Day: June 20, 2022

NAIROBI, June 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The leaders of seven nations comprising the East African Community bloc will meet Monday to discuss the security situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s violence-torn east, the Kenyan presidency said.

The meeting comes as heavy fighting revives decades-old animosities between Kinshasa and Kigali, with the DRC blaming neighbouring Rwanda for the recent resurgence of the M23 rebel group.

Rwanda has repeatedly denied backing the rebels while both countries have accused each other of carrying out cross-border shelling.

People in the eastern DRC “have long suffered and continue to pay an inordinately heavy price in loss of lives, property and elusive peace,” the Kenyan presidency said in a statement announcing Monday’s meeting in Nairobi.

On Wednesday, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta called for the deployment of a regional EAC force in eastern DRC to restore peace, but Kinshasa said it would not accept Rwanda’s participation in the operation.

DRC President Felix Tshisekedi has accused Rwanda of seeking “to occupy our land, rich in gold, coltan and cobalt, for their own exploitation and profit” and urged the international community to condemn Kigali.

Regional commanders of the EAC were expected to meet on Sunday to finalise preparations for the deployment of the joint force.

A UN force, known by its French acronym MONUSCO, is already operating in the DRC.

Kenyatta said the regional force will work alongside local provincial authorities and in close coordination with MONUSCO to disarm anyone bearing illegal firearms.

The mineral-rich DRC is struggling to contain dozens of armed groups in the east of the vast nation, many of which are a legacy of two regional wars a quarter of a century ago.

A primarily Congolese Tutsi militia, the M23 or “March 23 Movement” this week claimed control of the key town of Bunagana, forcing thousands to flee their homes.

The militia leapt to global prominence in 2012 when it captured Goma.

It was forced out shortly afterwards in a joint offensive by UN troops and the Congolese army.

The group took up arms again in late November having accused the Kinshasa government of failing to respect a 2009 agreement that involved incorporating its fighters into the army.

Relations between Kinshasa and Kigali have been strained since the mass arrival in the DRC of Rwandan Hutus accused of slaughtering Tutsis during the 1994 Rwanda genocide.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged difficulties trying to defend the country’s eastern region but said Russian forces would continue to be met with Ukrainian resistance.

In his nightly address on Monday, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces are fighting to defend the eastern cities of Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk, as well as the entire region.

“We have the most difficult fighting there. But we have our strong guys and girls there,” he said, adding, “the occupiers receive a response to their actions against us.”

Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai said on national television Monday the situation in the eastern province was “extremely difficult.”

He said Russian forces control most of the province’s embattled city of Sievierodonetsk. Ukrainian forces remain in control of only one area of the city — around the Azot chemical plant, where Ukrainian fighters and about 500 civilians are taking shelter, Haidai said.

While Russia failed early in the war to topple Zelenskyy’s government and capture the capital, Kyiv, intense fighting is taking place in the eastern part of the country, centering on the industrial city of Sievierodonetsk in Luhansk province, which is part of the broader Donbas region that Russia is trying to control.

Earlier Monday, Zelenskyy accused Russia of holding Africa “hostage” by blocking wheat deliveries and contributing to rising food prices on the continent.

In a video speech to African Union leaders, Zelenskyy said, “This war may seem very distant to you and your countries. But catastrophically, rising food prices have already brought it home to millions of African families.”

He said Ukraine is holding “complex, multilevel negotiations” to try to end Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian ports.

“But there is no progress yet. … That is why the global food crisis will continue as long as this colonial war continues,” he said.

Russia denies it is deliberately blocking wheat exports from Ukraine and blames sanctions imposed by Western nations for rising global food prices.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called Russia’s actions “a real war crime.” He told the EU’s top diplomats gathered in Luxembourg on Monday, “It is inconceivable, one cannot imagine that millions of tons of wheat remain blocked in Ukraine while in the rest of the world, people are suffering (from) hunger.”

Also Monday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland met in Toronto to discuss sanctions and other ways to boost economic pressure against Russia.

Yellen said at the start of the meeting that the two would also work together to boost energy production to counter high gas and energy prices.

On Sunday night, Zelenskyy warned of “greater hostile activity from Russia” this week as EU leaders consider whether to support candidate status for Ukraine in the European Union.

“And not only against Ukraine, but also against other European countries. We are preparing. We are ready. We are warning partners,” Zelenskyy said.

The European Commission recommended last week that Ukraine receive candidate status. The 27-member states will discuss the issue and give their votes during a summit Thursday and Friday. If Ukraine does advance to candidate status, the process for joining the EU in full could take several years.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned Sunday that Russia’s war in Ukraine could be long-lasting but said Western allies should not curb their support for Kyiv’s forces.

“We must prepare for the fact that it could take years,” Stoltenberg told the German weekly Bild am Sonntag. “We must not let up in supporting Ukraine, even if the costs are high, not only for military support, also because of rising energy and food prices.”

Source: Voice of America

Raiders in Mali killed at least 20 civilians in attacks on villages near the northern town of Gao over the weekend, while a landmine killed a U.N. peacekeeper in the troubled region.

“Criminal terrorists” on Saturday killed at least 20 civilians in several hamlets in the Anchawadj commune, a few dozen kilometers north of Gao, said a senior police officer, who asked to remain anonymous.

A local official blamed the attacks on jihadists and put the death toll at 24, saying the killings occurred at Ebak, some 35 kilometers (23 miles) north of Gao, the region’s main town.

The official described a “general panic” in the area.

The situation in Anchawadj was “very concerning,” and civilians were fleeing the area fearing further violence, he added.

Peacekeeper killed

Following the bloodshed on Saturday, a landmine killed a U.N. peacekeeper on Sunday as he was out on patrol further north in Kidal, the head of the U.N.’s MINUSMA Mali force, El Ghassim Wane, tweeted.

The spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the killing of the peacekeeper, who he said was from Guinea.

“Attacks targeting United Nations peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law,” deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said.

While there has been no official confirmation that the attacks were carried out by jihadist groups, fighters affiliated to either al-Qaida or the Islamic State group are active in the region.

Growing unrest

The region has become increasingly violent and unstable since Tuareg separatist rebels rose up against the government in 2012.

Jihadist fighters took advantage of their rebellion to launch their own offensive, threatening the capital Bamako in the south until a French-led force pushed them back in 2013.

The Tuareg separatists and the government agreed to a peace accord in 2015, but it has yet to be applied.

So now Mali’s weak, national government faces both separatist and jihadist insurgencies in the north of the country — a largely desert region that is all but devoid of state infrastructure.

“A good part of the Gao region and that of Menaka” are occupied by the jihadists, said the official in Gao. “The state must do something.”

Some of the rebel groups have also been fighting each other as they battle for influence and territory. Adding to the volatile mix are traffickers and other criminal groups.

Government stability meanwhile has been interrupted by military coups in August 2020 and May 2021.

Following his latest report into the area, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last month warned that instability in Mali and Burkina Faso were undermining attempts to stabilize the region.

The security situation in the Gao region had badly deteriorated in recent months, he said.

He also voiced concern over Menaka, the eastern region bordering Niger.

Initially captured by a Tuareg rebel group a decade ago, it was subsequently taken over by Islamist groups.

Source: Voice of America