12, October 2019
Burkina Faso: 16 die in attack on Grand Mosque 0
Gunmen have gone on a deadly shooting spree at a mosque in northern Burkina Faso. Over a dozen people have been killed.
The Grand Mosque in Salmossi witnessed the death of at least 16 people on Saturday, AFP reported.
Thirteen of the victims died on the spot and three others succumbed to their wounds later. Two more people were in a critical condition.
The act of terror drove locals from their homes.
Since 2015, several hundred people have lost their lives in terrorist attacks that have turned increasingly violent especially in the north and the east of the African country. The extremists are linked to either al-Qaeda or the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.
Terrorists mostly use guerrilla hit-and-run tactics with road mines and bomb attacks.
The terror groups have not spared the capital Ouagadougou. The city has been the scene of deadly attacks three times. In March 2018, one such assault on the military headquarters killed eight people.
Some 300,000 people have fled their homes and nearly 3,000 schools have closed. The impact of the terrorist attacks on an overwhelmingly rural economy is rising, disrupting trade and markets.
Roughly 55 to 60 percent of Burkina Faso’s population is Muslim, with almost a quarter Christian. The two communities generally live in peace.
Source: Presstv
24, October 2019
Yaounde begins repatriation of 4,000 CAR refugees 0
Some 4,000 Central African Republic (CAR), refugees in Cameroon on Wednesday began returning home in voluntary repatriation organised by Cameroon, CAR and the UN refugee agency (UNHCR).
According to Cameroon’s Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, five hundred refugees signed up in the first phase of the programme, and the rest would return home by the end of 2019.
The refugees expressed hope they would find peace in their country after several years of atrocities that made them escape.
This repatriation followed a June tripartite agreement signed by Cameroon, CAR, and UNHCR for safe and dignified repatriation of 285,000 CAR refugees to their home country.
According to UNHCR, as of late September, about 290,000 CAR refugees live in Cameroon, representing about half of the total number of CAR refugees in neighbouring countries.CAR had been devastated by violence since 2013, when mainly Muslim Seleka rebels ousted then-President Francois Bozize, prompting reprisals from mostly Christian militias.
Source: Pmnews