News

16, February 2018

Pressure mounting on Boko Haram ⁰

On February 2, more than two dozen Boko Haram fighters emerged from a hideout in Sambisa Forest and surrendered to authorities. Their defections were a key victory for Nigerian forces and regional allies in their battle against the diminished, but still deadly, terrorist group.

Maj. Gen. Rogers Nicholas of the Nigerian Army told VOA’s Hausa service that he believes there are more defections to come.

“Now they have repented. They surrendered voluntarily. They are now with us. We have provided them with clothes to wear, food to eat and drugs for their health,” said Nicholas, the theater commander for Operation Lafiya Dole, Nigeria’s effort to defeat Boko Haram.

“We will hand them over to the state government to decide what to do next. We are calling on those still hiding in the forest to come out and surrender. We will accept them and take care of them,” he said.

One of the defectors said he and the other fighters were struggling with a lack of food, water and medical supplies.

“We were just suffering in the bush. Thank God we were accepted by the authorities and provided for. I want to call on those still in the forest to come out and surrender with their weapons. Nothing would happen to them,” the fighter told VOA.

But lasting peace has been elusive in the fight against Boko Haram. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and top officials have declared the group defeated multiple times, only to see more attacks. The group killed more than 900 people in 2017, a slight increase from the previous year, according to BBC Monitoring. They remain among the most deadly terrorist groups on the continent.

Hit and run terrorists

Vincent Foucher, senior consultant for the International Crisis Group, recently returned from a research trip to northeast Nigeria and said the group is weakened but still dangerous.

“Boko Haram has basically gone rural,” he said, pointing to marshy areas in and around Lake Chad and mountainous areas along the border with Cameroon as the group’s strongholds. “They don’t seek anymore to control large chunks of territory. They just go for hit and run. They mix guerilla and terrorism basically. And they are still there.”

Foucher said life inside Maiduguri, the largest city in Borno State, has mostly returned to normal, with busy commerce and significant activity by nongovernmental organizations. Other cities in the northeast have been turned into garrison towns with trenches dug around them for protection, he said.

“The military are, you know, a bit more corrosive — are sort of trying to push people to flock to those towns to sort of control what’s going on. This is classical counterinsurgency policy,” said Foucher. “You want to take the water away from the fish, as the saying goes.”

Foucher said the Nigerian Army has made some advances in counterinsurgency through its specially trained mobile strike teams and via air strikes. He said he also is heartened to see the Nigerian Army taking claims of abuse or human rights violations seriously, and in some cases, issuing court-martials to those suspected of crimes.

Regional cooperation

Perhaps most significantly, the Multinational Joint Task Force has made gains. The 10,000-person force is headquartered in N’Djamena, Chad, with regional bases in the four countries surrounding Lake Chad. In addition to the affected nations of Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon, Benin also contributes troops to the effort.

The task force marks a major step forward in regional military cooperation, Foucher said, with bilateral missions, intelligence sharing and countries granting permission for neighboring forces to cross borders in pursuit of Boko Haram fighters.

“It’s not perfect, but the level of cooperation, actually, between the four countries, whether in the framework of MNJTF or whether actually outside — there are also some bilateral links that are working, and it is actually quite remarkable,” he said.

The task force embodies the ideal of “African solutions to African problems,” an often-cited approach to tackling military, political and societal issues without relying too heavily on Western support.

“I think, for once, an African regional security mechanism that is building, you know, that is not just a mimicry of what Europe has been trying to do,” Foucher said. “It is really based on a need that states feel for some sort of coordination, so it’s an interesting thing.”

Source: VOA

16, February 2018

Ethiopian PM resigns ‘to enable reform’ ⁰

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn suddenly resigned on Thursday in what he described as a bid to smooth reforms, following years of violent unrest that threatened the ruling party’s hold on Africa’s second most populous nation.

The resignation — unprecedented in Ethiopia’s history — followed a wave of strikes this week in towns near the capital and demonstrations successfully demanding the release of more opposition leaders.

More than 6,000 political prisoners have been freed since January as the government struggles to placate simmering anger among the two largest ethnic groups, the Oromo and Amharic, who complain they are under-represented in the country’s corridors of power.

This file photo, taken on September 22, 2016, shows members of the Karo tribe posing in front of the Omo River in Ethiopia’s southern Omo Valley region. (By AFP)

The prime minister leads the nation under Ethiopia’s political system, and Hailemariam’s resignation underscores the depth of division within the ruling coalition over how fast to pursue political reform.

Ethiopia is the region’s largest economy and a key Western ally in the fight against militancy but rights groups criticize its government for jailing journalists and political opponents.

It was not clear who would replace Hailemariam. He also resigned as chairman of the ruling coalition, which has governed since it defeated a military regime in 1991.

“Unrest and a political crisis have led to the loss of lives and displacement of many,” Hailemariam said in a televised speech. “I see my resignation as vital in the bid to carry out reforms that would lead to sustainable peace and democracy.”

(Source: Reuters)

16, February 2018

The Nigerian Air Force and COIN operations ⁰

Nigeria has been trying to contain the insurgency confronting it with all possible means. The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has started playing a major role in this mission and has intensified air operations in North Eastern Nigeria.

NAF operations from December 20-22, 2017 neutralized scores of Boko Haram Terrorists (BHT) in Tumbun Rago, a settlement in the northern fringes of Borno state, bordering Lake Chad. The operations started with an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) mission. This was followed by air interdiction to strike the identified targets. Then came Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) missions after the strikes to assess the nature and extent of damage to the targets. Finally, follow on mop up operations by helicopter gunships at multiple locations enhanced the degree of target neutralisation. A similar operation was carried out by NAF in conjunction with the Nigerian Army (NA) on January 3-4, 2018 in Sambisa, Njimia and Camp Zairo. These operations constitute a classical example of air power employment in anti-insurgency operations.

Nigeria is one of the most affluent and powerful West African countries, with the highest GDP in the continent. It shares land boundaries with four countries — Niger, Benin, Chad and Cameroon. The cumulative combat power and national power of these four neighbours is less than that of Nigeria by a large margin. The differential in combat air power between Nigeria and these four countries is even more glaring. Consequently, the prime focus of Nigeria’s creation and employment of air power has been to manage internal conflicts and insurgency, besides ensuring the protection of the coastline and exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The country is nearly square shaped (1100 km long and 1000 km broad). The three military air bases are strategically located and over 30 airstrips evenly spread across the country allow an efficient application of air power.

The only combat aircraft in the NAF inventory at present are 14 Chinese built F7 procured in 2005-08. MiG-21s and Jaguars have been phased out. For counter insurgency (COIN) operations, it has 13 Alpha Jets, 23 L-39 and 12 MB-339 aircraft, besides 11 attack helicopters made up of Mi 24/Mi 35s. The further growth trajectory of Nigerian air power can be assessed by analysing its defence budget and likely procurements. The proposed defence budget for 2018 with an allocation of $1.5 billion has nearly 77 per cent earmarked for salaries and overheads. This limits the funds available for modernisation and up-gradation. Out of this limited modernisation budget, an allocation of $66.32 million is planned for aviation assets, including payment for three light utility helicopters for the army, two helicopters for the air force, one UAV for the navy, and for the maintenance of two Alpha Jet aircraft and one C-130 transport aircraft. Nearly 53 per cent of the money earmarked for aviation assets is for part payment for the acquisition of three JF-17 Thunders from Pakistan.

A significant event took place on December 27, 2017 when the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Stuart Symington, presented the Letters of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) in respect of 12 A-29 Super Tucano Aircraft to the NAF. This will no doubt boost the NAF’s airpower potential. The Trump administration’s offer reverses the Obama administration’s decision to block the sale of military hardware to Nigeria. The LOA represents the official US Government offer to sell defence articles and services to the Nigerian Government. It is expected that the LOA would be signed and necessary payments made before February 20, 2018, to ensure the commencement of the production of these aircraft.

The $593 million deal includes aircraft, weapons, training, spare parts, aviation and ground support equipment, hangar, facilities, and infrastructure. These aircraft will augment the NAF effort in operations against the Boko Haram and ISIS West Africa, as well as Nigerian efforts to counter illicit trafficking both within the country and in the Gulf of Guinea. The deal also includes $29 million worth of weapons including 200 GBU-12/58 Pave Way II tail kits, 400 laser guided rockets, 2,000 MK-81 (250lb) bombs, 6,000 unguided rockets, 20,000 rounds of .50 calibre machine gun ammunition, seven AN/AAQ-22F electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensor and laser designators. In addition, all aircraft sold will include weapons software to support forward-looking infra-red (FLIR). Nigeria’s defence budget of 2018 will have to provide for this deal at the expense of some other equipment.

This deal, on fructification, will permit sustained and effective round the clock COIN operations by the NAF. The combination of sensors and precision weapons will be difficult for the insurgents to beat. Precision strikes by the proposed low-calibre guided weapons will also reduce the probability of collateral damage. However, the mission can be effective only when it is supported by adequate ISR and suitable communication grids. NAF is presently not very well equipped in this regard. With the available ISR resources, it will not be possible to fully exploit the offensive assets on its inventory. NAF has a large area to cover for surveillance and monitor activities in specific sectors on a round-the-clock basis. The time lag between the initial ISR mission and follow-on mop-up attacks in December 2017 and January 2018 is of the order of 24 hours. With the kind of mobility available to insurgents, this time is adequate to relocate safely, thus staying ahead of the ISR cycle. Operational necessity is to shrink the sensor-to-shooter time.

To upgrade its ISR capabilities, NAF is looking intently at UAVs. These provide an optimal low cost and safe solution for long duration, repetitive missions. A benign air defence environment makes a perfect backdrop for UAV operations. The issue however is of the availability of resources to fund this need. And the answer lies in a re-look of the operational environment and reassessing the combat equipment requirement. One deal that stands out in this regard relates to the JF-17. With practically no conventional threat on its borders, should NAF be equipping itself with the high-cost JF-17s at this juncture? Its existing fleet of F-7s is barely a decade old and adequate, along with ground-based radars, to ensure air superiority in its neighbourhood against known threats for another decade. The financial resources earmarked for the three JF-17s could optimally be utilised to upgrade the surveillance and communication network and reduce the sensor-to-shooter time for COIN operations.

Building up the capability to douse the current insurgency should ideally take precedence over the necessity to tackle a hypothetical conventional threat. Additionally, the procurement of just three JF-17s will not stand professional scrutiny with respect to its maintenance. A fighter platform like the JF-17 will necessitate the setting up of first and second lines of maintenance facilities for unhindered operations. This will tantamount to a sub-optimal utilisation of the investment in the project for just three platforms. In the absence of these facilities, the aircraft will be non-operational for a prolonged duration owing to the scheduled maintenance servicing. Either way, the cost of operation of the three JF-17s will further bloat the already burgeoning revenue expenditure. That will, in fact, prevent further modernisation. [Editor’s note – Nigeria may buy more JF-17s at a later date, and may have only budgeted for an initial three, with more funding possibly allocated later.]

Governments all over the world can allocate only finite resources for their armed forces. It is incumbent on the armed forces to assess the operational environment in a realistic manner and then draw out an appropriate equipment procurement strategy. Assets to tackle the existing security challenges must be provided for and only thereafter capabilities for tackling future threats should be built up. Unless reprioritised, the Nigerian defence budget will come under severe strain in the next three years.

Source: Defenseweb

15, February 2018

US Senate unveils immigration plan, defying Trump ⁰

A bipartisan group of US senators in Congress have unveiled a compromise plan to protect so-called “Dreamers” and boost border security, defying President Donald Trump’s demand to embrace his more hardline plan.

The potential breakthrough, reached Wednesday after hours of closed-door deliberations, would protect from deportation 1.8 million immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children.

Congress is struggling to act after Trump ordered the March 5 termination of DACA, an Obama-era program that gives young immigrants temporary legal status. Congress has tried and failed to overhaul immigration policy over the past decade.

While several Republicans are co-sponsoring the new bipartisan measure, it was not clear whether there would be enough support from Democrats to pass it in the Senate. Even if the bipartisan immigration plan passes the Senate, it faces an uncertain fate in the House of Representatives, where Republicans hold a larger majority.

The bipartisan measure, which has eight Republican and eight Democratic sponsors, emerged from a centrist group nicknamed the “Common Sense Coalition.”

“Our legislation underscores the broad, bipartisan commitment to creating a path to citizenship for Dreamers, who were brought to this country illegally through no decision of their own, while strengthening border security to help stop the flow of illegal immigrants,” Senator Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, said in a statement announcing the measure.

The bipartisan effort would only make limited changes to family reunification, and would leave the diversity lottery visa untouched, because it is too “politically toxic,” said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the lawmakers who crafted the bipartisan plan.

But supporting the immigration deal would put members of Trump’s own party at odds with the president, who urged senators to oppose any plans that were different from his own.

In the midst of the showdown, Democrats stressed Trump would be to blame for any failure to reach a deal.

Americans “know this president not only created the problem, but seems to be against every solution that might pass because it isn’t 100 percent of what he wants,” said Senator Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York state.

“If, at the end of the week, we are unable to find a bill that can pass… the responsibility will fall entirely on the president’s shoulders and those in this body who went along with him.”

Source: Presstv

15, February 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis worsen: Reports ⁰

The crisis in Cameroon is getting worse each day as fighting between separatist groups degenerates with casualties on both sides.

The situation has been disturbing following the kidnapping of a senior government official in the English speaking north western town of Batibo by the separatists.

Source: Channel Africa

15, February 2018

Gun nightmare in US schools: Shooting every 60hrs ⁰

The Wednesday mass shooting at a high school in Florida was the 18^th shooting at a school since the beginning of 2018, that is one shooting every 60 hours.

There has been over 6,500 shooting incidents across the US so far, leading to the death of over 1,820 people and injuring more than 3,100 other.

The data have been compiled by the Gun Violence Archive, a non-profit that tracks gun-related violence in the US.

According to the website, since January 69 children between the ages of 1-11 years and a staggering number of 333 teenagers (12-17 years) have been killed in various incidents.

As of Thursday, there has been 30 mass shootings, collectively killing over 58 people and injuring dozens more.

According to Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control advocacy group, a school shooting is “any time a firearm discharges a live round inside a school building or on a school campus or grounds, as documented by the press and, when necessary, confirmed through further inquiries with law enforcement or school officials.”

That is the very definition of what happened at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Pompano Beach on Wednesday afternoon, where a former student who was fired for disciplinary reasons killed at least 17 people at his school.

The suspect, identified as 19-year-old Nikolaus Cruz was armed with an AR-15 rifle and what officials described as endless number of magazines.

The semi-automatic weapon, which was introduced by Colt in the 1960s, has virtually become the favorite weapon for mass murderers across the US and has been linked to many similar shootings.

Last October, a gunman armed with 14 AR-15s and a cache of other deadly weapons opened fire on a music festival from his nearby hotel room leaving 58 people dead and 851 injured.

In September 2016, a gunman used stormed a nightclub in Orlando, Florida, Killing 49 people and wounding 58 others using his AR-15.

Just two days after the shooting, the Huffington Post sent a group of reporters to see how long did it take to purchase the latest iteration of the deadly weapon. The result was astonishing: You can buy an AR-15 in Orlando in just 38 minutes.

In the latest instance of gun violence in the United States, at least 17 people were killed and several others injured in a shooting at a high school in the US state of Florida.

The shooting occurred on Wednesday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

It is estimated that there are between 270 million and 300 million guns in the US, about one per person, according to the New York Daily News.

Perhaps it is no surprise then that Statistics by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show firearms kill more than 33,000 people in the US every year, a number that includes accidental discharges, murders and suicides.

Here is a look at some of the deadliest school shootings in recent US history:

April 2007: Seung Hui Cho, a 23-year-old student, went on a shooting spree at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, killing 32 people, before killing himself.

December 2012: Adam Lanza, 20, killed as many as 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, before taking his own life.

August 1966: Charles Joseph Whitman, a former US Marine, shot and killed 16 people from a university tower at the University of Texas in Austin before being shot by police.

April 1999: Students Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, started shooting students and teachers at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, killing 12 students and one teacher while wounding more than 20 others. They both killed themselves.

February 2008: Steven Kazmierczak, 27, stormed into a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University and opened fire, killing five students and wounding 18 others before killing himself.

March 2005: Jeff Weise, 16, killed his grandfather and his companion before heading to a high school on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota, where he killed five students, a teacher and a security guard before committing suicide.

Source: Presstv

15, February 2018

Ambazonia Crisis: Biya appoints Ernest Nkwandze as interim DO of Batibo ⁰

The 85 year-old President Paul Biya has appointed Ernest Nkwandze as interim Divisional Officer for the Batibo constituency in Momo Division following the abduction of Namata Marcel Diteng on February the 11^th by unknown gunmen. Ernest Nkwandze was installed on February 14, 2018 by the North-West Governor, Adolphe Lélé Lafrique.

The governor reportedly held a working session with the traditional authorities and security officials of the Batibo district and pleaded with the chiefs as well as the population to work in collaboration with the security forces by providing them reliable information in the search of the sub-prefect.

The sub-prefect of Batibo, Namata Marcel Diteng was abducted with his driver in the morning of February 11, 2018 by unidentified men. So far a massive search is continuing to find them.

By Sama Ernest with files from CIN

15, February 2018

French raid in Mali leaves at least 10 dead ⁰

French air power on Wednesday killed at least 10 jihadists in northeast Mali near the border with Algeria, local and foreign military sources said.

“French forces on Wednesday led at least one raid near Tinzaouatene, at the Algerian border, against the terrorists,” a local Malian military source told AFP.

“There were at least 10 deaths and two vehicles were destroyed.” An ex colonel in the Malian army who had defected, who is close to the jihadists’ leader, was killed in the raid, according to an army statement.

“This was the base of the head of the network, Iyad Ag Ghaly, at Tinzaouatene, which was the main target of the operation,” a foreign security source in Mali told AFP.

The offensive was part of France’s Operation Barkhane, active in Mali as well as four other former French colonies in west Africa Mauritania, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso.

These countries form the so-called G5 Sahel, a French-supported group that launched a joint military force to combat jihadists last year.

The Malian source said the French force had been conducting operations in northeastern Mali for several days.

A foreign military source confirmed that “several” raids had been carried out in the region on Wednesday, killing at least 10 jihadists.

Islamic extremists linked to Al-Qaeda took control of the desert north of Mali in early 2012, but were largely driven out in a French-led military operation launched in January 2013.

However large tracts of the country remain lawless despite a peace accord signed with ethnic Tuareg leaders in mid-2015 aimed at isolating the jihadists.

On Tuesday in neighbouring Burkina Faso meanwhile, a policeman was killed and two were injured in an attack at a village near the eastern town of Fada N’Gourma, in a region that has largely escaped Islamist unrest.

The assailants’ identity was unknown.

Northern Burkina Faso has seen frequent attacks by suspected jihadists, with two police killed late last month in the town of Baraboule.

(AFP)

15, February 2018

US: At least 17 dead in Florida school shooting ⁰

At least 17 people have been killed and several others injured in a shooting at a high school in the US state of Florida.

The shooting occurred on Wednesday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Florida Govover Rick Scott ordered government flags flown at half-staff through Monday in honor of victims of the shooting.

Authorities closed the school for the rest of the week, and the district will offer grief counseling to students and their families.

Police took a suspect into custody, announcing that the person was not a current student there.

Students and adults leave following the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, a city about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Miami on February 14, 2018. (Photos by AFP)

The gunman, a former student who was said to be 19 years old, quietly surrendered to police after opening fire with an assault-style rifle.

Identified as Nikolaus Cruz, the shooter had previously been expelled for unspecified disciplinary reasons.

He was reportedly part of the US military-sponsored Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corp (JROTC) program at the school, but “no one ever took him seriously,” according to a recent graduate and former fellow JROTC member at Stoneman Douglas High.

People are brought out of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School amid the deadly shooting at the school on February 14, 2018 in Parkland, Florida.

Broward County Public Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie, described that situation as “you pray … that you will never have to see,” adding that “We cannot live in a world that’s built on fear.”

“There are numerous fatalities. It’s a horrific situation.”

The school, which has more than 3,000 students, was placed on a “code red” lockdown in the wake of the shooting.

Florida Democratic Senator Bill Nelson also said that “This is a really bad day,” adding there were “a number of fatalities.”

Police started dealing with the active shooter situation at the high school around 2:30 pm local time.

Source: Presstv

15, February 2018

Prime Minister May envoy visits Buea, urges Cameroon to pursue dialogue in Anglophone crisis ⁰

A United Kingdom Member Parliament has stressed the need for Cameroon to adopt dialogue to resolve unrest in the Anglophone region.

Harriet Baldwin of West Worchestershire who doubles as a Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) made the call after a trip to Cameroon.

The trip afforded her the opportunity to meet with a number of stakeholders in the restive region especially in the southwest capital of Buea.

“Important visit to Buea in South West Anglophone region hearing from local people about the impact of the ongoing dispute and the urgent need for dialogue,” she said in a tweet accompanied by a photo of a meeting of leaders in Buea.

Some other work she did had to do with environment conservation and the opening of an educational facility.

The Central African country is currently suffering from an armed insurgency in its English – speaking regions – Northwest and Southwest, in what has become known as the ‘Anglophone crisis.’

Addressing a cross-section of political and diplomatic actors over lunch, Scotland said “Cameroon is renowned for its tradition of peaceful and harmonious interactions. So it is with great sadness that we see it in challenging times.

“However, as the Commonwealth family, we will do everything we can to preserve the unity and peaceful existence of any member of the family. As we all know, friction and division will not enhance the ability to deliver the peace that each and every one of Cameroon’s citizen wants.

“I therefore encourage Cameroonians from all walks of life to embrace peace, unity and resolve any differences through peaceful dialogue,” the Secretary-General concluded.

Cameroon joined the Commonwealth in 1995 even though it has a dominant French population. It is also part of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) – the French equivalent of Commonwealth led by France.

Source: Africa News