Militants attack Muslims in Central African Republic's capital

December 21, 2013
militant
Bangui, Dec 21: In a barbarous act, a group of Christian militants attacked Muslim neighborhoods in the capital of Central African Republic on Friday, as France appealed to European partners for assistance in quelling months of religious violence in its former colony.

Waves of looting, rapes and massacres since the mostly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power in March have displaced more than 700,000 people in the poor, landlocked country and revived memories of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

France has deployed 1,600 troops under a UN mandate to protect civilians and support an African Union peacekeeping mission, following an escalation of the violence in early December in which hundreds of people were killed in Bangui.

A semblance of calm had returned to the ramshackle riverside capital in recent days but fighting raged for several hours in the Muslim neighborhoods of PK 5 and Fatima early on Friday following attacks by Christian militias known as anti-balaka.

“They tried to attack other parts of the city and even made an attempt to reach the center of the town,” Guy-Simplice Kodegue, a spokesman for the interim government, told Reuters.

At a summit in Brussels, France's President Francois Hollande appealed for help from European Union partners to restore order in the nation of 4.6 million people.

He said EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton would propose options for a joint European mission, to be decided in late January. Poland had already sent 50 airmen to operate a C130 transport plane while Britain, Germany, Belgium, Spain and Holland were providing logistical support, he said.

“I am not asking that troops come to take part in military actions,” Hollande said. “What we need is a presence for specific missions such as protecting the airport, helping security, medical and humanitarian assistance.”

The United States has pledged up to $100 million to support the African Union peacekeeping mission with equipment, training, and logistical support.

President Barack Obama, however, has stopped short of offering to send US troops or voicing strong public support for a possible UN peacekeeping mission.

Three Seleka fighters were shot dead in central Bangui on Friday after one pulled out a grenade at a checkpoint when African Union peacekeepers tried to disarm them. A Congolese soldier was injured in the firefight.

The spokesman for the African Union peacekeeping force MISCA said a Chadian peacekeeper had died of his wounds after an attack on a patrol on Thursday.

MISCA says it has disarmed several thousand Seleka fighters and returned them to barracks. France's Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told TV5 Monde on Friday that French forces were disarming both sides, anti-balaka and Seleka, indiscriminately.

Under the terms of a UN resolution passed on Dec. 5, France hopes to hand over responsibility to security to the MISCA force in six months. The African Union force is due to reach 6,000 troops by the end of January.

“We could even foresee that force going up to 9,000,” said Hollande, who has repeatedly called on African nations in recent months to deal with their own crises as France seeks to shed its image as the continent's policeman. Paris still has nearly 3,000 troops sent to Mali to fight Al-Qaeda-linked militants.

Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said on her Twitter feed Rwanda was preparing to send troops, after the African Union asked it to participate.

Rwanda has been a strong supporter of a peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic, where the religious and ethnic violence has stirred memories of Rwanda's own 1994 genocide in which 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus were killed.

The World Food Programme flew an emergency shipment of food and supplies to Bangui on Thursday evening, after temporarily halting flights because of violence in the capital.

With more than 700,000 people displaced by the fighting in Central African Republic, WFP has warned of an impending food crisis. It said on Friday it was preparing to feed more than a million people there next year.

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July 14,2020

Brasilia, Jul 14: Brazil has reported new 20,286 coronavirus cases in last 24 hours taking the country's total to 1.8 million, Sputnik reported citing the health ministry.

The country's death toll has increased by 733 in the same period of time. The death toll from the infection has touched 72,833.

Over 1.1 million people have recovered from COVID-19 in Brazil since the start of the epidemic in the country, according to the health ministry.

Brazil has the second-highest coronavirus death toll, it is surpassed only by the United States.

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News Network
May 6,2020

May 6: In a first, a Pakistani Hindu youth has become the first person from the minority community to join the Pakistan Air Force.

Rahul Dev has been recruited as a General Duty Pilot Officer, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) said in a tweet.

Dev hails from Tharparkar district of Sindh province.

Sharing the picture of the young man, the PAF recently tweeted, "Good news during #COVID19 tense situation. Thar rocked again...Congratulations #RahulDev who hails from very remote village of Tharparkar has been selected as GD Pilot in #PAF."

Though Dev's exact age is not known, those inducted in PAF at his level are often around 20.

The official Radio Pakistan on Wednesday said it is "for the first time in Pakistan's history" that a Hindu youth has been recruited as a general duty pilot officer in PAF.

The Express Tribune in a report published on Wednesday said the induction showed that the PAF was breaking barriers.

Last year, Kainat Junaid became the first woman from Khyber-Pakthunkhwa province to have been selected for fighter pilot training.

Junaid not only secured the top position in PAF's test for General Duty Pilot, but also became Pakistan’s first female fighter pilot to serve the country alongside her father.

Her father Ahmed Junaid is a Squadron Leader in the PAF.

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News Network
May 20,2020

Washington, May 20: The United States recorded another 1,536 coronavirus deaths over the past 24 hours, the Johns Hopkins University tracker said.

That figure, tallied as of 8:30 pm (0030 GMT), raises to 91,845 the total number of COVID-19 deaths in the US.

The US tops the global rankings both for the highest death toll and the highest number of infections, with more than 1.5 million cases.

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