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Ethiopian forces blocked people from the country's embattled Tigray region from crossing into Sudan on Thursday at the busiest crossing point for refugees, Sudanese forces said.
Their account follows allegations by refugees in previous days of Ethiopian forces stopping people from fleeing the month-old deadly conflict in Tigray.
The Sudanese forces, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the events, said people tried to cross from Ethiopia around 6 a.m. to Hamdayet in Sudan but were stopped, and refugees waiting on the Sudan side became upset and began throwing rocks.
The Sudanese forces then cleared the area, and on Thursday evening they confirmed that the border crossing remained closed.
Tensions have been rising at the border in recent days as the flow of Ethiopians crossing has slowed to hundreds per day from several thousands.
A senior Ethiopian government official who has served as spokesman during the conflict did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
End fighting
The European Union's crisis management commissioner Thursday urged the Ethiopian government to restore communications in its northern Tigray region and called on both sides to cease hostilities.
"I urge... the Ethiopian authorities to lift the communication blockade," Janez Lenarcic said at Um Raquba camp in neighboring Sudan, where he spoke with Ethiopian refugees who had fled their homeland over the last month.
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed last month ordered military operations against the northern Ethiopian region's ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), in response to what he said were attacks on Ethiopian federal army camps.
Tens of thousands of refugees have since poured into eastern Sudan, with many complaining that they have not been able to re-establish contact with those left behind or lost on the scramble to leave due to a communications blackout.
"I spoke with a number of refugees in this camp today and what is perhaps most painful to hear is that they have zero information... about their relatives and friends who stayed behind," Lenarcic said.
Abiy on Saturday claimed the conflict was over after federal troops took control of the Tigrayan capital, Mekele, but the TPLF threatened a full-scale counter-offensive on Wednesday.
Lenarcic also urged Ethiopia's government to provide access for humanitarian workers and goods, while calling on both sides to "cease the hostilities".
Ethiopia has formally granted the United Nations access to deliver aid to Tigray.
AFP
He replaces Debretsion Gebremichael, whose immunity from prosecution was removed Thursday.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International said Thursday that scores of civilians were killed in a \"massacre\" in the Tigray region, that witnesses blamed on forces backing the local ruling party.
The \"massacre\" is the first reported incident of large-scale civilian fatalities in a week-old conflict between the regional ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), and the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, winner of last year's Nobel Peace Prize.
\"Amnesty International can today confirm... that scores, and likely hundreds, of people were stabbed or hacked to death in Mai-Kadra (May Cadera) town in the southwest of Ethiopia's Tigray Region on the night of 9 November,\" the rights group said in a report.
Amnesty said it had \"digitally verified gruesome photographs and videos of bodies strewn across the town or being carried away on stretchers.\"
The dead \"had gaping wounds that appear to have been inflicted by sharp weapons such as knives and machetes,\" Amnesty said, citing witness accounts.
Witnesses said the attack was carried out by TPLF-aligned forces after a defeat at the hands of the Ethiopian military, though Amnesty said it \"has not been able to confirm who was responsible for the killings\".
It nonetheless called on TPLF commanders and officials to \"make clear to their forces and their supporters that deliberate attacks on civilians are absolutely prohibited and constitute war crimes\".
Abiy ordered military operations in Tigray on November 4, saying they were prompted by a TPLF attack on federal military camps -- a claim the party denies.
The region has been under a communications blackout ever since, making it difficult to verify competing claims on the ground.
Abiy said Thursday his army had made major gains in western Tigray.
Thousands of Ethiopians have fled across the border into neighboring Sudan, and the UN is sounding the alarm about a humanitarian crisis in Tigray.
Youth in Kathmandu staged a peaceful demonstration outside the prime minister’s residence Tuesday and Wednesday against the government’s negligence in handling the COVID-19 pandemic.
The peaceful protest later turned chaotic as the police charged batons and fired water cannons and tear gas to disperse the crowd.
The government had earlier claimed to have spent almost 10 billion Nepalese rupees, approximately $82.4 billion, to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The protestors say the Nepalese government has not done enough to manage the COVID-19 crisis and simply imposing a nationwide lockdown is not the solution.
The post VIDEO: Police use water cannons and tear gas to break up Nepal pandemic protest appeared first on Zenger News.
Harambee Stars captain Victor Wanyama and his Major League Soccer (MLS) teammates are set to resume action on July 8 after a four-month break occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic shutdown.
The competition will then be tweaked from a league to a tournament format, organisers confirmed.
There will also be renewed efforts to fight racism in the wake of the recent death of George Floyd and the protests that followed around the world.
MLS Commissioner Dan Garber stated on Wednesday that the organisers had also set up elaborate plans on how to resume action in a safe environment amid the pandemic, which has led to the loss of about 125,000 lives in both the USA and Canada.
\"Together with our owners, players, and staff, the League and its clubs are deeply committed to creating meaningful and impactful programs to address these issues that have plagued our society for far too long.\"
Hundreds of Kenyans defied tear gas and riot police last Friday (June 12) to prevent the swift burial of popular musician Abenny Jachiga in the western city of Kisumu.
Rules imposed for suspected cases of COVID-19 require bodies to be buried within 48-hours of death with only five relatives in attendance.
Benard Omondi, a fellow musician was among the protesters: “Ben died yesterday, Ben died last night at three am so Ben can’t be buried now, how?
A probe has been launched into the passing of Abenny Jachiga whose real name is Benard Onyango Ogutu.
We are requesting so that we can plan and manage that Covid situation so that when these fans can come for the burial and we are in a position to manage this properly.”
[DW] Hundreds have died in the ongoing conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region and thousands more have fled. As the TPLF and Ahmed trade jabs, thousands of refugees are in dire need of humanitarian assistance in Sudanese camps.
State reckons that several players, including Egypt with whom it is entangled in a row over the Grand Renaissance Dam, may have had a hand in fanning recent unrest.
Her team of youth ambassadors, which includes young women and men, have had to change their way of working during the coronavirus pandemic and are now reaching out directly to their community to prevent an escalation of gender-based violence during the lockdown.
Plan International’s Girls Advocacy Alliance (GAA) project in Lofa County establishes safe spaces for young people to increase their knowledge and understanding about girls’ issues in Liberia and other parts of the world.
The group holds meetings and runs awareness raising activities to encourage community members, religious leaders and traditional leaders from ten communities in Lofa county to take a stand against gender-based violence.
Mawatta’s team has got the support of their town’s traditional leaders and chief in their advocacy work against the exploitation and abuse of girls and young women during the COVID-19 crisis.
Gender-based violence has been on the rise in Liberia since the lockdown measures and other restrictions were imposed to prevent the spread of the virus so the GAA project team are also building the capacity of the young change ambassadors and community leaders about how to prevent and report cases of violence other abuses against girls and women during the crisis.
Confirmed cases = 11,964
\t\tNumber of deaths = 54
\t\tRecoveries = 4,258
\t\tActive cases = 7,652
\t
\tJohn Hopkins Uni stats valid as of June 14, 2020
June 13: 11,118 cases, NDC advocates mass testing
\tGhana’s case load as of this morning stood at 11,118 cases with the disclosure of 262 new cases.
June 10: Cases pass 10,000 mark as rapid test kit makers advance
\tGhana reached 10,000 mark in terms of confirmed cases on Tuesday (June 9); the case load reached 10,201 with deaths still at 48, 3,755 recoveries and 6,398 active cases.
Total confirmed cases = 9,910
Total recoveries = 3,645
Total deaths = 48
Active cases = 6,217
June 8: 9,638 cases, govt evacuation plans
\tGovernment has confirmed that it was preparing to evacuate some Ghanaians stranded overseas due to the COVID-19 disruption.
Total confirmed cases = 9,638
Total recoveries = 3,636
Total deaths = 44
Active cases = 5,958
\tFigures valid as of close of day June 7, 2020
June 7: 9,462 cases, deaths hit 44
\tThe Managing Director of a major private health care facility in the capital Accra reported testing positive for the virus.
Total confirmed cases = 9,462
Total recoveries = 3,547
Active cases = 5,871
\tFigures valid as of close of day June 6, 2020
June 3: 8,297 cases; govt defends ban on football
\tSports Minister, Isaac Asiamah has defended government’s decision
President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for a shared vision and strategy between South Africa and Lesotho to revive the economy in the aftermath of COVID-19.
\"Clearly, COVID-19 is having quite a negative impact on many economies around the world and we are also going to be adversely affected, both Lesotho and South Africa.\"
President Ramaphosa and Lesotho's Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro were addressing the media at Mahlamba Ndlopfu Presidential Guesthouse in Tshwane on Friday.
\"This visit marks a very important milestone - the beginning of improving and deepening relations between South Africa and Lesotho at all levels that touch on the movement between South Africa and Lesotho and how we should find ways to support each other's economy, particularly in relation to post COVID-19,\" President Ramaphosa told the media.
\"We're also delighted to hear that stability has returned to Lesotho and that there's a renewed commitment to embark on the reforms that we, as South Africa, have been a facilitator in,\" the President said.
Guinean president Alpha Condé has dismissed detractors stressing that he was fit to rule and would live to “bury” those who wish him dead.
The president is quoted as saying in a radio interview that he had stopped receiving visitors and was making fewer appearances due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
With respect to the coronavirus, Guinea is one of the most impacted in the West African region only behind Nigeria and Ghana.
Africa’s prominent coronavirus deaths – politicians, artistes, sportsmen etc.
Guinea like most countries across the continent imposed social restrictions in an effort to combat the spread of the pandemic.
Ivorian Defense minister Hamed Bakayoko has strongly denied allegations of being a drug trafficker.
A Canadian website Vice has been publishing a series of articles suggesting that he was a “major cocaine trafficker.”
But according to Bakayoko, the allegations by the website goes against his principles as well as tarnishes the image of Ivory Coast.
But the former interior minister has not disclosed whether he intends to sue the website and the journalists in Côte d’Ivoire, Europe or the United States
\tThe authors of the articles have refused to comment on the issue.
Bakayoko recently acted as Prime Minister when PM Coulibaly was on medical leave in France.
Lagos — Traders at the popular Olaleye market in Shomolu Local Government Area of Lagos State are still counting their losses following the fierce fire at the early hours of Saturday, May 30, 2020.
Narrating how the incident occurred, Olaoye Mutiu Bukola, a printer, alleged connivance between the market committee and the police, saying, they chased those sleeping near the market away shortly before the fire started.
Bukola said, \"Those people have been sleeping in front of the market for long, but on this faithful day, the police came about 11pm to send them away, while the fire began few hours later.
\"I saw some people moving around the market area the evening before the fire incident.
Narrating her ordeal, Mrs. Tolani Ogunbiyi, who said she lost two shops and all her goods, alleged that before the fire incident, members of the market committee had all gone to rent shops outside the market to continue their businesses.
IN THE early hours of November 4, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) attacked the...
The post Ethiopian National Defense Forces Base comes under attack appeared first on Voice Online.
