Month: April 2018

Nigerian forces repelled an attack by Boko Haram militants in the northeast city of Maiduguri on Thursday, the military said in a statement, the second such clash in a month.

Blasts and gunfire were heard earlier by residents in the city which is the capital of Borno, the state worst hit by the insurgency aimed at creating an Islamic caliphate in the northeast which has killed more than 30,000 people since 2009.

President Muhammadu Buhari, who took office in 2015 vowing to end the insurgency, has made it a priority to improve security in Africa’s most populous country. The issue has become politically charged in the run-up to an election next year which Buhari said he wants to contest.

“Troops of Operation Lafiya Dole have in the late hours of today, Thursday 26 April 2018, successful repelled Boko Haram terrorist incursion in the outskirt of Jidari Polo area of Maiduguri,” the military said in an emailed statement.

Boko Haram militants attempted to enter Maiduguri earlier this month, fighting soldiers in an attack in which at least 15 people were killed and 83 injured.

In the course of fighting the latest attack, the military said troops had been supported by the air force, police and other security agencies.

Witnesses had reported a heavy military presence and crowded streets as people attempted to flee to safety.

The general public and residents who fled the area earlier were urged to return home, the military statement said.

The government has been saying since December 2015 that the jihadist group has been defeated but high profile attacks in the last few months — including the kidnap of 111 schoolgirls from the town of Dapchi and a strike in the town of Rann that killed three aid workers — has shown the jihadists remain active. Nigeria’s government last month said it was in talks with Boko Haram, which split into two main factions in 2016, with the aim of securing a permanent ceasefire.

The government has not disclosed which elements of Boko Haram it is in discussions with and it was also not clear which faction carried out the latest attack.
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Nigerian forces repelled an attack by Boko Haram militants in the northeast city of Maiduguri on Thursday, the military said in a statement, the second such clash in a month.

Blasts and gunfire were heard earlier by residents in the city which is the capital of Borno, the state worst hit by the insurgency aimed at creating an Islamic caliphate in the northeast which has killed more than 30,000 people since 2009.

President Muhammadu Buhari, who took office in 2015 vowing to end the insurgency, has made it a priority to improve security in Africa’s most populous country. The issue has become politically charged in the run-up to an election next year which Buhari said he wants to contest.

“Troops of Operation Lafiya Dole have in the late hours of today, Thursday 26 April 2018, successful repelled Boko Haram terrorist incursion in the outskirt of Jidari Polo area of Maiduguri,” the military said in an emailed statement.

Boko Haram militants attempted to enter Maiduguri earlier this month, fighting soldiers in an attack in which at least 15 people were killed and 83 injured.

In the course of fighting the latest attack, the military said troops had been supported by the air force, police and other security agencies.

Witnesses had reported a heavy military presence and crowded streets as people attempted to flee to safety.

The general public and residents who fled the area earlier were urged to return home, the military statement said.

The government has been saying since December 2015 that the jihadist group has been defeated but high profile attacks in the last few months — including the kidnap of 111 schoolgirls from the town of Dapchi and a strike in the town of Rann that killed three aid workers — has shown the jihadists remain active. Nigeria’s government last month said it was in talks with Boko Haram, which split into two main factions in 2016, with the aim of securing a permanent ceasefire.

The government has not disclosed which elements of Boko Haram it is in discussions with and it was also not clear which faction carried out the latest attack.
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A U.S. federal court charged a Texas couple Thursday with imposing forced labor on a child from Guinea from 2000 until she escaped from their home in 2016.

Mohamed Toure and Denise Cros-Toure of Fort Worth both face up to 20 years in prison if they are tried and convicted.

The government alleges the couple brought the unnamed girl from Guinea to the U.S. when she was 5 years old. She spoke no English.

The Toures are accused of forcing her to work in their home without pay for long hours cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, painting and caring for their children.

The charges say the couple took away the girl’s passport and physically abused her, denying her contact with her family in Guinea as well as a chance for an education.

The girl escaped the home in 2016 when she was 21 with the help of several former neighbors.

The couple has not yet entered a plea. The attorney for the Toures has yet to comment.
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A U.S. federal court charged a Texas couple Thursday with imposing forced labor on a child from Guinea from 2000 until she escaped from their home in 2016.

Mohamed Toure and Denise Cros-Toure of Fort Worth both face up to 20 years in prison if they are tried and convicted.

The government alleges the couple brought the unnamed girl from Guinea to the U.S. when she was 5 years old. She spoke no English.

The Toures are accused of forcing her to work in their home without pay for long hours cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, painting and caring for their children.

The charges say the couple took away the girl’s passport and physically abused her, denying her contact with her family in Guinea as well as a chance for an education.

The girl escaped the home in 2016 when she was 21 with the help of several former neighbors.

The couple has not yet entered a plea. The attorney for the Toures has yet to comment.
…

U.N. investigators have uncovered what they believe to be five mass graves in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the scene of nearly 20 years of fierce ethnic fighting.

A new report says U.N. peacekeepers found the suspected mass burials last month in Ituri province, where a recent surge in violence left towns and villages in ruins and more than 260 people dead.

Congolese officials say they have no knowledge of mass graves and are asking the U.N. for a copy of its report.

Fighting over land use, politics and other differences between ethnic Hema cattle herders and Lendu farmers erupted in the eastern part of the country in 1999.

Hundreds of thousands of Hemas have fled their homes across Lake Albert into neighboring Uganda, while others sought refuge in other Congolese villages.

The Hemas largely blame the Lendu farmers for the attacks, saying they use spears, bows and arrows, machetes, and guns. The Lendu have accused Hemas of planning a genocide.
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U.N. investigators have uncovered what they believe to be five mass graves in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the scene of nearly 20 years of fierce ethnic fighting.

A new report says U.N. peacekeepers found the suspected mass burials last month in Ituri province, where a recent surge in violence left towns and villages in ruins and more than 260 people dead.

Congolese officials say they have no knowledge of mass graves and are asking the U.N. for a copy of its report.

Fighting over land use, politics and other differences between ethnic Hema cattle herders and Lendu farmers erupted in the eastern part of the country in 1999.

Hundreds of thousands of Hemas have fled their homes across Lake Albert into neighboring Uganda, while others sought refuge in other Congolese villages.

The Hemas largely blame the Lendu farmers for the attacks, saying they use spears, bows and arrows, machetes, and guns. The Lendu have accused Hemas of planning a genocide.
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