Africa

Sudan: 435 children killed, 2,000 injured in 100 days – UNICEF

Published

1 year ago

July 25, 2023

Sudan: 435 children killed, 2,000 injured in 100 days – UNICEF

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Monday reported that no fewer than 435 children had been killed and more than 2,000 others injured in 100 days of fighting in Sudan.

UNICEF stated that the figure is based on credible reports, noting that the true figure was likely to be far higher.

The UN agency added that there had been more than 2,500 severe violations of children’s rights – an average of more than one per hour – in a country where 14 million youngsters need aid relief.

“As we reach more than 100 days since the conflict in Sudan escalated, we know that it is taking an absolutely horrific toll on children and on families,” Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, Farhan Haq quoted UNICEF as saying.

Haq told journalists at UN headquarters in New York that the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has also reported that nearly 300 displaced children had died from measures and malnutrition in White Nile State.

According to UNHCR, conditions are “harrowing” for those reaching shelter in neighbouring countries, where displacement camps are overcrowded and the rainy season has made relocation and aid deliveries harder.

To date, more than 3.3 million people have been displaced within Sudan and across its borders, including to Egypt, where UNHCR said that most children continue to arrive without their parents.

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Despite intense diplomatic efforts to end the fighting – notably by the African Union, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) regional body, the League of Arab States and the UN – clashes involving the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) milita have continued across multiple fronts.

To date, the UN response inside Sudan is only 23 per cent funded.

Both UNHCR and UNICEF have urgently appealed for more donor support to assist vulnerable populations who have endured three months of fighting, concentrated around the capital Khartoum, but spreading far into restive Darfur and other regions.

Healthcare inside Sudan has reached “gravely serious levels” of collapse, with more than 67 per cent of the country’s hospitals out of service and with increasing reports of attacks on facilities and personnel, according to the UN World Health Organisation.

There are now 51 recorded attacks on healthcare verified by WHO, resulting in 10 deaths and 24 injuries.

“It is a tragedy and an outrage that in the middle of this deepening crisis fighters continue to attack health facilities and workers, denying life-saving services to innocent civilians when they are at their most vulnerable”, said the statement.

WHO warned that diseases such as malaria, measles, dengue and acute diarrhea, which hitherto were well under control, were increasing due to the disruption of basic public health services.

The disrupted services include disease surveillance, functioning public health laboratories and rapid response teams.

“As the rainy season begins in Sudan, outbreaks are likely to claim more lives unless urgent action is taken to curtail their spread.” (NAN)

Africa

Nigeria denies alleged plot to destabilise Niger Republic

Published

10 hours ago

December 21, 2024

Trends Admin

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu

Nigeria denies alleged plot to destabilise Niger Republic

The Federal Government of Nigeria has refuted “in very strong terms” allegations that it is plotting to destabilise neighbouring Niger Republic.

The Nigerien authorities alleged that the Lakurawa terrorist group, with the help of foreign security forces, including Nigerian security forces, were responsible for the attack on the Niger-Benin oil pipeline on December 13, 2024, in Gaya, Dosso Region of Niger Republic.

However, Nigeria, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement on Saturday signed by its acting spokesperson, Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa, refuted the allegation.

“The Government of Nigeria condoles with the Government of Niger over the unfortunate attack on the oil pipeline, but informs that the perpetrators were neither backed nor assisted by Nigerian authorities.

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“The Government of Nigeria is strongly committed to the fight against terrorism and will not condone or support the activities of such groups.

“The Federal Government of Nigeria also expresses very serious concern and states categorically that there are no French military troops in the northern part of the country preparing to destabilize the Government of Niger.

“These allegations are unfounded and should be discarded in their entirety,” the Statement read in part.

It also noted that the relationship between Nigeria and France had always been cordial, saying it is guided by mutual respect, dignity, and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs.

The government of Nigeria assured that it would continue to explore all peaceful means to maintain its cordial relationship with the Republic of Niger for the benefit of the people of both countries.

Nigeria denies alleged plot to destabilise Niger Republic

Africa

Suspected witchdoctors arrested over attempt to ‘bewitch’ Zambia’s President

Published

21 hours ago

December 21, 2024

Trends Admin

Suspected witchdoctors arrested over attempt to ‘bewitch’ Zambia’s President

Two men were detained in Zambia on charges of being “witchdoctors” tasked with attempting to bewitch the president.

The police stated they had arrested Jasten Mabulesse Candunde and Leonard Phiri in Lusaka.

“Their purported mission was to use charms to harm” President Hakainde Hichilema, according to the police statement issued on Friday.

Many individuals in the southern African country believe in and dread witches.

The police stated Mr. Candunde and Mr. Phiri were hired by Nelson Banda, MP Emmanuel “Jay Jay” Banda’s younger brother.

The MP was reportedly arrested last month in nearby Zimbabwe on robbery allegations, which he denies, but he has not been seen in public since.

He is also accused of escaping from detention in August while waiting to appear in court.

The opposition Patriotic Front (PF), led by z, has previously claimed that the charges are politically motivated.

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Emmanuel Banda, who has been an independent MP since 2021, previously worked with Lungu, who lost the presidency to Hichilema that same year.

The police stated the MP’s younger brother, Nelson, was “currently on the run” in their statement.

Mr. Candunde and Mr. Phiri face charges under Zambia’s Witchcraft Act for “possession of charms,” “professing knowledge of witchcraft,” and “cruelty to wild animals.”

The pair was found with “assorted charms,” including a live chameleon, according to the authorities.

According to the police statement, they claimed they had been given more than 2 million Zambian kwacha (£58,000; $73,000) for their “mission.”

The accused are in jail and will appear in court “soon,” according to the police, although no specific date has been set for the hearing. They have not yet responded in public to the charges.

Suspected witchdoctors arrested over attempt to ‘bewitch’ Zambia’s President

Africa

South African man sentenced to six life terms for killing his relatives

Published

1 week ago

December 13, 2024

Trends Admin

South African man sentenced to six life terms for killing his relatives

The Pietermaritzburg High Court in South Africa has sentenced a 38-year-old man, Sthembiso Nkosinathi Mthimkhulu, to six terms of life imprisonment for the m8rder of six of his relatives in February 2021 in the Nkanini area of Eshowe.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in a statement on Thursday, December 12, 2024, said that before the incident, one of Mthimkhulu’s relatives had passed away.

Mthimkhulu suspected that his uncle had practised witchcraft on this person, causing them to d!e.

Mthimkhulu planned to kill his uncle and decided to use a firearm to carry out his actions.

On 20 February 2021, Mthimkhulu drove to his uncle’s homestead where he found his uncle in the company of his (uncle’s) family.

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Mthimkhulu opened fire on them, killing six of them, including two minor children aged eight and 10 years old. He then fled the scene and was arrested after his car was tracked to Greytown, where he had gone to see a traditional healer.

In the state’s case, Advocate Mbongeni Chamane led the testimony of an eyewitness.

Further, Adv, Chamane handed in Victim Impact Statements, compiled by the deceased’s grandchildren, and facilitated by Court Preparation Officers Nokuvela Mlotshwa and Amanda Nxumalo.

In her statement, the younger child drew pictures showing her smiling before the incident and crying following the incident. The older grandchild said that her parents had died when she was very young, so her grandparents (the deceased) were like her parents. They took such good care of her, and she misses them. She said that following the incident their family is highly traumatised, and they live with fear and anxiety. In addition to the sentence, Mthimkhulu was declared unfit to possess a firearm.

The NPA commends the work done by the Prosecution and Police. It is incumbent on us to fight for justice on behalf of the victims of crime. We hope that stringent sentences like this convey our commitment to the fight against crime,” the statement added.