Politics

Cameroon military has launched an operation code named “Tentacle” which the army leadership say its the last operation to clean the remnants of Boko Haram militants operating in the Cameroonian and Nigerian communities of Djibrili and Zamga. Cameroon Concord’s military informant revealed that Operation Tentacle” began on March 16, 2016 and has been supported by elements of the Joint Multinational Force (FMM). The troops commanded by Brigadier General Jacob Kodji, leader of the 4th Joint Military Region and commander of Operation Emergence 4 have reportedly killed 20 jihadist fighters and captured 12 others. 

The army seized heavy weapons including Boko Haram’s major war arsenal that was stationed in the locality. We were also reliably informed that Nigerian troops are conducting a similar operation on the other side of the border. This major operation comes after those of Ngoshe and Kumshe- that witnessed the destruction of two Boko Haram bases by the Cameroon army some few weeks ago. Cameroon military sources hinted that Boko Haram jihadists are showing signs of weakening. Our source added that the terrorists are now apparently scattered amid sporadic attacks from the armies of both Nigeria and Cameroon and are operating uncoordinated.

Ever since the expeditions of Ngoshe and Kumshe, clashes have become almost non-existent. Lieutenant Colonel Leopold Emile Nlate Ebale, Operations Bureau Chief of the Rapid Intervention Battalion, BIR was quoted by Cameroon’s national daily newspaper Cameroon Tribune as saying "Before there was a kamikaze attack every two or three days, but after the last operations in Ngoshe and Kumshe, we have gone through three weeks without a suicide attack ". Under the direct supervision of Lieutenant Colonel Felix Cheka, the Cameroon army has installed a base known as South Zone Operation Alpha in the city of Kolofata that has painfully suffered repeated assaults from the jihadists. Lieutenant Colonel Felix Cheka and his men currently control an area of 2500 km2, covering all of Mayo-Tsanaga and Mayo-Sava divisions.

The Rapid Intervention Battalion has also opened another base in Kerawa, located at about seven kilometers from Kolofata where the Nigerian Islamic sect stepped up attacks some few months ago. The facility is called the 4th Light Response Unit (ULI). The South of the Far North region precisely at Achigachia is now being protected by the famous Koutaba legion including the Field Artillery Regiment from Nkongsamba.

Cameroon military spokesman, Colonel Didier Badjeck, during a recent press briefing noted that both Emergence 4 and Alpha-supported operations are intertwined and run in accordance with the strategic vision of the staff armed represented in the area by the commander of RMIA 4. Colonel Badjeck observed that “ Now it is no longer simply to prevent the infiltration of Boko Haram fighters and to cut off their networks but also to destroy their bases used for training, design, and implementation”.

The Cameroon army is now equipped with modern war machinery like drones that can scan the conflict zone. Military cooperation with France and the United States has contributed effectively to intelligence gathering which has been used for successful operations. According to Lieutenant Colonel Leopold Emile Nlate Ebale every major operation was preceded by several weeks of preparations focused mainly on intelligence information.

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Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

28.Mar.2016

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Five opposition candidates, who were defeated in Congo's recent presidential elections, have called for “peaceful” protests against the re-election of incumbent President Denis Sassou Nguesso for a new five-year term. Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas, who received more than 15 percent of the votes, and Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko, who came third with almost 14 percent, as well as three other presidential candidates made the plea in a statement released on Saturday.

"We urge the Congolese people to fully exercise their sovereignty over a democratic victory through elections recognized by law: dead cities and other strikes, meetings and peaceful marches, until the verdict of the ballot boxes is respected," the statement read. The opposition figures described the circumstances surrounding last week’s polls as "an abuse of power," calling for the first post-election industrial action on March 29.

Sassou Nguesso won 60 percent of the votes cast in the March 20 elections, which were dismissed by the opposition as fraudulent. The 72-year-old former paratrooper colonel served as president from 1979 to 1992 and returned to power in 1997 following a civil war. He further won two successive terms in 2002 and 2009.

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Presstv

27.Mar.2016

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A suspected suicide bomber intercepted in northern Cameroon on Friday before she could blow herself up claimed to be one of 219 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in the Nigerian town of Chibok in 2014, military and local government sources said.

Two girls carrying explosives were stopped by local self-defense forces in the village of Limani, in an area of northern Cameroon that has been the target of frequent suicide bombings in recent months.

They were then handed over to Cameroonian soldiers belonging to a multi-national force set up to take on Boko Haram.

In a high-profile attack that sparked a global outcry, Boko Haram militants raided the school in April 2014 while the girls were taking exams. They loaded 270 of them onto trucks, though around 50 escaped shortly afterwards.

"One of them indeed declared that she is one of the Chibok hostages. She is around 15. We are now verifying, because on the Nigerian side they have the names and photos of these girls," said local government administrator Raymond Roksdo.

Two military sources, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak to the press, also confirmed that the girl had claimed to have been one of the Chibok abductees.

"We need a few days to be able to confirm this information. We have to debrief all the men who were present and interrogate the two girls before we can say anything," one of the military sources said.

Former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan was criticized for his slow reaction to the Chibok abductions, seen by many as indicative of his response to Boko Haram, which at its strongest held large swathes of northeastern Nigeria.

It was nearly a month before a fact-finding committee traveled to Chibok to establish whether the abduction actually happened and how many girls were missing.

Muhammadu Buhari, who defeated Jonathan in an election last year, ordered a new investigation into the kidnappings in January. [nL8N14Y501]

Joint operations between Nigeria and its neighbors Niger, Chad and Cameroon succeeded in driving Boko Haram from many of its strongholds in Nigeria last year.

However, as an 8,700-strong regional task force seeks to stamp them out once and for all, the Islamists have stepped up cross-border attacks and suicide bombings, many of them carried out by young girls.

(Reuters)

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Elangwe Pauline

26.Mar.2016

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After the drama of Lady Monique koumate who died during childbirth with her twins on March 12, 2016 and whose case aroused anger among the population, Cameroon has just experienced another public health disaster involving four children born six months earlier who all perished at the Yaoundé Central hospital. Cameroon Concord gathered that the babies were miraculously born and "instead of taking care of them, they were placed in a room without test tubes while the newborns were still fragile." All attempts at getting help from the so called Chantal Biya Foundation were futile. The babies were placed in a plastic bag and they all died some few minutes later.

The quadruple infanticide has revealed a new scandal involving medical negligence and failing incubators. Public Health Minister, Andre Mama Fouda who was combative, defiant, and ignored the Lady Monique scandal entirely including his loyal attack-dogs within the administration are now maintaining a kind of deliberate silence. Our senior health correspondent who contributed to this report hinted that, “What is more important in this whole medical crisis is for the ruling CPDM to emerge strong and still in control of state affairs”. 

Despite the maelstrom of accusations and counter-accusations, the Lady Koumate-L’hopital Laquintinie and the Yaounde Quadruple Infanticide affairs are now strikingly simple. It stands entirely on whether Minister Mama Fouda, the Littoral Governor and Co. were telling the truth—and not just a partial truth, but the whole truth. The general opinion is that President Biya, Minister Andre Mama Fouda and his gang of health officials have committed high crimes and misdemeanors requiring the intervention of the Special Criminal Court.

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Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

26.Mar.2016

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A new poll shows that more than sixty percent of Americans are of the opinion that presidential election process in the US is not functional. The Gallup survey released Friday shows that some sixty-six percent believe the election system is in a shambles, illustrating a record low. “Thirty percent of Americans say the presidential election process is working as it should, down from 37% in January,” reads the poll. 

The poll attributes the dramatic decrease to “cynical” viewpoints held by Republican presidential hopefuls, but shows that the number has remained steady among Democratic supporters. “The decline is driven mainly by Republicans' increasingly cynical views as the campaign season has progressed. The percentage of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who say the election process is working has fallen from 46% to 30% since January,” the poll shows. “Democrats' and Democratic leaners' views haven't changed,” adds the poll which is based on interviews conducted March 16-17.

Overall, the survey shows that both Republicans and Democrats now have analogously "low levels of belief that the election process is working properly, based on their views of the way the presidential campaign is being conducted." The presidential campaign for Republican nomination has been marred by countless instances of scandals, mudslinging and onstage vulgarity, where rivals have time and again seized opportunities to blacken their opponents and push them down the gutter. The campaign of Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner, has been marked by controversial statements, including with disparaging remarks about Mexican immigrants and Muslims.

Ted Cruz, currently second behind Trump, has called several times on authorities to step up their policing of Muslim neighborhoods in the United States. On the Democratic side, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is the leading candidate followed by Senator Bernie Sanders. Sanders' emphasis on US income inequality and influence of corporate money on elections and government has helped him attract large crowds on the campaign trail.

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Presstv

26.Mar.2016

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Suspected Boko Haram Takfiri terrorists have kidnapped 16 women in Nigeria’s northeastern state of Adamawa, local officials say. Police said they have received reports of the kidnap of 14 women and two girls by gunmen believed to be Boko Haram insurgents near Sabon Garin Madagali village. According to locals, the women were abducted in the bush Wednesday while fetching fire wood and fishing in a river. Two women jumped into the river and pretended to have drowned. They later returned to their village and told locals about the abduction. 

A police spokesman said search teams have been deployed to the region and that the Nigerian army has been informed. The army has already been carrying out operations in the region to free hundreds of hostages held by Boko Haram. On Thursday, the army said it had freed over 800 people held by the Takfiri group in several villages in the northeastern state of Borno.

Some 25 militants were killed in the army operations and army soldiers seized the militant group’s equipment, it said. Madagali is located on the border with Borno State and has been repeatedly attacked by Boko Haram militants. The Takfiri group has abducted thousands of women, including schoolgirls, over the past few years.

Boko Haram started its campaign of militancy in 2009 with the aim of toppling the central government in Nigeria. It has so far taken the lives of at least 17,000 people and forced over 2.5 million others to flee their homes. The terror group has pledged allegiance to Daesh Takfiri terrorists, who are mainly wreaking havoc in Syria and Iraq.

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Presstv

25.Mar.2016

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