Day: December 13, 2021

For the second time in a matter of days, food aid for starving Ethiopians has been stolen from the World Food Program in northern Ethiopia, the United Nations said Monday.

“On the evening of December 10th, a group of armed actors – believed to be either from the Ethiopian National Defense Forces or an affiliated allied military force – entered the Disaster Risk Management Committee compound in Kombolcha and took 18 WFP trucks by force,” U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters. “The armed individuals then used the trucks in several locations for their own purposes.”

He said 15 trucks have been returned, but three remain unaccounted for.

“The safety and security of U.N. and partner staff remain our highest priority and we call for the immediate and safe release of our staff, colleagues, and vehicles,” Haq said.

The WFP has informed the federal government and local authorities in the town of Dessie, whom the spokesman said are assisting in the recovery the three trucks. The towns are in the Amhara region of northern Ethiopia, which has seen aid needs skyrocket in recent months.

The U.N. says 3.7 million people in Amhara need humanitarian assistance due to the conflict between federal government forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Force (TPLF). Fighting has been going on for more than a year, and in July, it spilled over into the neighboring regions of Amhara and Afar.

On December 7 and 8, the U.N. said three WFP trucks were commandeered by military personnel and used for their own purposes. WFP warehouses in Dessie and Kombolcha were also looted, and large amounts of food stocks were taken, including nutritional items for malnourished children.

The U.N. said some of their staff had been held at gunpoint. Aid distribution was suspended following that incident.

A U.N. spokesman said recent “mass looting” in Kombolcha was reportedly carried out “by elements of the Tigrayan forces and some members of the local population.”

Source: Voice of America

South Africa’s 69-year-old President Cyril Ramaphosa tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, though is showing only mild symptoms, the presidency said.

“The President started feeling unwell after leaving the State Memorial Service in honor of former Deputy President FW de Klerk in Cape Town earlier today,” the statement added.

At the memorial service, a mask-wearing Ramaphosa gave a eulogy to the last leader of South Africa’s white minority government, who helped negotiate an end it.

“The President, who is fully vaccinated, is in self-isolation in Cape Town and has delegated all responsibilities to Deputy President David Mabuza for the next week,” the presidency added.

In the past few days, a nationwide outbreak believed to be linked to the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus has been infecting around 20,000 people a day. South African scientists see no sign that the variant causes more severe illness.

Source: Voice of America

Villagers in Cameroon’s conflicted Northwest region claim military troops searching for rebels this past week killed at least 13 civilians, including children. Cameroon’s military denies the allegations.

Cameroonian government officials and non-governmental organizations say several dozen civilians have fled Mbengwi, a commercial town in the English-speaking Northwest region to safer localities, including Bamenda, capital of the English-speaking Northwest region; Bafoussam, a French-speaking western town; and Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde.

Peter Chefor escaped to Yaounde Saturday after his home was set on fire. He accuses Cameroonian troops fighting separatists in Mbengwi of burning down his home.

“When I looked through the window (of my house), I saw the military outside rough handling my son,” he said. “At that point, one of the military guys’ legs was already on my son’s head, so I shouted that he is my son, they should not kill him. He is not an Amba (separatist) fighter.”

Chefor, his wife and two children now live with his younger brother in Yaounde.

Roman Catholic Church officials in Mbengwi say at least 13 civilians, including children, were killed and about 20 houses torched in Mbengwi over the past week. Mbengwi residents and rights groups say several youths were also arrested and their whereabouts remain unknown.

Rights groups have strongly criticized the civilian deaths, the arrests, the destruction of houses and other property, and looting.

The Cameroon military has denied that its troops are committing atrocities in Mbengwi.

Eyong Tarh, an official with the Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa, said the government should investigate and punish troops for what he calls retaliatory attacks on civilians accused of collaborating with separatist fighters.

“After eyewitnesses’ testimonies, video evidence and satellite imagery, the Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa in collaboration with the Cameroon Anglophone Database of atrocities, confidently attest or confirm that the burning of homes was caused by the defense forces (Cameroon military) and there is no way that can be refused or denied,” Tarh said.

Tarh said it is unfortunate that civilians accused of collaborating with separatist fighters are either killed or have their houses burned by the military, while people accused of collaborating with the military are either killed or their houses burned by separatist fighters.

Ayaba Cho Lucas is Commander of the Ambazonia Defense Forces, ADF, a group that says it fights for the independence of the English-speaking regions of Cameroon. He refers to the state he and others hope to create as “Ambazonia,” and denies that separatist fighters are committing atrocities.

“Ambazonia is our land, our hope, it is our place of respite,” he said. “You think if you burn our homes, you molest our children, they will give up. Make no mistake. We will turn the armored cars into dust. We will fight till the end.”

Both the Cameroon military and separatist fighters accuse each other of attacking civilians.

Army spokesman Captain Cyrille Serge Atonfack Guemo said in a statement Monday that a reconnaissance mission was hit by an improvised explosive device and the military deployed troops to fight separatists on the road linking Mbengwi and Bamenda, both English-speaking northwestern towns.

Military officials said the army lost one tactical vehicle in the battle, and that four separatist fighters were killed.

The separatists say none of their fighters died and that at least seven government troops were killed last week when fighters destroyed a military armored car in Mbengwi.

Separatists have been fighting since 2017 to form an English-speaking state within the majority French-speaking country.

UN officials say the conflict has killed more than 3,300 people and displaced more than half-a-million.

Source: Voice of America