#Nigeria : #China hands #ECOWAS headquarters in Abuja to President Omar Touray, completed in three years, costing $56.5 million, boosting institutional #infrastructure.
Suspected pirates seize vessel carrying cement off Somalia, the second hijacking incident in days.
#MOGADISHU, #Somalia — A cargo vessel carrying cement and flying the flag of St. Kitts and Nevis was hijacked off Somalia’s coast, a local maritime security official said Monday.
The ship was seized off the coastal town of Garacad in the Somali region of Puntland, according to an operations officer from the Puntland Maritime Police Force, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.
The incident also was reported by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which cited a hijacking incident six nautical miles northeast of Garacad.
The vessel had departed from Egypt and was heading to the Kenyan port city of Mombasa. It was not possible to verify how many people were on board the vessel.
The Puntland official said nine pirates boarded and took control of the vessel. “The ship is currently under the control of armed men, and we are monitoring the situation,” he said.
This is the second hijacking incident in less than a week; on Wednesday an oil tanker was seized in waters off Puntland. That tanker had left the port of Berbera and was heading to the Somali capital of Mogadishu when it was intercepted.
Piracy off Somalia’s coast, once among the most dangerous in the world, has declined significantly over the past decade due to international naval patrols and improved maritime security. However, sporadic incidents continue to raise concerns about a possible resurgence.
Omar Faruk, The Associated Press
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#Mali: The Malian #government confirmed the death of the defense chief, Gen. Sadio Camara, in a post on the defense ministry’s Facebook page, and expressed its condolences to his family. State-run television also broadcast the announcement of his death by spokesman Gen. Issa Ousmane Coulibaly.
Mali was struck on Saturday by one of the biggest coordinated attacks on its army in the capital, Bamako, and several other cities and towns in an assault that also challenged Mali’s security partner, Russia, which has forces on the ground in the West African country.
The government said Sunday the attacks appear to be over, but several questions remain, including who was in control of a key northern city that the separatists claim to have taken.
The government has not provided a death toll from Saturday and previously said only that at least 16 people were wounded in what it denounced as terror attacks.
The separatists have been fighting for years to create an independent state in northern Mali, while al-Qaida and IS-aligned militants have been fighting the government for over a decade.
According to the government statement, Camara’s residence was targeted by a suicide car bomber and other attackers on Saturday.
“He engaged in an exchange of fire with the assailants, some of whom he managed to neutralize,” it said. “During intense clashes, he was wounded and then transported to the hospital, where he unfortunately succumbed to his injuries.”
Separatists claim control of the northern town of Kidal
A spokesperson for the separatist Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front, or FLA, said the Russian Africa Corps troops and the Malian military withdrew from the city of Kidal following the attack on Saturday, after an agreement was reached for their peaceful exit.
“Kidal is declared free,” said FLA spokesperson Mohamed El Maouloud Ramadan.
In a statement on state TV late Sunday night, Gen. Oumar Diarra, head of the armed forces, confirmed that the Malian army had left the city and that its forces were repositioning in Anefis, a city about 100 kilometres (62 miles) south of Kidal.
The separatists have been fighting for years to create an independent state in northern Mali.
Kidal had long served as a stronghold of the rebellion before being taken by Malian government forces and Russian mercenaries in 2023. Its capture marked a significant symbolic victory for the junta and its Russian allies.
Militants unite with separatists to coordinate attacks
Saturday’s wave of attacks was the first time the separatists joined forces with the al-Qaida-linked group JNIM, which said it was also part of the attack on Kidal and had also targeted a town outside of the capital of Bamako and three other cities on Saturday.
The FLA spokesperson confirmed the coordinated push.
“This operation is being carried out in partnership with the JNIM, which is also committed to defending the people against the military regime in Bamako,” Ramadan said.
The separatists called on Russia to “reconsider its support for the military junta” in Mali, saying its “actions have contributed to the suffering of the civilian population.”
Wassim Nasr, a specialist for the region and senior research fellow at the Soufan Center security think tank, said this “coordination, conducting attacks all over the country at the same time,” the united push by the two groups and the call for the Russian military to leave was a first.
It extended beyond the military, he said, to the political level because both groups “acknowledged that they worked together.”
Following the attacks, a three-day overnight curfew, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., was also announced for the Bamako district.
Mali’s government spokesperson, Coulibaly, said civilian and military personnel were among the 16 wounded and that several militants were killed. He did not provide a death toll.
A threat to the wider region
The Economic Community of West African States condemned Saturday’s attacks in Mali and called on “all states, security forces, regional mechanisms and populations of West Africa to unite and mobilize in a coordinated effort to combat this scourge.”
Following military coups, the juntas in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso turned from Western allies to Russia for help in combating Islamic militants.
But the security situation in the region has worsened in recent times, with a record number of attacks by militants. Government forces have also been accused of killing civilians they suspect of collaborating with militants.
In 2024, an al-Qaida-linked group claimed an attack on Bamako’s airport and a military training camp in the country’s capital, killing scores of people.
Ulf Laessing, from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, said that the separatists and JNIM are unlikely to take control of Bamako in the near term due to opposition from the local population.
Still, the attacks undermined the Malian junta’s Russian partners.
“The attacks are a major blow to Russia as the mercenaries had no intelligence about the attacks and were unable to protect major cities,” Laessing said.
Wilson Mcmakin, The Associated Press
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#Airstrikes by Nigerian military reportedly kill 30 #ISWAP fighters in Borno; insurgents conduct mass burial after Operation Hadin Kai strikes.
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#Nigeria : SEA sues FG and National Assembly over Bayelsa council creation and Niger Delta resource control, demanding 24 local government areas instead of eight.
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The 12th #Uganda–#Rwanda Joint Permanent Commission opened today at Mestil Hotel, Kampala, with the Senior Officials’ Meeting. The Ugandan delegation is led by Amb. #richardkabonero , Head of REC, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who welcomed the Rwandan delegation led by Ms. Teta Gisa, Director General for Africa Department, #RwandaMFA
. The JPC reaffirms both Sister Republics’ commitment to deepen cooperation in defense, trade, infrastructure, migration, and human capital for mutual prosperity.
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