Following recent Mogadishu attacks, which claimed the lives of more than 300 people, Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn stated that Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab was behind the Mogadishu bombing of October 14, 2017.
Speaking with Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, Hailemariam said that he believes that Al-Shabaab did this inhuman act of terror on innocent civilians of Somalia to divert attention from problems it faces from within and his government is set to act upon it.
“Setting a strategy to urgently and solidly response to this act in a more strategic way and never letting it happen again was the issue of our focus”.
Farmajo on his part also said Somalia believed Al-Shabaab were behind the attacks even though the group has not commented on the attack which has killed over 300 people whiles over 400 others are injured. The attack has drawn global condemnation and has upped the tempo on the need to defeat terrorism in the Horn of Africa region. (Africa News)
Ethiopia sends 200 peacekeepers to South Sudan
Ethiopia has sent 200 peacekeepers to neighboring South Sudan to help with the restive security situation in the country.
South Sudan’s Foreign Minister was also quoted as stating that the Ethiopian deployment was in line with a United Nations resolution to stabilize Africa’s youngest nation.
The UN Security Council in December last year voted to increase the number of security personnel in the war-torn country. The unanimously adopted resolution 2327 sought to push the overall personnel to 17,000 military and 2,101 police.
The UN also extended the mandate of its mission – the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) – to December 2017 and handed it powers to protect civilians who were the worst affected by the crisis.
As at July 2016, UNMISS had 13,500 soldiers, with Ethiopian troops comprising the largest contingent estimated at 8,300 men.
South Sudan has been in a political and security turmoil since clashes broke out between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and, Riek Machar. (Sudan Tribune)
Dutchman put on trial for Ethiopian war crimes in 1970s
A Dutch citizen will go on trial in the Netherlands next Monday on charges he committed war crimes in Ethiopia in the 1970s, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
According to the report, the 63-year-old Dutchman, who was born in Ethiopia, is accused of the incarceration, torture and murder of opponents of Mengistu Hailemariam in the late ‘70s.
As Mengistu’s representative in the Ethiopian province of Gojjam, the man is accused of ordering the killing of 75 young prisoners in 1978 and of being responsible for the incarceration and inhumane treatment of more than 200 people.
An Ethiopian court has sentenced the man to death, in absentia, for his role in what was called the “red terror”, which the communist military junta of Mengistu conducted after the ouster of the Ethiopian emperor, Haile Selassie, in 1974.
The Ethiopian sentence can’t be carried out in the Netherlands, making a new trial the best option to hold the man to account, the Dutch national prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday. (Reuters)
Saudi foundation to build eight eye hospitals in Ethiopia
The Saudi-based non-profit organization, Al-basar International Foundation (BIF), has finalized preparations to build eight eye hospitals in Ethiopia.
In an exclusive interview with Ethiopian News Agency, Yassin Raju, BIF’s Deputy General Manager and Blindness Control Program in Ethiopia said on Thursday the hospitals will cost 1.5 billion birr.
The hospitals are going to be constructed in Oromia, Amhara, SNNP, Tigray, Gambella and Somali regions as well as Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa.
The foundation will build the eight eye hospitals and provide services and training on the basis of the agreement reached between the governments of Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia, he added.
The eye hospital to be built first in Addis Ababa will be constructed in three phases to be fully completed in four years, he revealed.
According to Yassin, BIF has now rented eight-story building with 33 rooms to maintain its service provision for control of blindness in Ethiopia.
The foundation has provided free eye treatment for more than 20,000 Ethiopians since 2000, it was learned. (ENA)