Day: September 25, 2021

PARIS— France reaffirmed its determination to defeat terrorism after one of its soldiers was killed in a clash with an armed group in Mali.

In a statement, the French presidency expressed “particularly strong emotion” at the news of the killing early on Friday and said it “reaffirms France’s determination in its fight against terrorism.”

The death brought to 52 the number of French fatalities serving in the Sahel region since 2013.

The latest attack comes amid increasingly strained relations between Paris and Bamako, where the ruling military junta plans to hire Russian mercenaries to help fight jihadist insurgents have alarmed France and its EU allies.

France’s foreign and defence ministers this week warned Bamako that its plan to hire a thousand paramilitaries from Russia’s so-called Wagner group was not compatible with maintaining French troops in the country.

In January, two soldiers, one of them a woman, were killed in their light armoured vehicle by an “improvised explosive device”.

Five days prior to that incident, three other French soldiers were also killed by a makeshift bomb.

Those two attacks were claimed by the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM).

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

NAIROBI— Kenya became the first African nation to back Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’ bid for a second term as head of the World Health Organization (WHO).

The 56-year-old Ethiopian was nominated by Germany on Wednesday in a move that surprised many observers, who had predicted that official support for his candidacy would come from African nations.

But his candidacy became complicated after Ethiopia allegedly withdrew its support over the conflict in his home region of Tigray.

Candidates for the UN health body’s top slot are generally nominated by their home countries.

On Friday, hours after the deadline for candidates passed, Kenya announced it would back the malaria specialist.

“Kenya supports continuity of exemplary African leadership at helm of crucial global world health organization, and will work towards that realization,” Macharia Kamau, principal secretary at the foreign ministry, said on Twitter.

The first African to head the powerful UN agency, Tedros has been on the front line since the start of the Covid-19 crisis, making him one of the most familiar faces in the fight against the pandemic.

The former health and foreign minister of Ethiopia drew the ire of the Addis Ababa government by using the WHO platform to condemn the crackdown in Tigray.

He appears to be the only candidate in the running, with other EU nations following Berlin’s lead in backing him.

Each country, among them Austria, France, Portugal and Spain, submitted a sealed envelope to the Geneva-based WHO before the deadline expired at 1600 GMT on Thursday.

The organisation will not open the envelopes before Oct 1. Then, a few weeks later, the list of candidates will be sent to the WHO’s 194 member states, before being made public.

If multiple candidates come forward, a selection process will start in January 2022 to establish a shortlist of up to five potential directors-general.

Member states will vote for the next head of WHO — whose term begins in August next year — in a secret ballot in May during the global body’s main annual meeting of member states.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

At least eight people were killed Saturday and nine others injured when a car bomb exploded on a street corner near the president’s residence in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu.

Witnesses said a car loaded with explosives was detonated at the Elgab intersection while it was stopped for a security check. The blast destroyed a number of cars parked nearby, witnesses added.

Somali police spokesman Major Mohamed Hassan told VOA that eight people, including a police officer, were killed in the blast.

Militant group al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it targeted the main security checkpoint of the presidential palace. The group said, “Commanders and government officials stayed in the area when the attack occurred.”

Somali government spokesman Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimuu said in a message posted on his Facebook page that Hibaaq Abukar, who was a staffer at the office of the prime minister, was among those killed in the attack.

Somalia Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble said Abukar was an active member of a team dealing with women’s issues.

Ambulances and Red Crescent workers were seen rushing to the scene after the explosion.

On Friday, a suicide bomber attacked a busy street. Somali police said the bomber struck around 3 p.m. local time and there were no causalities except “for the one who killed himself.”

Somalia’s political crisis intensified Friday when negotiations to reconcile issues between the president and prime minister failed. Regional experts warn if the power struggle between leaders continues, the country could sink into a civil war and the election timeline could be delayed.

Source: Voice of America