Day: November 21, 2021

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Gunmen Kidnap 5 Chinese Mine Workers in DR Congo

Gunmen killed a police officer and kidnapped five Chinese nationals working at a gold mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s conflict-plagued east on Sunday, military sources said.

Regional army spokesman Major Dieudonne Kasereka said that “at around 2 am, the camp of the Chinese group was attacked by armed bandits” in the village of Mukera in Fizi territory of South Kivu province.

“There were 14 in total, five were taken away by the attackers to an unknown destination,” he said, adding that the other nine were safely evacuated.

Colonel David Epanga, head of the armed forces in Fizi, said one policeman was killed and another was wounded in the attack.

The five abducted Chinese workers were employees of a company that has been operating a gold mine in the area for four to five months, Fizi civil society head Lusambya Wanumbe said.

“The company had difficulties starting its activities because of protests by the population which accused it of not respecting the rules,” Wanumbe said.

In August, South Kivu authorities suspended the work of half a dozen Chinese-financed companies, after residents accused them of mining for gold without permission and wrecking the environment.

Elsewhere in the Central African country’s troubled east, the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN) said that suspected rebels linked to the M23 movement killed a guard in Virunga National Park on Saturday night.

The ICCN said the attack was “carried out by around a hundred heavily armed individuals” near the village of Bukima, in the Mikeno area.

“The presumed perpetrators are former M23 members gathered on the Rwandan and Ugandan borders, who are seeking to establish bases on the territory of the Virunga National Park,” the ICCN said in a statement on Sunday.

The M23 is one of more than 120 armed groups which roam eastern Democratic Republic of Congo — a legacy of regional wars more than two decades ago.

It is a Congolese Tutsi group that was largely defeated in 2013 after launching a rebellion.

The militants were accused of attacking army positions close to the park and the Ugandan border on November 8, which the group’s leadership denied.

The Virunga National Park, a UNESCO listed world heritage site, is home to endangered mountain gorillas — particularly in the Mikeno area.

Source: Voice of America

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Blinken Prods Tunisia on Reforms in Call With Leader

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken encouraged Tunisia’s leader to make reforms to respond to Tunisians’ hopes for “democratic progress,” the U.S. State Department said on Sunday, nearly four months after President Kais Saied seized political power.

Saied said last week he was working non-stop on a timetable for reforms to defuse growing criticism at home and abroad since he dismissed the cabinet, suspended parliament and took personal power in July.

Last week, thousands of Tunisians protested near parliament in the capital, demanding he reinstate the assembly, while major foreign donors whose financial assistance is needed to unlock an International Monetary Fund rescue package for the economy have urged him to return to a normal constitutional order.

“The Secretary encouraged a transparent and inclusive reform process to address Tunisia’s significant political, economic, and social challenges and to respond to the Tunisian people’s aspirations for continued democratic progress”, the State Department said in a statement about a call between Blinken and Saied.

It added that Blinken and Saied discussed recent developments in Tunisia, including the formation of the new government and steps to alleviate the economic situation.

A Tunisia presidency statement said earlier that the United States would offer support to Tunisia once it has announced dates for political reform.

Saied seized nearly all powers in July in a move his critics called a coup, a decade after the Arab Spring’s first and only successful pro-democracy uprising, before installing a new prime minister and announcing he would rule by decree.

Saied has defended his takeover as the only way to end governmental paralysis after years of political squabbling and economic stagnation, and he has promised to uphold rights and freedoms won in the 2011 revolution.

Source: Voice of America

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Protesters Gather Outside Ouagadougou to Block French Military Convoy Headed to Niger

Up to 200 protesters in Burkina Faso gathered on the outskirts of the capital, Ouagadougou, Sunday, aiming to block a French military convoy that has been trying to reach neighboring Niger from the nearby city of Kaya. French forces are in the region as part of a fight against Islamist militants. Many Burkinabe, however, are upset with France’s role and have directed their anger at French forces.

From Thursday through Saturday of last week, protesters in Kaya, 97 kilometers north of the capital, staged a blockade of the convoy.

An official from the French Defense Ministry told VOA on Sunday that the convoy was routine and the 32nd of its kind heading to Niamey, Niger, with supplies for troops.

Demonstrators said they believed the convoy was carrying weapons to arm terrorist groups which have spread throughout Burkina Faso, killing thousands of civilians and security forces over the last six years. Security has deteriorated rapidly in recent months, but there is no evidence to support the protesters’ claim.

Saturday night, it was reported the convoy had left Kaya after protesters there forced it out, but it was not clear if it was headed to Ouagadougou.

Cell phone internet access has also been shut down since 10 p.m. local time Saturday, according to NetBlocks.org, a watchdog group that monitors internet shutdowns. This may indicate a government attempt to suppress further street protests.

Nonetheless, protesters had arranged wooden pallets and tires on the road leading from Kaya to the capital and were flying a Burkinabe flag. The atmosphere was tense with protesters demanding to know if journalists were working for French media outlets.

One protester, who refused to give his name, spoke to VOA.

He said, “We are ready to burn any French material passing by. We do not need France in this country anymore. That’s our will.”

Another wanted to know where the jihadists’ weapons come from.

“From where do the jihadists get their weapons? It’s from the French. That’s why we have blocked the convoy in Kaya. They shot at us yesterday and three people were injured. We were there yesterday, and today we are back again to block the convoy.”

Meanwhile, the Reuters news agency reports France has asked Burkinabe President Roch Kabore to intervene to resolve the situation involving the convoy. According to Reuters, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told French television “manipulators” were behind the anti-French sentiment, but that he hoped for a solution.

On Saturday, Burkinabe security forces in Kaya used tear gas to disperse crowds gathered near a fenced compound where the convoy had been parked. French defense officials say French troops fired warning shots into the air when protesters tried to cut the fence. The French defense official says there is no way that French troops shot and injured three people and that the incident will not be investigated.Joe Penney, a co-founder of Sahelian.com, a news website focused on the Sahel region, says that it is not exactly uncommon for soldiers to shoot in the air to disperse a crowd, but added that very rarely does that end up with so many people injured.

“The fact that people were shot in the leg also raises questions for me and for me there should be a formal investigation,” Penney said.

There were no security forces at the protest earlier Sunday morning, but a Burkinabe government official told VOA that efforts were underway to reopen the roads. The spokesperson, however, did not address the issues surrounding internet access.

“Regarding the internet, I do not know if it is a question of technical problems or not,” the spokesperson said.

By Sunday evening, police had dispersed protesters with tear gas and traffic was beginning to move freely on the road again.

Source: Voice of America