Headlines

Shots were fired Tuesday during a counter-terror raid by French and Belgian police in Brussels, slightly injuring three police officials. The police raid was linked to the November 13 Paris attacks, according to a senior French official.

• The shootout occurred Tuesday afternoon in the Forest neighbourhood of Brussels, according to Belgian media reports.
• French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said French police were participating in the raid in the Belgian capital. He also confirmed the counter-terror raid was linked to the Paris attacks.

(France24)

Details

Elangwe Pauline

15.Mar.2016

Hits: 2474

Write comment (0 Comments)

As eye-witness reports paint a clearer picture of the events in Grand Bassam, little is known about the attackers. What is clear is that while Jihadist groups in the Sahel may be divided, they are still a potent force.

"At around 1pm we saw two armed people coming towards us. They started shooting in all directions. The people lying here were all hotel customers," said one eye-witness, referring to the victims. "One of the gunmen was almost a child himself. He went up to a young woman, who was talking on her phone and just shot her," another man said.

A barman told the Reuter news agency four of the attackers had arrived at the popular weekend resort in Grand Bassam in a Ford saloon car and ordered drinks. "They didn't speak French. They spoke Arabic. We communicated with them in English," he said. That happened just before they kicked over the table and started yelling. The attack in Grand Bassam left 18 people dead and 33 people were injured.

Tunisia in June 2015, Mali in November 2015, Burkina Faso in January 2016 and now Ivory Coast. The attacks in the Sahel region all followed a similar pattern. A small group of gunmen attacked civilians, tourists or business people on a popular beach or in a hotel. In some instances they spared people who could prove that they knew Islamic prayers. The radical Islamist group al-Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility for the three West African attacks. The Tunisian attack was claimed by the group that calls itself 'Islamic State', but the Tunisian government said it believed that AQIM was behind it.

"These terrorist attacks can happen anywhere, at any time," Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara said on Sunday after visiting the scene of the shooting. The area of the attack was cordoned off, for the removal of any unexploded munitions, and the government said that security forces had killed three of the six assailants. Ouattara declared three days of national mourning for the victims.

Victims of the attack

The victims included nationals from Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, France, Mali as well as one German victim - Henrike Grohs, who headed Ivory Coast's Goethe Institute.

"We are shocked that Henrike Grohs was torn out of this life (world) in such a tragic, gruesome way . She loved her work and was full of energy and ideas," said Johannes Ebert, Secretary-General of the Goethe Institute. The 51-year-old Grohs had worked in Ivory Coast for just over two years.

"The news of the attack in Ivory Coast really left us speechless, and when we heard that someone very close to us was killed, we were devastated," said Inge Herbert, director of the West Africa branch of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, an organization affiliated to Germany's Free Democratic Party. Based in Dakar in neighboring Senegal, Herbert had frequently visited Ivory Coast. "Grand Bassam with its restaurants at the beach is a place that we visit very often, both professionally and privately - there are hotels there where we conduct our workshops," she said.

Attack is a shock but no surprise

The news of the attack may have come as a shock, but the region has been aware of a sense of growing insecurity for quite a while. Since the attacks in Ouagadougou and Bamako, security measures in hotels have been tightened, said Herbert. For some time now, people have expressed concerns about the safety of big public events, such as a recent marathon in Dakar. "Some people do ask themselves, will there be a time when I stop attending such big events?" Herbert added.

It's the easy targets, like beaches, which are difficult to monitor, that the terrorists target, explained Lori-Anne Theroux-Benoni, a senior researcher with the Institute for Security Studies. They have seen this strategy working in Bamako and Ouagadougou, she explained.

(DW)

Details

Elangwe Pauline

15.Mar.2016

Hits: 3308

Write comment (0 Comments)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the start of pullout of Russian military from Syria. Putin said on Monday that the planned drawdown, which is set to start on Tuesday, could serve as a stimulus for Syria's political talks. The Russian president, who announced the decision in a televised meeting with Russia’s foreign and defense ministries, hailed Moscow’s nearly six months of air campaign in Syria as a positive step, saying it created conditions for peace talks. “With the tasks set before the Defense Ministry and the military largely fulfilled, I'm ordering the Defense Minister to start the pullout of the main part of our group of forces in Syria, beginning tomorrow,” Putin said. 

The Russian leader, however, did not elaborate on the number of planes and troops to be withdrawn from Syria in the first phase of the pullout. Putin said Russia’s two major military bases in Syria, the airbase in Hemeimeem in the coastal province of Latakia and the naval facility in the port of Tartous, will remain operational. The unexpected decision came hours after peace talks between the Syrian government and the opposition resumed in the Swiss city of Geneva.

United Nations special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, who mediates the talks, refused to comment on Putin’s decision. Russia started its military campaign in Syria on September 30, 2015, based on a request from the Syrian government. The airstrikes have greatly boosted the morale of the Syrian army as it has managed to retake key areas from militants across the country with Russian support.

Details

Presstv

14.Mar.2016

Hits: 1838

Write comment (0 Comments)

Nearly two dozen people have been killed in western Uganda as clashes between supporters of two former presidential election rivals turn violent. Police said in a statement late on Sunday that fighting claimed 22 lives in the area where opposition candidate Kizza Besigye had a strong showing against veteran leader Yoweri Museveni, who won the February 18 presidential race. The statement said, however, that clashes erupted after local elections on February 24 when supporters of Forum for Democratic Change accused the government of stoking violence in the area. It said 16 civilians were killed in the fighting between rival camps while six others died after police intervened to calm down the unrest. 

The violence also left some 10 people injured, including four soldiers, police said, adding that some 80 people were arrested during and around 150 houses were burned down. “We have information that criminal gangs are being incited,” police said, adding, “We caution those misleading the youth into engaging in reckless ... attacks on the security forces and other innocent people to desist.”

Museveni won the disputed presidential election with 60 percent of the vote against Besigye's 35 percent. Besigye and other rivals rejected the results, calling them rigged. Monitors from the European Union also raised suspicion about the integrity of the poll, saying the votes were held in an intimidating atmosphere. They also accused the electoral oversight body of lacking independence and transparency.

Details

Presstv

14.Mar.2016

Hits: 1657

Write comment (0 Comments)

The al-Qaeda’s North African affiliate has claimed responsibility for the recent deadly attacks in an Ivory Coast resort town that left a total of 22 people dead. The United States-based SITE Intelligence Group said on Sunday that al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) had claimed responsibility for the assaults, which occurred on the same day. Six gunmen rampaged through three hotels in Grand Bassam, a resort popular with foreign tourists, on Sunday, killing 16 people, including 14 civilians, before being gunned down by security forces. The AQIM claimed in a statement that three of its members had been killed in the attacks. Ivory Coast Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko said foreigners were among the victims, including citizens from France, Germany, Mali, Cameroon, and Burkina Faso. He added that an investigation had been launched into the incident and that authorities had obtained a mobile phone belonging to one of the assailants. Following the incident, Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara visited the site of the attacks. 

According to witnesses, the gunmen randomly opened fire after entering the beach resort, which is located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of commercial hub Abidjan. French President Francois Hollande, whose country lost one national in the attacks, condemned the raids, saying Paris would provide logistical support and intelligence to Ivory Coast in order to help find those behind the assaults. In recent months, attacks on luxury hotels in the capitals of Ivory Coast’s neighbors Mali and Burkina Faso have left dozens of people dead, leaving West African nations scrambling to boost security in the face of terrorism. Last November, an attack in Mali claimed the lives of 20 people, while 30 people were also killed in Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou, in January. Both attacks were claimed by the AQIM, raising concerns that the militants are expanding their operations to areas beyond the Sahara and the arid Sahel region.

Details

Presstv

14.Mar.2016

Hits: 1933

Write comment (0 Comments)

Gunfire was heard on Sunday at the Ivory Coast resort town of Grand Bassam, about 30 km east of the commercial capital Abidjan, diplomatic sources said.

The gunmen were not identified and it was unclear if they were affiliated with any militant group. The incident comes nearly two months after Islamist fighters killed dozens of people in a hotel and cafe frequented by foreigners in neighboring Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou.

(Reuters)

Details

Rita Akana

13.Mar.2016

Hits: 2132

Write comment (0 Comments)