NATO Admits Errant Tripoli Strike
Tripoli, Libya
NATO has admitted that the accidental airstrike by its forces in the capital Tripoli that may have led to civilian casualties was due to a weapons systems failure.
A statement from NATO said that a military missile site in north of Tripoli was the intended target of the Sunday morning raid but one weapon did not strike it and have led to civilian casualties.
Libyan authorities who called reporters to the site said nine civilians including two children were killed in the strike. The military alliance-tasked to enforce a UN resolution to protect civilians-said it has expressed deep regrets over the “sad incidence”.
“There was intentional and deliberate targeting of the civilian houses,” Khaled Kaim, Libya's deputy foreign minister, said. “This is another sign of the brutality of the West.”
This was the second recent admission by NATO over its erroneous strikes following a recent airstrike on a rebel installation in the oil refinery town of Brega.
Elsewhere, rebel leaders in the Uprising’s stronghold of Benghazi told a news conference that they had run out of money following to failure by donors to avail the deposits by last week as granted earlier by western and Arab supporters.
The Transitional National Council (TNC) Adviser Shamsuddin Abdul Mullah said cash was urgently needed to buy medical supplies and avoid popular frustration that was becoming increasingly dire.
The rebels control much of eastern parts of the country and pockets in the west including Misrata, although the capital remains highly under influence of government forces.
Darfur, Sudan
Darfur Rebels Killed in Government Forces Attack
The Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) fighters in the War torn Darfur in western Sudan have said that the government forces attacked their installations in the region on Sunday resulting to 27 deaths and thousands displaced.
The SLA said that the north’s Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) attacked them using war planes and military vehicles, where 27 people including 19 civilians were killed and about 40 wounded in attacks which the rebels claim were both from land troops and as well as airstrike.
Ibrahim al-Helwu, a spokesperson for the SLA, told Al-Jazeera from Paris that the violence began when government troops advanced from the Darfur settlements of Kas and Nyala. Over 10,000 people have been displaced from the area due to the fighting.
The northern army confirmed of the clashes with the rebels in the mountainous Jabel Marra region which it said had caused unconfirmed number of fatalities on both sides. The SAF denied claims of any civilian casualties or displaced and that they used aircrafts during the attack.
Over 300,000 people have died and thousands displaced in Darfur since 2003 when rebel groups took up arms in protest against the government’s oppression against non-Arabs in the region. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued warrant of arrest against President Omar Al-Bashir for war crimes and genocide committed in Darfur.
Images from the Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) a satellite monitoring group set up last year by Hollywood actor George Clooney and other activists to monitor Sudan-shows that the northern army was massing and was in control of Kadugli capital of southern Kordofan where thousands had been displaced.
The images "show a massing of SAF artillery, light vehicles and heavy transports of the kinds used to carry tanks, troops, and munitions," SSP said.
Fighting has been raging on since June 5 between SAF and a SPLA allied militia in Southern Kordofan, with the Khartoum forces being accused of carrying out intensified operations to disarm the area’s pro-southern militia groups.
The north-south talks over the disputed Abyei region have hit a deadlock over both sides’ hardened stands, weeks before the South Sudan becomes legitimately recognised as being independent on July 9.
South’s independence follows an overwhelming vote in favour of secession during the January referendum which was part of the 2005 peace pact that ended two decades of north-south conflict.
Abuja Nigeria
58 Arrested in Police Headquarters Bombing
Police in Nigeria have arrested 58 Boko Haram sect members in connection with the Thursday’s suicide bombing of police headquarters in Abuja.
Among the arrested members are Somali nationals confirming suspicions that sympathisers from Somalia and Sudan were working in alliance with the Islamist sect to perpetrate unrest in the country.
Boko Haram, a religious extremist sect founded in 2002, is trademarked for its attacks targeting police officers and stations. It had claimed responsibility for Thursday blast which, according to the police two people were killed, though unofficial sources put the death toll at 15.
The Nigerian government has asked the embassies of Somalia, Niger and Sudan to a comprehensive list of all their nationals in the country in bid to root out those who were in the country illegally.
The suspects arrested at the sect’s headquarters in Maiduguri have been flown to Abuja under tight security by a special police unit, where they have recorded useful statements that will aid the US bomb experts in investigations. Security operations have been placed on high alert throughout the country to prevent any further threats by militant groups.
Security agencies in the country are teaming up with US and Saudi Arabian anti-terror experts in collaborative efforts to uncover masterminds of the attack. Speculations are that international terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda may be trying to infiltrate into Nigeria through the Boko Haram Islamist sect that has been responsible of most bombing in the north.
President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday moved to calm citizen and urged them not to panic during his visit of the bomb blast site.
“Terrorism is a global phenomenon and everyone is a target for them, but Nigerians should not panic; the security agencies will contain the situation. Let us be calm, we will get to the root of the matter,” he said.
Over 700 people were killed in 2009 clashes between the sect and Nigerian security forces following reports that the dreaded extremist group was arming itself. Several of its leaders were arrested.
Mogadishu, Somalia
Somalia PM Resigns
Somalia’s Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has resigned following an agreement between the president and parliament to pave way for a new government.
His resignation comes in contrary with his earlier pledge that he would stay in office following a wave of public support for him to stay, including demonstrations. He told reporters on Sunday that his decision to leave was inconsideration of the “interest of the Somali people” and current situation in the country. He promised to remain in Mogadishu to support a new government.
Farmajo’s removal was part of the UN-backed deal that called for his resignation to clear way for the formation of a new government. The peace pact signed in Uganda this month chaired by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, was meant to break the political impasse between the Somali president and speaker of parliament and establish a roadmap for national elections and a new constitution.
The deal extended office term for President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden and the deputies until 20 August 2012, when new elections will be scheduled.
The President and the speaker both eyeing the presidency have been in conflict over what would happen when mandate of the current transitional government expires in August.
President Sharif Ahmed has appointed a new caretaker premier who will serve until a new replacement is named within the next 30 days. The Exiting prime minister has received much praise for his governance and struggle to end the country’s clan-based politics during his less than seven months in office.
Somalia has been without a functional government ever since the ousting of dictatorial leader Siad Barre in 1991. Insurgent groups which control much of southern Somalia have been waging war against the UN-backed transitional government seeking control of the capital, Mogadishu.