Africa

Mogadishu reels as truck bomb toll hits 137

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AFP) — The death toll from a massive weekend truck bomb in a busy shopping district of Mogadishu surged to at least 137, police said Sunday, warning it could rise further in the deadliest attack to hit war-torn Somalia. The figure was a huge jump from an initial police estimate of 20 dead in the hours after the deadly explosion ripped through the Somali capital on Saturday, causing scenes of carnage and widespread […]

Malawi leader vows probe as vampire scare forces UN out

  BLANTYRE, Malawi (AFP) –Malawi President Peter Mutharika on Tuesday vowed a thorough investigation after seven people were murdered by vigilantes in a vampire scare that has driven UN staffers out of the affected region. Since mid-September, vigilantes have slaughtered seven people suspected of trying to obtain and drink human blood as part of magic rituals. The vampire rumors sweeping the country’s southern region have forced authorities to impose a night-time curfew, restricting movement to […]

Seven killed in Cameroon as anglophones declare ‘independence’

by Reinnier Kaze with Amaury Hauchard in Libreville Agence France-Presse BUEA, Cameroon (AFP) – At least seven people were killed in Cameroon’s restive anglophone belt at the weekend as a separatist group made a symbolic declaration of independence. The separatists chose October 1, the anniversary of the official reunification of the anglophone and francophone parts of Cameroon, to declare independence for “Ambazonia,” the name of the state they want to create. Since November, the anglophone […]

Cameroon sets travel clamp in troubled anglophone region

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AFP) — Authorities in an English-speaking region in southwestern Cameroon on Thursday announced temporary curbs on travel and public meetings, adding to a curfew imposed in the northwest after protests by the country’s anglophone minority. The steps were announced ahead of what is expected to be a symbolic declaration of independence by Cameroon’s English speakers on Sunday. A fifth of the 22 million people in the francophone-majority West African state is English-speaking — a legacy of […]

Libya navy seizes oil tanker; detains Filipino crew

TRIPOLI, Libya (AFP) — The Libyan navy said Monday it has seized an oil tanker near the maritime border with Tunisia and detained the 20-member Filipino crew on suspicion of fuel smuggling. Navy spokesman General Ayoub Kacem said the vessel was intercepted on Sunday off Abu Kamash, 170 kilometers (110 miles) west of Tripoli, and its crew transported to the capital to appear before the prosecutor general. The Liberian-flagged tanker belonging to a Greek company […]

Up to 250 feared dead in DRCongo mudslide

by Marthe Bosuandole Agence France-Presse BUNIA, DR Congo – As many as 250 people are feared dead after a massive mudslide swept over a fishing village in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as the government came under fire for its slow response. The search for survivors has been called off after last week’s disaster, which devastated Tara, a fishing village on the shores of Lake Albert on the country’s northeastern border with Uganda. Pacifique Keta, deputy head of […]

Sierra Leone mourns 100 children among dead in massive flooding

by Saidu Bah Agence France Presse FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AFP) — Sierra Leone began a week of mourning Wednesday as it emerged that 105 children were among more than 300 people who perished in mudslides and torrential flooding, in one of the country’s worst natural disasters. With 600 people still missing in Freetown, President Ernest Bai Koroma described the humanitarian challenge ahead as “overwhelming.” He said flags would fly at half-mast. He called for urgent […]

Hope for a new life: INC inaugurates first eco-farm outside PHL in Ladybrand; inspires South Africans in the area

  (Eagle News) — It was an inspiring scene. South Africans singing in joy as they planted pecan trees and olive trees, as well as various vegetables in a land transformed into an eco-farm by the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) to help the people of Ladybrand and other nearby towns in South Africa. In South Africa, where there are many unemployed, this 508-hectare eco-farm, is now seen as the land of promise by […]

Sierra Leone appeals for urgent help after deadly floods that killed more than 300

by Saidu Bah Agence France Presse FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AFP) — Sierra Leone’s president issued a desperate appeal for help on Tuesday, a day after flooding ravaged the country’s capital, killing more than 300 people and leaving hundreds more missing. Touring Regent, one of the worst-hit areas, President Ernest Bai Koroma fought back tears as he said the devastation was “overwhelming us.” “Entire communities have been wiped out,” Koroma said. “We need urgent support now.” […]

312 dead as mudslides, flooding sweep through Sierra Leone capital

by Saidu Bah Agence France Presse Freetown, Sierra Leone (AFP) — At least 312 people were killed and more than 2,000 left homeless on Monday when heavy flooding hit Sierra Leone’s capital of Freetown, leaving excavators to pull bodies from rubble and overwhelming the city’s morgues. An AFP journalist saw several homes submerged in Regent village, a hilltop community, and corpses floating in the water in the Lumley West area of the city, as the […]

17 dead in Burkina Faso restaurant attack: government

  OUGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AFP) — Seventeen people have been killed in a suspected jihadist attack on a restaurant in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou, the government said Monday. “The attack claimed 17 victims, their nationalities are yet to be confirmed, and eight injured,” according to a government statement, a copy of which was sent to AFP.

Video: Egypt train collision kills at least 37: ministry

https://youtu.be/2E72VlS1STU   ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (AFP) — At least 37 people were killed as two trains collided Friday outside the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, in one of the deadliest in a string of such accidents in Egypt, the health ministry said. The crash also injured 123 people, the ministry said in a statement. Footage on the state broadcaster showed one train had partly keeled over in the crash, and medics were seen moving the dead and […]