Responsibility to Protect (R2P) Ambazonia. We must recognize that our security is based on being prepared to meet the threat posed by our enemy. We cannot afford to engage in the luxury of believing that French Cameroun will cease to be an aggressor.

We recognize and applaud our Restoration Forces for their bravery in the face of the brutal force and sophisticated equipment of the French Cameroun military. We recognize and applaud the contributions of humanitarian NGOs and CSOs to our revolution. We recognize and applaud all positive contributions from different organizations like DAC and other frontline movements that have taken us this far. Today, I intend to outline the Interim Government’s plan for 2021 and beyond. WE MUST BE BOLD, and with this project, WE ARE BOLD. OPERATION BIG RUBBERGUN IS HERE.

Today is NOT about social media noise. In the last few weeks, you have been bombarded with noise by people who lack knowledge about this project. Those voices are loud but they are not in the majority.

We will deter our enemy from making attacks only if our retaliatory power is so strong that our enemy knows she faces severe consequences for their actions.  Our strongest hope is a peaceful solution to the conflict by the establishment of a United Nations Internationally Mandated Fact-Finding Mission to our territory. Although we are determined to keep negotiations high on our agenda, we must see our struggle through the lenses of Realists.

We must employ new tactics to fight for the safety of our people and the freedom of our nation. With each passing day, the crisis facing us is magnifying as the enemy advances without fear to spread their hostility, murder, and genocide upon our people. Our defence establishment has evaluated and instructed, and The Interim Government has concluded that OPERATION BIG RUBBERGUN is necessary.

OPERATION BIG RUBBERGUN will:

Recruit, train, and support Restoration Forces in their attempt to capture and hold territory. The project will also provide sophisticated hardware procurement and logistic support to our Restoration Forces. More details on the project will be in the presentation that follows this evening.

Tonight, let me underscore that it is not a delight for any leader to come before his people to burden them financially. But in our judgment, this is a burden worth undertaking. Investment in OPERATION CAPHOT aka THE BIG RUBBERGUN is an obligation that we believe will deliver us significant gains.

We cannot merely state our opposition to the genocide without paying the price for freedom. From your investments in OPERATION BIG RUBBERGUN, we shall undertake a reorganization and modernization of our self-defence structure, to increase its firepower, tactical mobility, and flexibility to meet any direct or indirect threat from the enemy. I am asking you today to search your consciences and invade your resources for us to procure the necessary equipment and materials needed by our brave self-defence heroes who intend to capture, hold territory, and protect our people.

The management of the funds raised by OPERATION BIG RUBBERGUN will be by a Loan Administrator and a Government Financial Officer, both working under the Bank of Ambazonia. All genuine self-defence forces stand to benefit from the resources of this national project.

Fellow Ambazonians, Operation BIG RUBBERGUN is here but our problems are critical and 2021 will not be easy. There will be setbacks before the unfavourable tide is turned. But we have no choice but to persist. The hopes of our nation rest upon us, especially those of us in the diaspora. The problems in achieving our goal of a free, independent, and prosperous Ambazonia are towering and unprecedented but we shall prevail. I believe Ambazonia possesses all the resources and talents necessary for victory, but the facts of the matter are that we have never made the collective decision to assemble the resources required for such victory.

I believe French Cameroun has an opportunity here and now to avert human disaster by releasing our leader, HE President Sisiku AyukTabe, and his top aides including all Southern Cameroons detainees to pave the way for constructive dialogue and good neighborliness.

I believe for us to get to Buea, we cannot afford to waste time squabbling and amplifying our differences.

Fellow Ambazonians, our success in this struggle for freedom and independence depends on the strength of our investment and success in OPERATION BIG RUBBERGUN. We would be badly mistaken to think otherwise. This is our great opportunity if we grasp it to enhance the ability of our self-defence forces in our march to Buea.

Let us use OPERATION BIG RUBBERGUN to affirm that it is Independence or Resistance Forever.

We will not be afraid, we will not be intimidated, and we must be bold

Thank You and God Bless You

Dabney Yerima

Vice President

Federal Republic of Ambazonia

US: Disillusioned Republicans plan to form anti-Trump third party

11, February 2021

US: Disillusioned Republicans plan to form anti-Trump third party 0

Dozens of former Republican officials, who view the party as unwilling to stand up to former President Donald Trump and his attempts to undermine US democracy, are in talks to form a center-right breakaway party, four people involved in the discussions told Reuters.

The early stage discussions include former elected Republicans, former officials in the Republican administrations of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Trump, ex-Republican ambassadors and Republican strategists, the people involved say.

More than 120 of them held a Zoom call last Friday to discuss the breakaway group, which would run on a platform of “principled conservatism,” including adherence to the Constitution and the rule of law – ideas those involved say have been trashed by Trump.

The plan would be to run candidates in some races but also to endorse center-right candidates in others, be they Republicans, independents or Democrats, the people say.

Evan McMullin, who was chief policy director for the House Republican Conference and ran as an independent in the 2016 presidential election, told Reuters that he co-hosted the Zoom call with former officials concerned about Trump’s grip on Republicans and the nativist turn the party has taken.

Three other people confirmed to Reuters the call and the discussions for a potential splinter party, but asked not to be identified.

Among the call participants were John Mitnick, general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security under Trump; former Republican congressman Charlie Dent; Elizabeth Neumann, deputy chief of staff in the Homeland Security Department under Trump; and Miles Taylor, another former Trump homeland security official.

The talks highlight the wide intraparty rift over Trump’s false claims of election fraud and the deadly Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol. Most Republicans remain fiercely loyal to the former president, but others seek a new direction for the party.

The House of Representatives impeached Trump on Jan. 13 on a charge of inciting an insurrection by exhorting thousands of supporters to march on the Capitol on the day Congress was gathered to certify Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory.

Call participants said they were particularly dismayed by the fact that more than half of the Republicans in Congress – eight senators and 139 House representatives – voted to block certification of Biden’s election victory just hours after the Capitol siege.

Most Republican senators have also indicated they will not support the conviction of Trump in this week’s Senate impeachment trial.

“Large portions of the Republican Party are radicalizing and threatening American democracy,” McMullin told Reuters. “The party needs to recommit to truth, reason and founding ideals or there clearly needs to be something new.”

‘These losers’

Asked about the discussions for a third party, Jason Miller, a Trump spokesman, said: “These losers left the Republican Party when they voted for Joe Biden.”

A representative for the Republican National Committee referred to a recent statement from Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.

“If we continue to attack each other and focus on attacking on fellow Republicans, if we have disagreements within our party, then we are losing sight of 2022 (elections),” McDaniel said on Fox News last month.

“The only way we’re going to win is if we come together,” she said.

The Biden White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

McMullin said just over 40% of those on last week’s Zoom call backed the idea of a breakaway, national third party. Another option under discussion is to form a “faction” that would operate either inside the current Republican Party or outside it.

Names under consideration for a new party include the Integrity Party and the Center Right Party. If it is decided instead to form a faction, one name under discussion is the Center Right Republicans.

Members are aware that the US political landscape is littered with the remains of previous failed attempts at national third parties.

“But there is a far greater hunger for a new political party out there than I have ever experienced in my lifetime,” one participant said.

(Source: Reuters)

The Killings in Batibo Must Galvanize Southern Cameroonians

11, February 2021

The Killings in Batibo Must Galvanize Southern Cameroonians 0

The last time the gruesome killing of a Southern Cameroonian shook me to the core was the Ngarbuh Massacre, which I’m pretty sure or at least hope we still remember. When Ngarbuh occurred, there was this same social media outcry, great shows of indignation, solidarity etc etc etc. “We are Ngarbuh”…”I stand with the people of Ngarbuh”… “Enough is enough”…”God where are you?”….

Then, a demonstration was called at a major news media outlet in Downtown DC. Not wanting to deal with DC parking headaches, I took an Uber from Laurel, Maryland to the Downtown DC location of the demo. For those who know the general DC Metro Area, that’s not a short distance. Throughout the drive into DC, I was yapping to the Uber driver about the atrocities that were being committed against my people in my homeland. How the worst had just happened in a locality called Ngarbuh. Women and children killed…burnt alive in their homes. I told him how we, immigrants from Southern Cameroons, were going to have this massive demonstration in front of the news media outlet. Paint the whole place blue & white! A demonstration that had never been seen before and that would force the outlet to tell our story to the world. The Uber driver himself got caught up in my frenzy.

As we approached the location, I almost thought we were at the wrong address. But, I know that part of DC and had driven right by the news media outlet myself several times. The driver, who had been excitedly looking forward to seeing my massive crowd inquired if the address was correct. I was confused and embarrassed. I opened my eyes wider and looked around. Then, as we got closer, I saw some specs of blue & white Southern Cameroons flags. Then a handful of familiar faces. The same faces I’d been seeing at protests and demonstrations in DC, Maryland and New York since 2016. That was it. No massive crowd.

In my embarrassment, I quickly jumped out of the Uber, avoiding any eye contact with the driver, who clearly had many questions for me. Most probably wondering what kind of liar or drama queen I was. To tell such an exaggeratedly false story. I, nevertheless, joined the pitifully small group of Southern Cameroonians who had dropped everything on that day, to come out and tell the Ngarbuh story on the streets of DC. As I approached folks on the street handing out pamphlets to them and telling them what had just happened in our homeland, the realization hit me, that no matter what we say, how much we decry and manifest anger when pictures of these gruesome events are shared and circulated in our social media groupings, truth is, we have normalized these acts. They no longer shake our cores as they should. Truth is, we forget them just as quickly as we forget what we had for breakfast by lunchtime.  Truly sad!

These images don’t shake me to the core anymore. They just leave me sad and wondering what it is that needs to happen to bring back that real fire and rational commitment…take us back to where we were at the beginning. So we can get this shit right (excuse my choice of words). So that innocent men, women, children can stop dying…not for anything they’ve done but simply for who they are.

How many more gruesome pictures/videos do we need to see. Or perhaps the question is, do we even need to see them anymore?

Syh Aji-Mvo Ambe

Article published with the consent of Dr. Ebini Christmas

Southern Cameroons Vice President to hail Amba Self Defense position on the struggle

11, February 2021

Southern Cameroons Vice President to hail Amba Self Defense position on the struggle 0

The Vice President of the British Southern Cameroons Interim Government will be addressing the Ambazonian people today in a speech to be aired by the Southern Cameroons Broadcasting Corporation, SCBC.

Comrade Dabney Yerima will hail the self defense and unchanging position of Ambazonia Restoration Forces on supporting the independence cause against French Cameroun’s 59 years occupation.

In his message to the Southern Cameroons people, Vice President Dabney Yerima will say “I come to remind you of our dark past, dangerous present, and to elaborate on our goal to take back control of our destiny. So, I speak today of grave national sadness and danger but also a moment of national opportunity. Our efforts to defend our people began on 30 November 2017, when Paul Biya of French Cameroun declared war upon our people. Today, we announce a project that offers new hope for our young nation. We are persuaded that the project before you is essential, responsible, and deserving of your support.”

Yerima will also express the Ambazonia Interim Government’s deep appreciation to Southern Cameroonians in Ground Zero saying “The Responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing has emerged as an important global principle since its unanimous adoption at the UN World Summit in 2005. We are rolling out a plan to ruthlessly adhere to our Responsibility to Protect (R2P) Ambazonia. We must recognize that our security is based on being prepared to meet the threat posed by our enemy. We cannot afford to engage in the luxury of believing that French Cameroun will cease to be an aggressor.”

Vice President Yerima will add that “Our defense establishment has evaluated and instructed, and the Interim Government has concluded that OPERATION BIG RUBBERGUN is necessary. OPERATION BIG RUBBERGUN will: recruit, train, and support Restoration Forces in their attempt to capture and hold territory. The project will also provide sophisticated hardware procurement and logistic support to our Restoration Forces.”

 Stay with Cameroon Concord News Group and be the first to know!!Wherever you get your news, we’ve got the Southern Cameroons news that matter to you. Watch SCBC today 7 pm Amba time

By Isong Asu

US announces sanctions against Myanmar’s generals

11, February 2021

US announces sanctions against Myanmar’s generals 0

Anti-coup protesters on Thursday took to the streets of Myanmar for a sixth consecutive day, after US President Joe Biden announced sanctions against the Southeast Asian nation’s generals and demanded they relinquish power.

There has been an outpouring of anger and defiance since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi last week and detained her along with other senior figures of her National League for Democracy party.

Security forces have used tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets against the protesters, with isolated reports of live rounds also being fired. Police also ramped up their harassment of the NLD with a raid on its headquarters.

But demonstrators again marched peacefully on Thursday in Naypyidaw—the capital and military stronghold—as well as Yangon, the largest city and commercial hub.

“Don’t go to the office,” chanted a group of protesters outside Myanmar’s central bank in Yangon, part of a civil disobedience effort urging civil servants and people in other industries to boycott work and put pressure on the junta.

“We aren’t doing this for a week or a month—we are determined to do this until the end when (Suu Kyi) and President U Win Myint are released,” one bank employee who had joined the protest told AFP.

There were also fresh rallies in the cities of Dawei and Mandalay, with protesters carrying signs that said “Restore our Democracy!” and “We condemn the military coup”.

US sanctions

Western nations have repeatedly denounced the coup, with the United States leading calls for the generals to relinquish power.

In the most significant concrete action to pressure the junta, Biden announced Wednesday that his administration was cutting of the generals’ access to $1 billion in funds in the United States.

“I again call on the Burmese military to immediately release democratic political leaders and activists,” Biden said, as he flagged further sanctions.

“The military must relinquish power.”   

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has also warned the bloc could impose fresh sanctions on Myanmar’s military.

“This seems like a well calibrated set of measures… Also a strong signal that President Biden himself announced them,” Myanmar-based political analyst Richard Horsey tweeted, describing the sanctions as a “clear message” to the military.

Crackdown deepens

There were more reports of arrests on Thursday, including the deputy speaker of the parliament’s lower house and a key aide to Suu Kyi, taking the number of coup-linked detentions to more than 200, according to monitor Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

The military justified last week’s power grab by claiming widespread voter fraud in the November polls, which saw a landslide for Suu Kyi’s party.

It quickly moved to stack courts and political offices with loyalists as it ended a decade of civilian rule.

Fears are growing over how long the junta will tolerate the masses of people taking to the streets.

Live rounds were fired at a rally in Naypyidaw this week, critically wounding two people—including a woman who was shot in the head.

Images depicting the woman have been shared widely online alongside expressions of grief and fury.

“They can shoot a young woman but they can’t steal the hope and resolve of a determined people,” UN special rapporteur Tom Andrews tweeted Wednesday.

The military’s clampdown on information using internet blackouts—with tech companies ordered to cut communications intermittently—has drawn widespread condemnation.

Concern was also building Thursday that the junta was planning to impose a much harsher and sustained internet crackdown.

Tech-focused Myanmar civil society organisation MIDO tweeted that a draft cyber security bill had been sent to telecom companies, which would allow the military to order blackouts and website bans.

It would also require social media platforms to hand over users’ metadata.

Source: AFP

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Ambazonia Communications Secretary says “two-state solution” only option

11, February 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Ambazonia Communications Secretary says “two-state solution” only option 0

Southern Cameroons Interim Government spokesman, Milton Taka has ruled out discussing the so-called Special Status with the regime in Yaoundé, stressing that the only way to resolve 59 years of marginalization and assimilation dispute in the two Cameroons is for the United Nations and the European Union including the AU to recognize the two states.

In a Wednesday telephone conversation with Cameroon Concord News London Bureau Chief, Isong Asu Secretary Milton Taka said decentralization and regional autonomy favored by the French government of Emmanuel Macron and being teleguided by the French Cameroun regime would not be on the agenda whenever Yaoundé decides to sit down with the people of Southern Cameroons and talk.

Hon. Milton Taka observed that there is no longer any solution but for the international community to recognize both British and French Cameroun as two independent states. “Whether La Republique du Cameroun accept it or not, there is no decentralization or federation anymore,” the Ambazonia Communication Secretary told Cameroon Concord News Group.  “Everyone should go their own way” he added.

Comrade Milton Taka also stated that “There is no point in discussing old solution formulas… which disregarded basic human rights to the people of British Southern Cameroons. That business is finished now.”

At the heart of the crisis, which started in 2016, was a strike by teachers and lawyers, in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon. The professionals, supported by citizens of their areas, protested the unfair use of the French language and unjustified appointments of French speakers in their territories. Cameroon is passing for a bilingual country. By 2017, the situation had spiralled out of control and developed into a fully-fledged separatist war. Both government forces and separatists are now bogged down in a conflict that observers say, can only be resolved through dialogue.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Isong Asu in London

Mali: 20 UN peacekeepers wounded

10, February 2021

Mali: 20 UN peacekeepers wounded 0

Around 20 United Nations peacekeepers were wounded in an attack on their base in central Mali on Wednesday, a UN spokesperson said, offering a provisional toll.

Unidentified militants attacked a temporary base near Kerena, a village in the war-torn centre of the Sahel state, at around 7 am.

Olivier Salgado, the spokesman for the UN’s MINUSMA mission in Mali, said the position was “targeted by direct and indirect fire.”

First established in 2013, the 13,000-strong MINUSMA has suffered one of the highest death tolls of any mission in UN peacekeeping history.

Over 230 of its personnel have died since the mission began, and improvised explosive devices killed five peacekeepers last month alone.

The latest casualties were from a Togolese contingent of peacekeepers, according to an official briefed on the matter, who requested anonymity.

Some peacekeepers were gravely wounded, the official added.

A municipal government official, who declined to be named, also told AFP that militants drove an explosives-laden vehicle into the camp before opening fire.

Mali has been struggling to contain a jihadist insurgency which first emerged in the north of the country 2012, and has since spread to the centre of the country and to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

Thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed and hundreds of thousands more have had to flee their homes.

Four peacekeepers were killed by a roadside bomb in northern Mali on January 14, and one died the following day in a similar blast.

– Cycle of violence –

Central Mali is an epicentre of the Sahel conflict where assaults on soldiers and ethnic killings are common.

Ten Malian troops were killed in the same area last week when al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadists raided their camp.

The attack on the UN base comes ahead of several important political summits dedicated to curbing the Sahel conflict.

France and the G5 Sahel — a military alliance comprising Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania, Niger and Mali — are due to meet in Chad on February 15 and 16.

Signatories of the shaky Algiers peace accord are also due to meet in the northern Malian town of Kidal on Thursday.

Mali’s government and several armed groups signed that agreement in 2015. Among other things, it provides for decentralising governance in the vast and ethnically-diverse nation of 19 million people.

Although the implementation of the Algiers accord has been extremely slow, the deal is viewed as one of the few escape routes from Mali’s cycle of violence.

Source: AFP

US investigators say pilot error caused Kobe Bryant helicopter crash

10, February 2021

US investigators say pilot error caused Kobe Bryant helicopter crash 0

The helicopter crash that killed NBA legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter and six other passengers was probably caused by the pilot becoming disoriented after flying into clouds, investigators said Tuesday.

Ara Zobayan, the pilot of the chartered Island Express helicopter, probably suffered “spatial disorientation,” the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said.

Also likely contributing to the January 26, 2020 crash in Calabasas, California was “self-induced pressure” on the pilot to complete the flight for his celebrity client, the NTSB said.

The NTSB also cited “inadequate review and oversight” of safety management processes by Island Express as a probable cause of the crash but did not find that the helicopter had experienced any mechanical problems.

Bryant, 41, was traveling with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and six other passengers when the Sikorsky S-76 helicopter slammed into a fog-shrouded hillside west of Los Angeles. There were no survivors.

The NTSB said weather conditions were marginal on the morning of the flight but acceptable for flying under visual flight rules, where a pilot stays out of the clouds and maintains eye contact with the ground.

Shortly before the crash, the pilot said he was climbing to 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) to get above the clouds but the helicopter was actually in a steep left turn and descending rapidly, NTSB investigators said.

While the pilot perceived that the helicopter was climbing it was actually descending, they added.

“We are talking about spatial disorientation where literally the pilot may not know which way is up or down, whether he or she is leaning left or right,” NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt said.

In its findings, the NTSB said “the probable cause of this accident was the pilot’s decision to continue flight under visual flight rules into instrument meteorological conditions which resulted in the pilot’s spatial disorientation and loss of control.”

Island Express was not certified to fly passengers in instrument conditions and the pilot violated the rules by trying to fly through the clouds, it said.

“He would have been illegal by going into the clouds,” Sumwalt said.

‘Likely self-induced pressure’

The NTSB also said in its findings that “contributing to the accident was the pilot’s likely self-induced pressure.”

“Self-induced pressure is a real thing,” Sumwalt said.

“Pilots are ‘can-do’ oriented. The pilot is paid to fly. “He wants to get the job done.”

Zobayan was ferrying Bryant that day from Orange County to Camarillo for a basketball game to be played by a team featuring the former NBA star’s daughter. Bryant was the youth team’s coach.

Two of Gianna Bryant’s 13-year-old teammates were among those who died in the crash along with an assistant coach on the Mamba Sports Academy team.

The NTSB chairman said the accident was avoidable.

“It could have been landed safely all the way up to the point where he went into the clouds,” Sumwalt said. “There were opportunities along the way to have reversed course and prevent this crash by simply landing.”

The NTSB said there had been “inadequate review and oversight” of Island Express’s safety management processes but it was not considered an unsafe operator overall.

“We did not find significant glaring issues with the organization,” Sumwalt said.

“They had cancelled a number of flights due to weather and that’s what we want companies to do.”

And while the 50-year-old Zobayan was considered an experienced pilot with more than 8,500 hours of flight time he “did make mistakes,” Sumwalt said.

“It was an issue of judgement and decision-making that led to this tragic situation,” he said.

Bryant was one of the greatest basketball players ever, an iconic figure who became a face of his sport during a glittering two-decade career with the Los Angeles Lakers.

He was a five-time NBA champion in a career that began in 1996 straight out of high school and lasted until his retirement in 2016.

He also was a two-time Olympic gold medalist, helping spark the US squad of NBA stars to titles in 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London.

Source: AFP

Southern Cameroons growing humanitarian needs have been enhanced by the Covid-19 outbreak

10, February 2021

Southern Cameroons growing humanitarian needs have been enhanced by the Covid-19 outbreak 0

Since its independence in 1960, Cameroon has been facing socio-political issues in the anglophone North West (NW) and South West (SW) regions. In late 2016, local lawyers and teachers mobilised over demands for respect of the region’s Anglophone educational and judicial systems.

This escalated into armed confrontations, with the proliferation of non-state armed groups (NSAG) and the deployment of governmental military forces.

 This ongoing conflict has led to a complex humanitarian emergency with 2.3 million people in need in 2020 (OCHA), including more than one million school-aged children.

The growing humanitarian needs have been enhanced by the COVID-19 outbreak, affecting the entire territory of Cameroon.

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