Ten people have been reportedly killed and several others injured after a bomb blast hits a metro station in Russia’s St. Petersburg. According to preliminary information released by Russia’s TASS news agency, rescue teams were being dispatched to the site of the blast, with a witness telling Reuters that eight ambulances were seen near the Sennaya Ploshchad metro station.

Another Russian news agency, RIA Novosti, however, reported that there had been apparently two separate explosions at two metro stations.

Three metro stations have been closed, according to Fontanka local media outlet. “An evacuation from the stations is ongoing, there are people injured,” the St. Petersburg metro said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies, adding, “An unidentified object supposedly blew up in a (train) carriage.”

Another report by St. Petersburg emergency services indicated that there had been blasts in two train carriages at two metro stations.

Russia’s Interfax news agency cited a source as saying that at least one of the blasts involved a device filled with shrapnel, adding that at least 50 people had been injured.

Putin condoles with victims’ families, says all possibilities considered

Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a message of condolence, sympathizing with the families of those killed in St. Petersburg subway explosion. Putin is currently in St. Petersburg for a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko.

Speaking to reporters, he said the cause of the blasts was not clear yet, adding that all possibilities, including terrorism, were being considered. “I have already spoken to the head of our special services, they are working to ascertain the cause (of the blasts),” Putin said at a meeting with Lukashenko, adding, “The causes are not clear, it’s too early. We will look at all possible causes, terrorism as well as common crime.”

St. Petersburg metro closed after bomb attack

Early videos showed injured people lying bleeding on a platform to be treated by emergency services while others ran away from the platform amid clouds of smoke.

The metro network servicing Russia’s second largest city said in a statement later on Monday that it had closed all stations at 15:40 local time (12:40 GMT) to facilitate an ongoing evacuation operation. It is still unclear when the underground system will open again.

Following the incident, Moscow’s deputy mayor told media that authorities in the Russian capital were taking steps to tighten security on Moscow subway.

No group or individual has assumed responsibility for St. Petersburg metro blasts yet.

‘Only one blast between two stations’

Later on, an unnamed source in Russia’s emergency services was quoted by Reuters as saying that there was only one blast in St. Petersburg’s metro system, which happened on a train between two stations.

“There was one blast in one site in between (stations) as the train arrived at the Technology Institute station from Sennaya (Ploshchad) station,” the source added.

Second explosive device ‘made safe’

Meanwhile, Russian security agencies reported that they had found an explosive device at a metro station in central St. Petersburg and made it safe.

A statement by the National Anti-Terrorist Committee said in on Monday that the device was found at the Ploshchad Vosstaniya metro station, which was a different location from where a blast earlier took place.

‘Images of possible organizer of metro attack probably captured’

A later report indicated that surveillance cameras in St. Petersburg’s metro system may have captured images of the person suspected of organizing Monday’s deadly train blast, Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted an unnamed source as saying.

“Images of the suspected organizer of the metro blast were captured on metro station cameras,” the source noted, adding that the explosive device may have been left in a briefcase in a metro train carriage.

Russia investigating suspected “act of terror” after metro attack

Russia’s Investigative Committee said later on Monday that it was probing a suspected “act of terror” after a blast in the Saint Petersburg metro killed about 10 people and injured dozens, AFP reported.

“Despite the fact that a criminal case under article 205 of the Criminal Code (act of terror) has been opened, the investigation intends to verify all other possible versions of this incident,” the committee said in a statement.Russia’s public transportation system has been targeted by attacks in the past.

EU condoles with Russia after blast: Mogherini

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, has extended her “condolences to all Russian people” after a blast hit the metro system in Russia’s St. Petersburg.

“We have been following in the past hour the news coming from St. Petersburg, together with foreign ministers of all the member states,” Mogherini said.

She added, “”I expressed my condolences also to the Foreign Minister [Sergei] Lavrov in a message we sent him earlier.” Mogherini continued by saying that EU foreign ministers will show a “more precise reaction” as further details about the blast transpire.

France beefs up Paris public transport security after Russia blast

France also announced on Monday that it was increasing security at public transport locations in Paris following deadly explosion in St. Petersburg. “Following the events in the St. Petersburg metro, and as a precautionary measure, Interior Minister Matthias Fekl has decided to redeploy security means in public transport across the Paris region,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

“Amid an extremely high terrorism threat, the government continues to take measures to protect the French people,” the statement added. Russia’s public transportation system has been targeted by attacks in the past. In December 2013, twin separate bombings a day apart claimed the lives of 34 people in Russia’s southern city of Volgograd.

The first bombing at the main railway station of Volgograd killed 18 people while the second strike hit a trolley bus and claimed 16 lives. The attacks followed a bus bombing carried out in the same city two months earlier.

In January 2011, an attack on Moscow’s Domodedovo airport, claimed by militants from North Caucasus, killed 37 people.

Report by Presstv International News Desk

A senior Canadian member of parliament, Hélène Laverdiere has written a letter to the Canadian Minister for Foreign Affairs on the Southern Cameroons crisis. Hon. Laverdiere who is also a prominent figure in the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Canadian National Assembly observed that the rise of violence between Francophone and Anglophone communities in Cameroon is very disturbing as the next presidential election is scheduled for 2018.

In the letter to Chrystia Freeland, her country’s Foreign Minister, Hélène Laverdiere, spokesperson for the New Democratic Party (NDP) demanded for an update on Canada’s position on the Anglophone crisis. She added that many Canadians have expressed concern about the violation of human rights in Cameroon.

The much respected MP revealed that in addition to the humanitarian crisis and refugees in the Lake Chad region, coupled with the fight against Boko Haram, Cameroon is struggling with a complex internal political crisis. In recent months, the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime in power since 1982 has restricted the rights of Anglophone Cameroonians. Reports indicate that freedom of the press is reduced, civil society organizations have been dismantled, schools have been closed and electronic communications are interrupted in the English-speaking regions.

Hélène Laverdiere added to this picture, poverty and unemployment which is very widespread in Cameroon. She hinted that the stability of Cameroon is threatened.  Hence the need for an intervention by Canada, which, like Cameroon, has English and French as its official languages. “As a country with two official languages, Canada is well positioned to play a positive and constructive role in encouraging respect for people, including those related to language, in Cameroon. Canada also has some expertise in conflict prevention and mediation that could be crucial to a political solution to this crisis, “she noted. She appealed to Chrystia Freeland to communicate with her Cameroon counterparts to offer Canada’s support to end the crisis.

By Chi Prudence Asong with files from Cameroun Info.Net

More than 2,600 Nigerians who fled into northern Cameroon to escape Boko Haram Takfiri militants have been forced to go home since the start of the year, the UN said Tuesday. Thousands of Nigerians have been displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency, which has seen deadly attacks since 2009 in pursuit of a caliphate in northern Nigeria.

Some 85,000 have sought refuge in Cameroon but the UN refugee agency said many had been sent back, with officials citing security reasons. “So far this year, Cameroon has forcefully returned over 2,600 refugees to Nigerian border villages against their will,” UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch told reporters in Geneva.

He said UNHCR staff in Nigeria had heard and documented accounts about Cameroon troops forcing refugees to return to Nigeria, “without allowing them time to collect their belongings.” Baloch pointed to a case where refugees were rounded up during a military offensive against Boko Haram insurgents in the Mandara Mountains on the Cameroonian side of the border. They were then taken in trucks to a camp for displaced people in Banki, in Nigeria’s Borno State.

“Those returned included a one-year-old child and a nine-month pregnant woman, who gave birth the day after her arrival in Banki,” he said. “During the chaos families were separated and some women were forced to leave their young children behind in Cameroon, including a child less than three years old,” he added.

The UNHCR said it was particularly alarmed to see that the forced returns were continuing unabated after its previous protests and even after the governments of Nigeria and Cameroon signed an agreement with the UN on March 2 to ensure voluntary returns when possible. “While recognising the legitimate national security concerns of the Cameroon government, UNHCR reminds authorities that refugees are themselves fleeing violence and attacks from Boko Haram and that their access to asylum and protection must be ensured,” the agency said.

Baloch stressed that the forced return of asylum seekers and refugees constitutes refoulement, which is a serious violation of international law. Though Boko Haram was born in Nigeria, the Daesh-affiliated group has carried out frequent attacks in Cameroon, Chad and Niger, prompting the formation of a regional force to fight back. Some 200,000 Cameroonians from the Far North region near Nigeria have left their villages in fear of the violence.

Presstv

The Cameroonian dictator, Paul Biya and wife have decided to apparently extend their stay in Rome. The 84 year old leader who is currently on a three-day state visit to Italy announced via the Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic, that he will meet with the Holy Father Pope Francis.

In a press release from the Civil Cabinet at the Presidency of the Republic announcing the meeting between Francis and the former seminarian, the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo government intends to give the international public opinion a different perception of the extra judicial killings and rapes going on in Southern Cameroons.

Biya’s regular visits to the Vatican have greatly weakened the Roman Catholic Church in Cameroon. Roman Catholic Christians prefer to purchase holy water blessed by TB Joshua than that from the Vatican.

Pope Francis is reportedly aware of the too much interference of CPDM officials in Roman Catholic affairs and recently appointed Bishop Dieudonne Nzapalainga from the Central African Republic with a small Christian population as Cardinal leaving Cameroon with nothing following the retirement of Cardinal Tumi.

By Rita Akana CAMCORDNEWS

48 hours after his arrival on Italian soil, it is this Monday that Paul Biya will be received at the presidential palace. According to the official program, a state dinner will be organized today Monday in honor of the Cameroonian President who is on a 72-hour state visit.

The exchange between Biya and Mattarella is expected to focus on economic issues. A member of the Biya delegation was quoted as saying that Cameroon wants to enrich itself with the Italian economic model.

The visit of the Cameroonian dictator to Italy takes place one year after that of his Italian counterpart in Yaounde in March 2016.

By Chi Prudence Asong

A United Nations road safety performance review mission is presently in Cameroon to oversee government’s policies on road safety. The team is in the country to ensure that road safety measures put in place strictly conforms to the United Nations latest action on road safety proclaimed in 2010.

The crew is made up of experts in road safety, the UN Secretary General’s envoy on road safety missions and a delegation from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. The mission is expected to hold working sessions with stakeholders within the road safety domain. These stakeholders are drawn from the Ministry of Transport, Members of the National Road Board and the road safety task force of the National Gendarmerie.

The evaluation mission comes at a time when government has been on the offensive in its road saftey campaign. A number of repressive measures have been put in place to punish recalcitrant road users. Also regular supervision missions are being jointly organized by the Ministry of Transport and National Gendarmerie to ensure the strict implementation of the measures.

CRTV

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says the era of spreading disinformation by most of the Western media against the Syrian government has passed and their credibility is questioned even by the people in the West. The Syrian leader made the remarks in a meeting with a European parliamentary delegation headed by Deputy Chairman of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs Javier Couso on Sunday, adding that frequent visits to Damascus by European parliamentarians in the past months are a clear sign that they have come to witness the reality and relay to their respective people a true image of what is happening in Syria.

Elsewhere in his remarks, President Assad reiterated that the wrong policies adopted and pursued by several European countries toward the region in general and Damascus in particular had led to the spread of terrorism and the flow of large numbers of refugees and asylum seekers to those European countries.

The flawed policies include supporting extremism and terrorism and imposing economic sanctions on the Syrian people, he added. The members of the delegation, which represented several European nations and parties, for their part, asserted that their visit was aimed at rectifying the erroneous views both on the political and popular levels toward what is actually going on in Syria.

They also confirmed that they would keep on working toward restoring diplomatic ties between the European Union member states and Syria, and toward ending the sanctions imposed on the Arab country. The two sides also discussed the latest developments in Syria, the EU policies on the foreign-backed terrorists targeting the Syrian people, and the prospects of finding effective and conclusive solutions for ending the six-year-long war in the Arab country.

Presstv

President Paul Biya on Friday the 3^rd of March 2017 received in audience a delegation of 15 Ambassadors of the UN Security Council.

The UN officials are visiting the Sub Saharan region to assess the needs of the countries combating the Nigerian Islamic sect, Boko Haram that has reportedly made many incursions into the Lake Chad Basin area. The Delegation is led by Matthew Rycroft, the British Ambassador who is the current head of the UN Security Council.

From Yaoundé, the nation’s capital, the UN Security Council officials will travel to Maroua to get an on-the-spot update of the security situation. From Cameroon the delegation will be meeting the leaders of the other Lake Chad Basin Commission countries; Chad, Nigeria and Niger.

CRTV

The Chinese leader, XI Jinging has invited President Biya to Peking.  Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered the invitation was transmitted to the 84 year-old dictator on Friday the 3^rd of March by the Chinese ambassador to Cameroon, Wei. Wien. It will be the sixth visit of the Cameroonian chief executive to China after those of March 1987, October 1993, September 2003, November 2006 and July 2011.

In an audience held at Unity Palace, the Chinese envoy said the visit will be held on a mutually convenient date.  The Chinese ambassador said that “China intends to work with Cameroon to carry on the Sino-Cameroonian strategic cooperation at a higher level in order to contribute more to the well-being of our two peoples”.

It must be said that the Sino-Cameroonian relationship goes back more than 45 years. The various areas of cooperation include hydroelectric projects, improved drinking water supply, agriculture, culture and armaments. On the economic front, China is Cameroon’s largest trading partner and Cameroon is “the second largest African beneficiary of Chinese financing.

Cameroon Intelligence Report

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a U.S. based independent press freedom advocacy organization, has tasked the government to give clarifications regarding the reported imprisonment of at least eight journalists arrested in the wake of the crisis rocking the country’s English speaking regions.

In an open letter to the Minister of Communication and government spokesperson, CPJ said the National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms (NCHRF), had confirmed the detention of at least five journalists as of February 20.

“Since then we have heard reports of at least three other journalists jailed in Cameroon,” CPJ said. It reminded the communication minister that he claimed media practitioners in Cameroon “can speak their mind” and there was no journalist was in prison in country. “You requested that we forward you a list of detained journalists. We did this privately the same day and repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempted to follow up with you directly,” independent press freedom advocacy group reminded the minister citing a February 15 conversation.

CPJ said it is requesting the minister’s assistance in reconciling his contention that no journalists are jailed in Cameroon with the conclusions of NCHRF, “and request clarification on the location” of Atia Tilarious Azohnwi of The Sun newspaper, Amos Fofung of The Guardian Post, Thomas Awah Junior, of the monthly Aghem Messenger magazine, Mfor Ndong of Voice of the Voiceless, Hans Achumba, of Jakiri Community Radio and Tim Finnian, publisher of Life Time newspaper among others.

It urged the minister to clarify the reasons for their detention, where they are held, and their current legal status. The government spokesperson was yet to officially react to the letter which CPJ said was faxed to his office.

CPJ noted in the letter that it is aware the government has taken “increasingly drastic” steps to suppress the rights to transmit and receive information in Cameroon, particularly in predominantly Anglophone regions in recent months.  Media outlets have also been suspended, and journalists have been banned from practicing their craft, according to the CPJ.

Cameroun Info.Net