Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP | Shooting was heard late Friday from inside the main military camp in Abidjan, Ivory’s Coast’s economic capital, witnesses said Friday, days after a brief mutiny by the armed forces. “There were shots, bursts of gunfire coming from the barracks. It stopped and started again,” …
Read More »Gambia army chief backs president as region watches
Banjul, Gambia | AFP | The Gambia’s army chief on Wednesday reaffirmed his loyalty to President Yahya Jammeh, despite the threat of a regional military intervention if the strongman refuses to step down. Lieutenant General Ousman Badjie used a New Year message published in the pro-government Daily Observer newspaper to …
Read More »Nigerian army ‘crushes’ Boko Haram in key stronghold
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday claimed the military had routed Boko Haram in a key northeastern stronghold, a year after saying the Islamist militants had been “technically” defeated. A campaign lasting for months in the 1,300 square-kilometre (500 square-mile) forest in northeastern Borno state …
Read More »UN cancels Gambia army chief’s Darfur visit
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The UN has stopped The Gambia’s controversial army chief from visiting troops serving as peacekeepers in Darfur, as international pressure grows on the country’s top brass to accept incoming president-elect Adama Barrow. Gambian security forces seized the country’s Independent Electoral Commission on Tuesday, drawing international …
Read More »VIDEO: Nabakooba’s defence committee summons IGP, CDF on Kasese
VIDEO: The Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs has summoned the IGP Kale Kaihura and the Army commander Gen. Katumba Wamala to answer queries regarding the Kasese attacks that led to the deaths of over 80 people. Parliament wants them to explain the deaths that followed the arrest of the Omusinga Charles …
Read More »Burkina Faso calls on army to remain ‘neutral’ after coup attemp
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso | AFP | Burkina Faso President Roch Marc Christian Kabore on Tuesday implored the country’s army to respect the “rule of law”. The impoverished, landlocked west African country has been blighted by numerous coups and mutinies since gaining independence from France in 1960. Ten days ago the …
Read More »Great Lakes leaders want UN force in DRC bolstered amid unrest fears
Luanda, Angola | AFP | Leaders of the Great Lakes region called Thursday for the UN peacekeeping force in strife-torn DR Congo to be bolstered, as fears rise of an upsurge in violence linked to delayed presidential polls. At the end of two-day talks, they called for more contributions to …
Read More »South Sudan court martials 60 soldiers
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Sixty South Sudanese soldiers have been tried before a court martial for alleged crimes committed during last month’s fighting in the capital Juba, the army spokesman said Monday. Brigadier-General Lul Ruai Koang told AFP they include looting, murder, shooting and loitering with at least two …
Read More »Uganda Army killings
What is driving soldiers to kill, commit suicide? Recently, on June 6, Sergeant Isaac Obua, a UPDF soldier attached to Makindye Military Barracks in the southeastern division of Kampala sent the nation in shock when he shot and killed seven people including children. He was shot and killed by his …
Read More »Kenya security accused of murder and abduction: report
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Security agencies are killing and abducting men in north-east Kenya who they suspect of links to Islamist extremists, a rights group said Wednesday. Human Rights Watch (HRW) documented 34 “enforced disappearances” and 11 suspected “extrajudicial killings” over two years in Garissa, Mandera and Wajir counties …
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The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price