U.S. forces deployed to Niger, Mali and Cameroon will now receive “imminent danger pay,” which will be awarded retroactively to some troops who operated in those countries, according to a Defense Department memorandum.

The decision to grant danger pay comes five months after an Oct. 4 ambush in Niger that killed four U.S. soldiers.

For troops, it means up to $225 more each month in pay, according to the memo dated March 5.

There are about 800 military personnel deployed to Niger, which hosts the largest number of U.S. forces in western Africa. Cameroon has about 49 military personnel deployed there and Mali has about 16, according to data released in late 2017 by the Defense Department.

The lack of danger pay emerged earlier this week during a congressional hearing on U.S. Africa Command’s mission. Marine Corps Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, who leads AFRICOM, told lawmakers Tuesday that his troops were not getting the extra pay because his command was awaiting a decision from the Pentagon on their request for the stipend.

Separate from danger pay, servicemembers involved in a hostile fire incident will receive hostile fire pay for the month in which the incident occurred, said Maj. Carla Gleason, a Defense Department spokesman. “The Army posthumously authorized hostile fire pay for the four soldiers killed in October 2017,” she said in a statement.

Hostile fire pay or imminent danger pay owed a servicemember at his or her death will be included in the final settlement paid to survivors, the military said.   “This would apply to payments of the survivors of the four soldiers killed in Niger,” Gleason said.

Killed in the October ambush in Niger were Staff Sgt. Bryan C. Black, Staff Sgt. Dustin M. Wright, Staff Sgt. Jeremiah W. Johnson and Sgt. La David T. Johnson. AFRICOM recently completed an investigation into the ambush, which is now being reviewed by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

Culled from www.stripes.com

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismisses as “propaganda” accusations that Moscow was behind a nerve agent attack on a former double agent residing in Britain.

British media and politicians have said the attack on Sergei Skripal, who came to Britain in a spy swap in 2010, bears the hallmarks of a Russian operation.

“They’re leveling accusations against us for everything that goes wrong — according to our Western partners — on this very planet,” Lavrov said on Friday during a visit to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. “This is propaganda fair and square and it is trying to raise tension,” he added.

While Britain has not formally blamed Russia for the attack, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said it “echoes” the 2006 poisoning in London of former Russian spy and Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko.

London blamed Moscow for that attack. Some 21 people were injured in the incident, which took place in the sleepy southwestern English city of Salisbury where Skripal was found on Sunday, slumped on a bench with his daughter Yulia.

“If action needs to be taken, then the government will do that,” British Prime Minister Theresa May has pledged.

National counter-terrorism police have taken over the investigation, which they are treating as attempted murder.

Skripal was a former colonel in Russian military intelligence who was jailed for betraying agents to Britain’s MI6 secret service.

In 2010, he was pardoned and then flown to Britain as part of a high-profile spy swap involving Russia and the United States.

(Source: AFP)

The United Nations Human Rights chief has stressed that it is in the interest of the Cameroonian government to de-escalate tensions arising from the Anglophone crisis.

In an oral update by Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein to the 37th session of the Human Rights Council on March 7, 2018; he added that his office had yet to be granted access to monitor rights violations.

His address also addressed the arrest of Anglophone leaders in Nigeria and their subsequent deportation to Cameroon, where they are yet to be put before court. The U.N. has criticized the move saying it violated international principles.

Allegations of summary executions of civilians by members of the security forces have been reported, and are generating widespread resentment. I regret that my Office has not been given access to verify these allegations.

The Anglophone regions remain under curfew imposed by their respective governors. The curfews have been imposed supposedly to allow security forces to contain attacks by armed separatists on members of the security forces.

About 24 members of the security forces – the military, police and gendarmes – have so far been killed in guerilla style attacks especially at checkpoints. The separatists have also reported having kidnapped two government officials.

The government still maintains that there is security in the regions but recently created a fifth military region in the capital of the North West region, Bamenda. The move was seen as a means to face off with the separatists.

The separatists under the so-called Ambazonia Republic have since October 2017 attempted to breakaway from French-majority Cameroon. There has been international calls for dialogue to end the crisis which has also created a humanitarian situation with people fleeing into Nigeria.

Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein’s full observation on Cameroon

“In Cameroon, what appears to be long-standing structural discrimination in the Anglophone region of the country has led to continuing clashes between security forces and separatist groups.

“The arrest, in Nigeria, of 47 Anglophone community leaders, and their extradition to Cameroon has reportedly led to renewed violence in the south-west and north-west of the country.

“Allegations of summary executions of civilians by members of the security forces have been reported, and are generating widespread resentment. I regret that my Office has not been given access to verify these allegations.

“Acknowledging the complex challenges facing the authorities – including renewed displacement from the Central African Republic and the increase in Boko Haram attacks in the north – I urge the Government to make every effort to de-escalate the conflict in the Anglophone regions, and to allow unimpeded access to human rights monitors so that accurate information on the situation can inform constructive engagement on the way forward.”

Source: Africa News

Reporters Without Borders on Wednesday said a Cameroonian journalist was stripped, slapped and forced in to a dog’s kennel at the house of a former minister.

The journalist visited the home of ex-transport minister Alain Edgard Mebe Ngo’o on Saturday, the day after the politician left the top job.

“After reporting to a guard at the entrance of the residence, the journalist was arrested by the minister’s police service, then undressed, violently slapped, put inside a cage for dogs and sprayed with water,” the non-government organisation Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said.

Accused of espionage, he was interrogated for several hours, the statement added. The reporter for the Cameroon daily newspaper Le Jour had been covering President Paul Biya’s cabinet reshuffle.

Editor Haman Mana said on Monday the newspaper reserved the right to take legal action. The National Union of Journalists of Cameroon “condemned with the utmost energy this heinous act”. The country is ranked 130 out of 180 in RSF’s World Press Freedom Index of 2017.

Source: AFP – SBS

Mario Balotelli, Italy’s most famous black footballer, said on Wednesday a politician who has become the first black person elected to the Senate should be ashamed of himself for representing a fiercely anti-migrant party.

Nigerian-born Toni Iwobi moved to Italy in 1976 and joined the League in 1993, serving as a local councillor. He was elected to the upper house on Sunday to represent the northern city of Bergamo – the League’s heartland.

“Perhaps I’m blind or perhaps they haven’t yet told him that he is black. But shame on you!!!” Balotelli wrote on Instagram.

The post showed a photograph of Iwobi with League leader Matteo Salvini, both wearing T-shirts saying: “Stop the Invasion” – a reference to the party’s call for a halt to African migrants who have poured into Italy in recent years.

Balotelli was born in Sicily to Ghanaian immigrants. He has played more than 30 times for the Italian national team and plays club soccer for French side Nice.

The League has adopted an uncompromising anti-migrant stance, drawn up with the help of Iwobi, and has called for the deportation of some 600,000 immigrants, many from Africa, who have reached Italy over the past four years.

However, the party has said it supports legal migration. Iwobi came to Italy legally on a student visa and subsequently married an Italian. He went on to set up an IT company.

League leader Matteo Salvini immediately leapt to Iwobi’s defence. “I don’t like Balotelli on the field. I like him even less off it,” he tweeted.

Iwobi wrote on Facebook: “These controversies don’t interest me. There are more important things. I cannot wait to start serving my country.”

He went ahead to defend himself in an interview with Italian newspaper, Il Giornale,saying only 10% of those who flee from Nigeria are fleeing war.

“I come from Nigeria and I know how things are,” he added.

“Only 10% of those who disembark in Italy are fleeing war.The others, all the others, the vast majority, no.”

The election – which saw his party came third with 17% of the vote, a huge increase on the 4% it won in 2013 – comes at a time of heightened anti-immigrantion feeling.

The killing of Senegalese street vendor Idy Dienec in Florence on Monday prompted two days of protests.
Source: Africa News

The United States will give more than $533 million in humanitarian aid for victims of conflicts and drought in Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and the West and Central African countries bordering Lake Chad, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday.

Tillerson made the announcement at a speech in Virginia before departing for a week-long trip to several African countries. He also said the United States supported the creation of a development finance institution for Africa.

Tillerson contrasted the United States’ work on the African continent, which he said promoted “sustainable growth,” with that of China, which recently pledged $124 billion for its Silk Road plan to expand links between Asia, Africa, Europe and other places.

Tillerson said China’s investment in Africa “encouraged dependency”.

“Chinese investment does have the potential to address Africa’s infrastructure gap, but its approach has led to mounting debt and few, if any, jobs in most countries,” said Tillerson.

“When coupled with the political and fiscal pressure, this endangers Africa’s natural resources and its long-term economic and political stability,” Tillerson added.

Tillerson added that the US would continue to help fight corruption and promote transparent institutions across the continent.

Source: Africa News

Russia’s Defense Ministry says a cargo plane operated by the Russian military has crashed in Syria, killing at least 32 people on board.

The ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that 33 passengers and six crew members were on board the plane when it crashed while landing in Hmeimim airbase in the western Syrian province of Latakia.

“On March 6, Russia’s Antonov-26 transport plane crashed at about 15:00 Moscow time as it was about to land at Hmeimim airdrome. According to preliminary data, there were 33 passengers and six crew members on board. Nobody survived,” the ministry’s statement said.

Russia has maintained military presence in Syria since late 2015, when Damascus asked Moscow to intervene in the war on terror in the country.

The assistance has proven very essential for Syria as it has managed to retake many areas from militants, relying on Russia’s air cover.

Hmeimim is the main base used by the Russian military in Syria while it also accommodates flights carrying Russia’s humanitarian aid and other cargos.

The Russian Defense Ministry said later that it had launched an investigation into the incident, which it said was caused by a technical malfunction. It said preliminary data received from the site of the crash, about 500 from the runway, proved that there was no terrorist incentive involved.

This is the second time an An-26, a military transport aircraft capable of carrying up to 38 passengers and some 5,500 kilograms in cargo, crashes in Syria. A Syria-operated one crashed while landing at the besieged Abu al-Duhur military airport in Idlib in January 2015.

Source: Presstv

The internet, still slow and inaccessible to many, has been restored in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions, sources and digital rights groups say.

Access Now, a global advocacy group that has been pushing leaders to stop disrupting the internet under the #KeepItOn campaign, confirmed the internet was back as of Thursday (Mar. 1). While social media sites were back, users continued to complain about pages uploading slowly while some websites still couldn’t be accessed without a virtual private network.

Otto Akama, who runs the Makonjo media startup in Buea the capital of the Southwest region, also said the network was “very unstable.” This was especially true, he added, for the national telecommunications service Camtel. Since it operates the country’s fiber-optic backbone, the company has a monopoly on the nation’s internet infrastructure—making it easy for them to shut down the internet or pressure other telecom operators to do so.

“It is several times slower than it used to be,” Akama, whose company uses the Camtel service and was contemplating switching to other operators, said. “We lose several hours per day waiting for pages to load.”

For over a year now, the internet in the two Southwest and Northwest Anglophone regions has either been completely off or slowed down for more than 240 days as of Feb. 28 this year. As the blackout dragged on, the country recorded one of the longest shutdowns ever on the African continent. The internet was back on for 48 hours in January for a diplomatic visit, but otherwise, it’s been off for the entire period. There are strong doubts about the permanency of the current restoration.

With mounting international pressure, Access Now and Internet Sans Frontières joined a lawsuit along with a consortium of local and regional civil society organizations, which cited violations of freedom of expression, access to information, and discrimination based on language.

But that wasn’t before businesses like internet cafes, microfinance institutions, money transfer agencies and many of the digital startups in the Silicon Mountain were deeply affected. Akama said his company lost 3,000 euros ($3,700) every month. Ayuk Etta, whose company Skylabase provides software to financial institutions, was forced to relocate some of his operations to The Gambia.

The political crisis that kickstarted the shutdown is still flaring on too, as the central government continued repressing dissent over the perceived marginalization of the English-speaking minority. Last October, Anglophone separatists declared independence for a region they called Ambazonia, leading authorities to kickstart a military crackdown. The fallout from that violent clampdown is now spiraling, leading to a refugee emergency, and escalating tensions with neighboring Nigeria.

Source: Quartz Media

No fewer than 142 Cameroonian are taking refuge in Akwa Ibom State as a result of the crisis rocking the Southern and English-speaking areas of Cameroon, the State Comptroller of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Livingstone Amadi disclosed weekend.

Amadi who made the disclosure during an interview in Uyo said the refugees currently spread across three local government areas of the state. The State Comptroller of NIS, who is barely three months old in the state, said the Cameroonian refugees were being camped in makeshift structures in Oron, Eket and Mkpat Enin Local Government Areas of the State.

According to him, the Akwa Ibom government had assisted with relief materials, stressing that the Cameroonian refugees experience was a national issue to Nigeria given the influx of people from Southern Cameroon.

“You know border states like Cross River, Benue and Taraba, are also affected by the refugees fleeing English-speaking areas of Cameroon into Nigeria.

“The Akwa Ibom state government had sent relief materials to the three different camps to support the refugees there. We have also gotten delegations from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the United Nation High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR),” he added.

Since last year the English-speaking regions of Cameroon had witnessed tensions over alleged discrimination against them by the majority French-speaking population, leading to thousands fleeing the country.

Amadi said within the last three months of his assumption of duty, he had rebranded the state headquarters to make the work environment attractive to both staff and the public.

“We have tiled the passport office, giving facelift to the comptroller’s office; we are tiling the production and enrolment office in the next one week. We are making judicious application of the little funds that we have,” Amadi stated.

The NIS comptroller said he was impressed with the conduct of his officers in the command, emphasising that his officers had exhibited the highest sense decorum in border management.

“The Federal Government is working on modalities for ease of doing business in Nigeria, my officers are very responsible, they cannot brutalise any businessman coming in or going out of Nigeria.

“We are a security agency of government interfacing with the public at all times. My officers had been conducting themselves in an orderly manner depicting the behaviour of trained and disciplined officers,” he maintained.

He said it was unfounded that his men had been extorting money and brutalising travellers along Oron beach in Oron local government area of the state.

Culled from All Africa