The Director of the National Intelligence and Security Service, Temesgen Tiruneh said on Wednesday that the federal government has teamed up with regional powers to neutralize the terrorist TPLF for once and for all.
The criminal enterprise, which rejected the unilateral ceasefire and moved out of Tigray, has now waged war against neighboring regions, Temesgen said.
He elaborated that forces of the terrorist group now spread out of Tigray, are trying to disrupt law and order of the country here and there.
Temesgen recalled that the first offensive declared by the government after the terrorist Junta attacked the Northern Command of the National Army was completed within a short period of time.
But, he said, the Junta waged a fresh war in several parts of Northern Ethiopia provoking the people in Tigray for bellicose against the federal and regional governments.
TPLF is trying to involve other terrorist groups in its destructive movement and forcing families in the region to contribute their children to the war it declared against the nation. (FBC)
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COVID-19 prevalence worryingly increasing in Ethiopia
The prevalence of COVID-19 pandemic in Ethiopia has been alarmingly increasing since the past three weeks, Health Minister Lia Tadesse said.
Briefing journalists on Thursday about the current situation of COVID-19 and its vaccine, Lia said that number of COVID-19 positive persons has increased from 2.8 to 7.4 percent over the past three weeks.
The average number of persons testing positive per week has almost quadrupled from 831 to 3,302, she said adding, the number of people coming to health institutions has increased, and that currently there are 324 persons under intensive care unit.
Despite the increased prevalence, the interest of the people to use facemasks has been decreasing, she said.
According to her, the number of people who uses facemask has decreased to 59 and 20 percent, in Addis Ababa and other parts of the country respectively.
Thus, Lia stressed the need for stringent care to prevent from the possible third wave of the pandemic.
According to Lia, more than 2.25 million Ethiopians have been vaccinated in the first round of the campaign. (ENA)
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Ethiopia’s health sector forges partnership with Orbit Innovation Hub and Mastercard Foundation
Five startups, focused on health sector, graduated on Wednesday from a four-month business development program ran by Orbit Innovation Hub under the Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works initiative.
The startups were: Medket, Tena, Gebeta, Temaribet, and New Era Research and Development (NERD). The first two—MedKet and Tena—are developing health-focused innovations. The first cohort graduated 15 entrepreneurs.
The Orbit Innovation Hub (OHI)’s program is one of the only health inclined incubation hubs primarily aimed at targeting entrepreneurs in the health sector.
Under the four-month program, the start-ups received a range of support, including training, expert consultation, legal and administrative support, mentorship, and coaching on technical and soft skills. They also received seed funding and will continue to gain support from the Hub post-graduation.
Tena, a healthcare technology startup, aims to provide a web and mobile app platform where parents can get medical consultations for their children with doctors virtually, irrespective of their geographical location. (FBC)
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WFP to reach 2 mln people with emergency food
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) said that it aims to reach 2.1 million people with emergency food assistance from August onwards and needs at least 6,000 metric tons of food each week. Due to insecurity and operational constraints, it has been unable to bring these quantities into Tigray over the recent weeks.
Accordingly, it has delivered food to over one million people in Tigray in June and July through second round aid distributions, though accompanied with some challenges.
Over 175 trucks arrived at Tigray State via the Abala corridor in the first week of August. This included 90 trucks loaded with over 5,000 metric tons food. An additional 90 trucks are expected to arrive in the coming days to further replenish stocks of food, fuel, nutrition, health and shelter items.
However, as some 5.2 million people in the region (90 percent of the Tigray population) are in need of humanitarian food assistance, WFP and its partners require at least 100 trucks to arrive at the region on a daily basis to access the needy. (The Ethiopian Herald)
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Djibouti rights watchdog slams police for attacking civilians
The Djiboutian Human Rights League (LDDH) has denounced the police for waging “a coordinated attack” against civilians that left several people dead in early August, according to a report seen by AFP on Thursday.
The report alleged that both plainclothes policemen and uniformed officers took part in violent clashes that hit the capital’s Afar-dominated neighborhoods on August 1.
The Afar, straddling Djibouti’s borders with Ethiopia and Eritrea, and the Issa are Djibouti’s two main ethnic groups.
“Plainclothes police aided by Issa civilians began to set houses on fire,” the LDDH said in the report signed by its president, Omar Ali Ewado and dated Tuesday.
It said it was a “coordinated attack on defenseless civilians and wreaked havoc on Afar districts.”
“Men and women of the neighborhood, who wanted to put out the fire and stop the rioters, were attacked by uniformed police, who fired live ammunition against these innocent people.”
Public Prosecutor, Lamisse Mohamed Said, said three people had died in August 1 violence in Djibouti City, leading to several arrests, but did not say how. (AFP)
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AU says forces kill 7 Shabab terrorists in southern Somalia
The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has said its forces killed seven Shabab terrorists and injured several others in a counter-offensive in Lower Shabelle region.
The terrorists were killed after they ambushed Ugandan troops on a routine patrol on Tuesday afternoon on the main supply routes between Beldamin-Golweyn forward operating bases in southern Somalia, AMISOM said in a statement.
“AMISOM commends the bravery and fast action of its soldiers in which one peacekeeper sustained injuries,” the AU mission said in the statement issued on Tuesday.
An assortment of weapons was recovered during the counter-attack by Ugandan troops, who engaged and dislodged the Shabab ambush near the mission’s military bases in Lower Shabelle, AMISOM said.
Aid agencies say the poor state of main supply routes in south-central Somalia has provided conditions for al-Shabab to continue laying ambushes and use explosive devices against AMISOM convoys and Somali national security forces. (Xinhua)
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Sudan and war crimes court inch closer to Darfur trials
Sudan and the International Criminal Court signed a cooperation deal, taking one step further towards the ex-dictator Omar al-Bashir facing trial for genocide in the Darfur conflict.
ICC chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, who described the Darfur civil war as a “dark chapter” in Sudan’s history, said plans were underway for The Hague-based ICC to open an office in Sudan to collect further evidence to “build a solid case.”
Bashir, 77, has been wanted by the ICC for more than a decade over charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Sudanese region.
Two other former aides are also wanted to face war crime charges.
The United Nations says 300,000 people were killed and 2.5 million displaced in the Darfur conflict, which erupted in the vast western region in 2003.
Sudan has been led since August 2019 by a transitional civilian-military administration that has vowed to bring justice to victims of crimes committed under Bashir. (AFP)
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South Sudan President orders end to factional infighting
South Sudan President Salva Kiir has called for a halt to fighting between forces loyal to Vice President, Riek Machar, and a splinter group that threatens the country’s fragile peace process.
Clashes broke out earlier this month in the Upper Nile region between Machar loyalists and supporters of Lieutenant General, Simon Gatwech Dual, after Gatwech tried to replace Machar as the head of their party.
Machar said the move was aimed at trying to block the country’s peace process.
Civil war broke out in South Sudan two years after independence in 2011, when forces loyal to Kiir and Machar clashed in the capital. It killed 400,000 people and led to a major refugee crisis before a peace accord was reached in 2018.
Kiir’s office said in a statement: “The Presidency strongly directs for the immediate cessation of hostilities between the forces under the command of Dr. Riek Machar Teny, and the breakaway forces under the command of General Simon Gatwech Dual.” (Reuters)
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