At least 60 people have been killed and more than 1,000 have fled their homes after heavy rains caused flooding and mudslides along South Africa’s eastern coast, authorities said on Wednesday.

Most of the deaths were in KwaZulu-Natal province. Flooding also killed at least three people in neighboring Eastern Cape province, state broadcaster SABC said.

The rains mainly hit areas around the port city of Durban. Multiple dwellings collapsed in mudslides, said Robert McKenzie, a KwaZulu-Natal Emergency Medical Services spokesman.

Rescue workers were digging through collapsed buildings on Wednesday. Victor da Silva, a resident of the coastal town of Amanzimtoti, said his family managed to evacuate before the floods destroyed their home and cars.

“On Monday, the water was just crazy. And yesterday morning I got here, everything was fine, my garage was still here, the other part of the house was still here, and it just couldn’t stop raining,” Da Silva said.

“And then an hour and a half later, everything poof (vanished) because the rain just hasn’t stopped. Authorities in southern Tanzania ordered evacuations of residents from low-lying areas and the closure of schools and offices ahead of landfall of Tropical Cyclone Kenneth on neighboring Mozambique’s coast on Thursday.

“We’ve decided to evacuate all residents of valleys and other low-lying areas and we advise them to seek refuge at public spaces,” Mtwara regional commissioner Gelasius Byakanwa, told reporters.

Johan Fourie said he fled his home in Amanzimtoti, Kwazulu-Natal, just before part of it collapsed. “I nearly lost my life, and my neighbor, I believe, is in hospital,” Fourie told eNCA television.

The region had been hit by heavy rains for days, but authorities did not foresee the extent of the downpour late on Monday, said Lennox Mabaso, a spokesman for the provincial Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs department.

“As a result, there was flooding and some structures were undermined and collapsed on people,” Mabaso said.

Some people were swept away by the water, he added.

President Cyril Ramaphosa visited affected communities in KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday and was expected in the Eastern Cape in the next few days.

“This is partly what climate change is about, that it just hits when we least expect it,” he said.

Last week, 13 people were killed during an Easter service in KwaZulu-Natal when a church wall collapsed after days of heavy rains and strong winds.

(Source: Reuters)

Up to 216 human trafficking victims have been rescued from forced labour and prostitution in a major operation in Benin and Nigeria, Interpol said on Wednesday.

Operation Epervier II involved 100 police officers across the two countries who rescued 157 child slaves, said the global police organisation, which coordinated the raids in early April.

Many of the children were working in markets peddling goods, carrying heavy loads or fetching water, while others worked as housemaids or were forced into prostitution, Interpol said. Of the minors rescued, 36 were boys and 121 were girls.

This is about organised crime groups who are motivated by money.

“This is about organised crime groups who are motivated by money,” Stanfield told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“It is challenging (to stop them) in the region because of lack of resources,” he said, adding that countries are nonetheless becoming better equipped and more prepared.

Child slaves

The children rescued were between the ages of 11 and 16 and came from Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria and Togo.

The youngest was a boy forced to smuggle heavy goods such as bags of rice across the Benin-Nigeria border, Interpol said.

Most were subject to beatings and abuse, including death threats and warnings they would never see their parents again. They are now in the care of national agencies or charities, and in some cases returned to their parents.

Dealing with perpetrators

Investigations are underway to dismantle the crime networks active in Benin and Nigeria, which are source, transit and destination countries for human trafficking, said Paul Stanfield, Interpol’s director of organised and emerging crime.

Police arrested 47 suspected traffickers and seized vehicles, cash, phones and computers in the operation, which targeted markets in the countries’ capitals as well as airports, seaports and border areas, said Interpol.

About 1.4 million people, or 0.8 percent of the population, are estimated to live as slaves in Nigeria, according to the 2018 Global Slavery Index published by human rights group Walk Free Foundation. Benin has an estimated 58,000 slaves out of a population of 11 million.

“These crimes can only be tackled collectively and through interagency cooperation,” said Dominic Asogwa, Comptroller of Nigeria’s Immigration Service in the Seme border region, in a statement.

Interpol will continue working to identify hot spots for modern slavery in West Africa with a focus on mobilizing countries to address the issue themselves, Stanfield said.

“I think we’ll be here for the long-term, but we don’t want to be in charge of leading it,” he said.

REUTERS

Africa has a long history of strongmen who have spent decades in power. But since the 2011 Arab Spring, no less than 10 of them have been toppled, with two – Algeria’s Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir – forced out in April.

January 2011: Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution and the fall of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali

Tunisia was the first country to topple its longtime autocratic leader,Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, after the self-immolation of a 26-year-old fruit vendor sparked an uprising that would soon spread to other countries in the region and become known as the Arab Spring. Mohamed Bouazizi, who set himself on fire in the city of Sidi Bouzid on December 17, 2010, after police confiscated his fruit cart for not having a permit, became the symbol of Tunisia’s impoverished, bringing thousands of people into the streets to protest against social injustice, poverty, corruption and ultimately, Ben Ali’s rule.

After four weeks of protests and authorities responding with brutal crackdowns, the Tunisian leader was deposed on January 14, 2011, and forced to seek exile in Saudi Arabia after 24 years in power.

February 11: The ouster of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak

Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak was the second leader to be forced from his presidential palace as the Arab Spring began to gain traction. The first protests erupted on January 25, 2011, and would lead to more than two weeks of strikes and demonstrations. Cairo’s Tahrir Square quickly became the focal point for Egyptians protesting the oppression, corruption and injustice suffered under Mubarak’s 30-year, iron-fist rule.

Hundreds of people were killed as authorities tried to stop the demonstrations andevict demonstrators from Tahrir Square. The army finally stepped in and urged Mubarak to step down. On February 11, 2011, Vice President Omar Souleiman announced Mubarak’s resignation to the thousands of people gathered on Tahrir Square.

October 2011: The end of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in Libya

Muammar Gaddafi was once the longest-reigning dictator in both the Arab world and Africa after having spent 42 years in power. Protests broke out on February 15, 2011, following the arrest of prominent human rights activist Fethi Tarbel. Fuelled by the winds of the Arab Spring, the demonstrations soon morphed into nationwide protests against Gaddafi’s rule, spreading from Benghazi to Tripoli with demonstrators calling for democracy and a fairer distribution of the oil-rich country’s resources.

Authorities responded with deadly crackdowns, and an armed conflict erupted between Gaddafi-loyal forces and opposition groups, which united to form the National Transition Council. The council was quickly recognised by the international community and backed by a military coalition made up of France, Britain, Canada and Italy. On August 23, the council announced it had taken control of Tripoli, and on October 20, Gaddafi was killed in the northern city of Sirte, his regime’s last bastion.

October 2014: The toppling of Burkina Faso’s Blaise Compaoré

Blaise Compaoré came to power after staging a 1987 coup against his former friend and ally Thomas Sankara.He was elected Burkina Faso’s president in 1991 and reelected in 1998. After embarking on his second mandate, parliament approved changes to the country’s constitution, limiting the number of presidential mandates to two, and shortening the mandate period to five years instead of seven. In 2005, the constitutional council ruled that these changes could not be taken into account retroactively, thereby allowing Compaoré to run for reelection in both 2005 and 2010.

In 2014, Compaoré’s ruling party proposed additional changes to the constitution to allow him to seek a fifth mandate. On October 29, as the National Assembly prepared to debate the controversial amendment, opponents stormed the parliamentary building in Ouagadougou and violent protests broke out in cities across the country.

Although Compaoré tried to appease the protesters by ditching the proposed changes and dissolving the government, he was unable to calm the wrath of the angry crowds. On October 31, Compaoré fled to Ivory Coast with the help of France after a 27-year-long reign.

January 2017: Yahya Jammeh’s failed reelection bid in Gambia

After 22 years as the president of Gambia, Yahya Jammeh finally saw himself defeated at the polls after running for a fifth consecutive mandate.

Although Jammeh initially conceded defeat to his opponent, Adama Barrow, he then demanded a recount as calls began to mount for him to be prosecuted for alleged abuses. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union responded by calling for the 2016 vote to be respected.

On January 18, when Jammeh’s mandate officially expired, he announced his intention to stay on as Gambia’s leader. The following day Barrow, who had sought refuge in Senegal, was inaugurated as Gambia’s rightful president at a ceremony held at the country’s embassy in Dakar. On January 21 Jammeh was forced into exile after losing the support of the army.

August 2017: Angola’s José Eduardo dos Santos retires after 38 years

José Eduardo Dos Santos remained at the helm of Angola for 38 years before he decided to hand over the reins at the age of 75.

Dos Santos was a key figure in the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and was elected the country’s second-ever president in 1979 – four years after Angola declared independence from Portugal and following the death of his predecessor, Agostinho Neto, in Moscow.

During his first 20 years in power, dos Santos ruled Angola with an iron fist as the government fought a civil war with a rival liberation group, UNITA, which refused to recognise the legitimacy of dos Santos and his government. Peace was declared in 2002 – 26 years after the civil war began.

After winning reelection in both 2008 and 2012, dos Santos came under increased fire for his authoritarian rule. In 2016 he announced he would retire, presenting Defence Minister Joao Lourenço as his chosen successor. In September 2017, Lourenço became Angola’s third president.

November 2017: Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe placed under house arrest

Robert Mugabe was Africa’s oldest serving leader when he announced on November 4, 2017, that he intended to hand power to his wife Grace Mugabe, 40 years his junior. After announcing the sacking of Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa – the ZANU-FP party’s choice to replace Mugabe – the army intervened and seized power, placing both Mugabe and his wife under house arrest.

On November 21, 2017, parliament launched an impeachment process to remove Mugabe, who responded by resigning after 30 years as president.

December 2018: Kabila steps down in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Joseph Kabila was only 29 years old when he took office in 2001, just 10 days after the assassination of his father, President Laurent-Désiré Kabila. In 2003 he set up a transitional government after negotiating a peace agreement that put an end to the 1998-2003 Second Congo War. In 2006, Kabila was democratically elected president for the first time. In 2011 he was reeleacted for a second, and final, term.

In 2016, as Kabila’s mandate was coming to an end, he announced that the upcoming elections would be postponed, citing the long and costly process of registering the country’s 40 million voters. After coming under increasing international pressure to announce a new date for the vote, the elections were finally held in December 2018. Félix Tshisekedi won the election, with Kabila’s chosen candidate, former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, finishing a distant third behind Martin Fayulu.

April 2019: Street protests force out Algeria’s Abdelaziz Bouteflika

Old and in ill health, Algeria’s 82-year-old leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika refused to leave his seat until massive street protests finally drove him out of the presidential palace in April 2019.

Bouteflika’s downfall began on February 10 when the ailing president, who suffered a debilitating a stroke in 2013, announced that he intended to run for a fifth term. The news triggered unprecedented street protests in Algeria, with many viewing Bouteflika as a puppet of the ruling National Liberation Front party (NLF).

After weeks of sustained protests and several defections from both the NLF and the army – including powerful army chief General Ahmed Gaid Salah – Bouteflika announced his resignation on April 2.

April 2019: Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir ousted in coup d’état

Omar al-Bashir ruled Sudan for 30 years before mass protests – initially triggered by higher bread prices – led to his removal through a coup d’état staged by the army.

When South Sudan declared independence in 2011, also claiming the region’s precious oil reserves, Sudan was plunged into a deep economic crisis, with both fuel and food prices rising sharply. At the end of December 2018, a nearly three-fold rise in the price of bread sparked massive street protests.

Unable to quell the demonstrations – which quickly turned into a broader, anti-government movement – Bashir ordered Sudan’s first state of emergency in two decades in February. On April 11, the Sudanese military removed Bashir from his post, dissolving both the cabinet and the National Legislature as it announced a two-year transition period under military rule. Since then protesters have kept up the pressure, calling for more sweeping changes, while Bashir has been imprisoned.

Five Algerian billionaires appeared in court on Monday to face charges from the general prosecutor following their arrest as part of an anti-graft investigation, Ennahar TV said on Monday.

The five Algerian businessmen are Issad Rebrab, considered the richest businessman in the energy-rich north African nation, and four brothers from the Kouninef family said to be close to ex-president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Ennahar TV said.

Prosecutors are investigating “insider influence to obtain undue advantages and misappropriation of real estate”, state television reported.

The Kouninef family is hugely influential and the four brothers have dealings in everything from agribusiness to civil engineering.

They are said to be close to Said Bouteflika, the younger brother and former advisor of the president who stepped down on April 2 after weeks of mass protests against his 20-year rule.

Army chief Ahmed Gaid Salah has since called on prosecutors to “accelerate the pace” of probes into corrupt tycoons with ties to Bouteflika’s inner circle.

One of Algeria’s top businessmen and a Bouteflika backer, Ali Haddad, was arrested in late March as he tried to cross the border into Tunisia with two passports and undeclared currency.

The day after he was detained, prosecutors announced graft probes into unnamed individuals and banned corruption suspects from leaving the country.

Algerian media has reported that around a dozen businessmen are under investigation, all with ties to Bouteflika’s entourage.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)

Over 100 Boko Haram jihadis reduced an entire village to ashes in Cameroon near the country’s border with Nigeria, fatally setting at least 11 residents on fire while they slept, including children and elderly persons, and taking 100 people hostage after the attack late last week.

Echoing information from a member of a local self-defense militia, an anonymous source close to security services in the area told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency on Friday, “Boko Haram made an incursion at night [on Thursday] in the Tchakamari [village] area. The toll is 11.”

The bodies were “charred,” the source added, noting that the jihadis had set fire to the entire village.

Voice of America (VOA), citing village resident Abba Malloum, placed the number of fatalities from the attack on the village at 13, adding that they “were shot to death or otherwise slaughtered, plus many wounded and about 100 men, women and children abducted.”

VOA learned that “over a hundred Boko Haram fighters attacked the village, shooting indiscriminately and setting fire to all the houses.”

Residents saw their maize, beans, groundnuts, and sheep engulfed in flames as the jihadis stole hundreds of their cattle. Tchakamari village, on Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria, is deserted, with torched houses and animal carcasses bearing witness to the attack.

Resident Abba Malloum says the village of more than 400 people was reduced to ashes by Boko Haram fighters who came from neighboring Nigeria late Thursday night.

AFP learned from its local security sources that the attack began around 10 p.m on Thursday and carried on to 1 a.m. Friday, marking the deadliest Boko Haram raid into Cameroon in recent months.

The heinous assault prompted the U.S.-backed Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) of the Lake Chad Basin Commission to deploy troops to the village. MNJTF includes forces from countries plagued by the Nigeria-based Boko Haram terrorist group including Nigeria itself as well as Cameroon, Chad, and Niger.

Midjiyawa Bakary, governor of Cameroon’s Far North Region, has called for vigilance. He says after a crisis meeting of the Multinational Joint Task Force, troops have been deployed to secure the area and bring back the abducted people. The task force has been instructed to organize regular patrols and systematic searches of people, vehicles and homes and suspected villages and towns.

Boko Haram’s deadly insurgency, which began in Nigeria in 2009, has spilled over into neighboring Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, triggering a U.S.-assisted military response by the affected countries. The jihadi group split into two factions in mid-2016, including the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) West Africa Province.

Although long-time Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau pledged allegiance to ISIS, the international terrorist group only recognizes and supports the West Africa branch. Both branches are terrorizing the West Africa region.

According to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), the Boko Haram conflict has left more than 36,000 people dead, including jihadis from the group (18,950), government forces (1,958), and civilians ( 15,953) combined.

Citing the United Nations, CFR noted that the conflict has also “displaced 2.4 million people and put more than seven million at risk of starvation.”

Even as victims continue to lament the killings and kidnappings linked to Boko Haram, the newly re-elected administration of President Muhammadu Buhari recently took credit for rendering Nigeria “totally free” of the jihadi group.

The Buhari administration has falsely claimed victory over Boko Haram on several occasions, prompting a member of the opposition to question the president’s mental state.

Nigeria’s Legit news outlet noted that the administration made those comments last week as Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, the chief of staff for the army, acknowledged that Nigerian troops had confined Boko Haram to the Lake Chad region and the Sambisa forest in northeastern Nigeria where they continue to terrorize residents.

U.S. and local officials have long considered the Sambisa forest, which covers parts of the northeastern Nigerian states of Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Bauchi, and Kano, to be Boko Haram’s last major stronghold in the country. Borno State is the birthplace of Boko Haram.

Source: Breitbart.com