28 November 2015 – The United Nations has strongly condemned a mortar attack on a UN camp in restive northern Mali earlier today, which left two peacekeepers and a civilian contractor dead, and 20 others injured, with the Security Council calling on the Malian Government to swiftly investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice.

“The Secretary-General is outraged by the deadly attack against a camp of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) in Kidal that claimed the lives of two United Nations peacekeepers and one civilian contractor,” said a statement issued in the wake of the incident by Mr. Ban's spokesperson.

According to the Security Council, which condemned the attack in a separate statement, the two UN “blue helmets” were from Guinea and the contractor was from Burkina Faso.

The statement from Mr. Ban's spokesperson added that 20 peacekeepers and civilian personnel were injured, including four seriously. MINUSMA, it continued, has taken immediate steps to assist the wounded and continues to strengthen the safety and security of its personnel.

He conveyed his sincere condolences to the bereaved families and to the Governments of Burkina Faso and Guinea and expressed his profound sympathy and support to those wounded and wishes them a speedy recovery.

“The Secretary-General reiterates that these asymmetric attacks against the Mission will not impede the determination of the United Nations to support the Malian Government, the signatory parties to the peace agreement, and the people of Mali, in their efforts to achieve lasting peace and stability,” said the statement.

Stressing the urgent need to bring the perpetrators of the attack to justice, the UN chief also reiterated that attacks targeting UN peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law.

In a statement to the press, the members of the Security Council also called on the Government to swiftly investigate the attack and bring the perpetrators, and they also underscored such targeting peacekeepers may constitute war crimes.

The members of the Security Council reaffirmed the need to combat by all means, in accordance with the UN Charter, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.

Reiterating their full support for MINUSMA and the French forces that support it, the Council members also reiterated their strong support for the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Mali, Mongi Hamdi, and for MINUSMA to assist the Malian authorities and people in their efforts to bring lasting peace and stability to their country, including through MINUSMA's support to the implementation of the peace and reconciliation agreement.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Hamdi, who is also the Head of MINUSMA, strongly condemned the attack and said the Mission was conducting medical evacuations while strengthening its security apparatus.

"I wish to reaffirm that these attacks will not deter the United Nations to support the Malian people and the peace process, including through assistance to the implementation of the Peace Agreement and reconciliation in Mali,” he said.

MINUSMA, Mr. Hamdi stated, continues to strengthen measures against such threats in Mali for the Malians and protection of UN personnel. “I express my solidarity with and salute the brave men and women serving in MINUSMA [across] the country for their efforts to bring lasting peace to Malians in these difficult conditions,” he said.

Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Saturday 11/28/2015 - 08:59 GMT | 368 words

Boko Haram on Saturday claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing on a Shiite Muslim procession near the northern Nigerian city of Kano that killed 22 people.

The hardline Islamist group said in a statement in Arabic on social media its bomber "detonated his explosives which led to the death" of the victims on Friday.

"And by the permission of Allah these attacks of ours against Shi'a polytheists will continue ‎until we cleanse the earth of their filth," it warned.

At least 21 people were initially reported killed but the toll rose after one more person was confirmed dead.

"For now, we have 22 deaths following the death of one more person yesterday. Thirty-eight people have also been injured, two of whom have been discharged from the hospital," one of the organisers of the march Ali Kakaki told AFP Saturday.

He said that, despite the attack on Friday, the Islamic Movement of Nigeria members had continued their march from Kano to Zaria in neighbouring Kaduna state, where their leader Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky is based.

The march is to mark Ashura, which commemorates the death of Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed.

"Following the attack, many more of our members have joined the procession," Kakaki said, adding that they aimed to arrive at their destination next week.

Friday's attack took place in the village of Dakasoye, some 20 kilometres (13 miles) south of the city of Kano.

One of the procession's organisers said a bomber clad in black ran into the crowd and detonated his explosives.

Boko Haram, the radical Sunni jihadists who want to create a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria, has previously been blamed for attacks on Shia Muslims in the region.

Boko Haram, whose six-year insurgency has left at least 17,000 people dead and made more than 2.6 million homeless, condemns Shias as heretics who should be killed.

The group has increasingly used suicide bombers against "soft" civilian targets since the start of a military offensive earlier this year that pushed them out of territory they controlled.

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has given his military commanders until next month to end the conflict but there are fears that suicide and bomb attacks may persist.

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Millet, rice, and sorghum constitute the basic staple foods for the majority of the Malian population.
Millet has traditionally been the most widely consumed, but since 2005 rice has become a popular substitute in urban households. Sorghum is generally more important for rural than urban households.
Markets included are indicative of local conditions within their respective regions. Ségou is one of the most important markets for both the country and region because it is located in a very large grain production area. Bamako, the capital and largest urban center in the country, functions as an assembly market. It receives cereals from Koulikoro, Ségou, and Sikasso for consumption and also acts as an assembly market for trade with the northern regions of the country (Kayes and Koulikoro) and Mauritania. Markets in the deficit areas of the country (Timbuktu and Gao) receive their supplies of millet and rice from Mopti, Ségou and Sikasso.

Local rice and sorghum are the most consumed food products by poor households in Mauritania followed by imported wheat which is a substitute that these households turn to the most. Local rice is grown in the river valley (in the southern regions of Trarza, Brakna, Gorgol and Guidimakha). Sorghum is produced in all areas of production (rainfed) and in flood - recession areas. However, a significant portion is imported from Mali and Senegal. Mauritania depends greatly on food imports (70% in a good agricultural year and 85% in a bad year) than on internal production. Nouakchott is the principal collection market for imported products and also the distribution market where traders acquire supplies for the secondary markets referenced below. Cooking oil is consumed mainly in urban areas. The sale of animals is a lifestyle in all areas and an important source of income and food.

Rice, millet, sorghum, and maize are the primary staple foods in Senegal. Groundnuts are both an important source of protein and a commonly grown cash crop. Imported rice is consumed daily by the vast majority of households in Senegal particularly in Dakar and Touba urban centers. Local rice is produced and consumed in the Senegal River Valley. St. Louis is a major market for the Senegal River Valley. Millet is consumed in central regions where Kaolack is the most important regional market. Maize is produced and consumed in areas around Kaolack, Tambacounda, and the Senegal River Valley. Some maize is also imported mainly from the international market. High demand for all commodities exists in and around Touba and Dakar. They are also important centers for stocking and storage during the lean season. The harvests of grains and groundnuts begin at the end of the marketing year in October; and stocks of locally produced grains are drawn down throughout the marketing year. Senegal depends more on imports from the international market for rice than from cross border trade which mainly includes cattle from Mali and Mauritania that supply Dakar and surrounding markets.

Millet, maize, and sorghum are the most important food commodities for household consumption.
Millet is the staple of the most vulnerable households, while maize and sorghum also contribute to the food basket of a majority of all households. Sankaryare market is the largest and most important market in Ouagadougou and supplies other markets within the country and region. Koudougou is located in one of the most populated areas in the country, where a majority of households depend on the market for their food needs. Djibo is in the highly vulnerable Sahelian zone. Pouytenga is an assembly market for products from Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, and Togo. Solenzo is a rural market located in the middle of a surplus production zone. Bobo Dioulasso is important center for both consumption and production – it functions as both the economic capital of Burkina Faso and is located in an important cereal production zone.

Millet, maize, cowpea, and imported rice are the most important food commodities. Millet is consumed by both rural and poor urban households throughout the country. Maize and imported rice are most important for urban households, while cowpea is mainly consumed by poor households in rural and urban areas as a protein source. Niamey is the most important national market and an international trade center, and also supplies urban households. Tillaberi is also an urban center that supplies the surrounding area. Gaya market represents a main urban market for maize with cross - border connections. Maradi, Tounfafi, and Diffa are regional assembly and cross - border markets for Niger and other countries in the region. These are markets where households and herders coming from the northern cereal deficit areas regularly buy their food. Agadez and Zinder are also important national and regional markets. Nguigmi and Abalak are located in pastoral areas, where people are heavily dependent on cereal markets for their food supply. They are particularly important during the rainy season, when herders are confined to the pastoral zone.

Sécurité alimentaire

La situation alimentaire reste inquiétante au Tchad. Selon l’analyse du Cadre Harmonisé 2015, 3,4 millions de personnes sont affectées par l’insécurité alimentaire dont 83 000 personnes en phase 4 et 580 000 en phase 3. Ces personnes ont besoin d’une assistance humanitaire d’urgence. 2,7 millions de personnes se trouvent en phase 2 et nécessitent un soutien pour développer leur résilience et moyens d’existence pour ne pas retomber dans une phase plus grave.

Malnutrition

Au Tchad, le cluster nutrition estime qu’en 2016, plus de 325 000 enfants souffriront de malnutrition aigüe sévère (MAS) et plus de 400 000 de malnutrition aigüe modérée (MAM). 15 régions de la Bande sahélienne ont des taux de prévalence de malnutrition aigüe globale (MAG) supérieur ou très proche du seuil d’urgence de 15%.

Le Représentant spécial du Secrétaire général (RSSG) et Chef de la MINUSMA M. Mongi Hamdi est affligé par la mort de 2 Casques bleus et 1 contracteur de la MINUSMA lors d’une attaque aux tirs de mortier contre le camp de la MINUSMA à Kidal ce matin vers 4 heures, qui a également fait 20 blessés, dont 4 graves. La MINUSMA procède actuellement aux évacuations médicales tout en renforçant son dispositif sécuritaire.

Le Représentant spécial condamne de la façon la plus ferme cette attaque contre le personnel et les contractants des Nations Unies.

« Je souhaite réaffirmer que ces attaques n'entameront pas la détermination des Nations Unies à soutenir le peuple malien et le processus de paix, y compris à travers son assistance à la mise en œuvre de l'Accord de paix et de réconciliation au Mali », a-t-il déclaré.

“La MINUSMA continue de renforcer les mesures pour lutter contre de telles menaces au Mali pour la protection des Maliens et du personnel des Nations Unies. J'exprime ma solidarité et je salue les courageux hommes et femmes servant dans le cadre de la MINUSMA partout dans le pays pour leurs efforts visant à apporter une paix durable aux Maliens dans ces conditions difficiles. Cette situation n'a que trop duré. La MINUSMA, ainsi que tous ses partenaires, mettent tout en oeuvre pour que ces crimes cessent et que les responsables de ces attaques lâches soient appréhendés pour répondre de leurs crimes, " a-t-il ajouté.

Yaoundé, Cameroun | AFP | samedi 28/11/2015 - 23:04 GMT

Cinq personnes ont été tuées samedi soir dans un double attentat-suicide commis par deux femmes à Dabanga, dans l'Extrême-nord du Cameroun, a appris l'AFP auprès du gouverneur de cette région.

"Deux femmes se sont fait exploser vers 18 heures" à Dabanga, a affirmé Midjiyawa Bakary, gouverneur de la région de l'Extrême-nord.

"Le bilan provisoire est de sept morts, dont les deux kamikazes", a-t-il ajouté. De même source, deux militaires déployés dans le cadre de la lutte contre le groupe islamiste nigérian Boko Haram ont été "grièvement blessés" lors du double attentat.

Une première kamikaze a actionné sa charge explosive dans une maison d'habitation tandis qu'une seconde l'a fait "près d'un atelier de soudure", a expliqué Midjiyawa Bakary.

Dabanga est un petite ville de transit sur la route menant à Kousseri, près du Tchad. Un petit cours d'eau la sépare du premier village nigérian.

C'est à Dabanga que la famille française Moulin-Fournier avait été enlevée en 2013, avant d'être libérée. La ville est visée pour la première fois par un attentat-suicide.

Il y a une semaine, quatre femmes kamikazes s'étaient fait exploser dans les environs de Fotokol, dans la même région du Cameroun, où sévit Boko Haram, tuant cinq civils, dont un chef traditionnel.

Fotokol est régulièrement la cible d'attaques transfrontalières de Boko Haram. Ainsi, le 9 novembre, trois civils avaient été tués au cours de l'attentat-suicide mené par deux femmes kamikazes près d'une mosquée à Fotokol.

Au total, plus de 100 personnes ont péri dans l'Extrême-nord camerounais dans une vingtaine d'attentats attribués aux islamistes nigérians depuis le mois de juillet.

Les attaques sont rarement revendiquées par Boko Haram, qui a régulièrement recours à des jeunes filles pour mener ses attentats-suicides.

Si elle a contenu l'expansion territoriale de Boko Haram dans le nord-est du Nigeria, la coalition régionale militaire regroupant les pays riverains du lac Tchad (Nigeria, Tchad, Cameroun, Niger) ainsi que le Bénin n'arrive pas à réduire significativement les activités des islamistes nigérians. Ceux-ci poursuivent régulièrement leurs attaques, notamment les attentats-suicides dont sont essentiellement victimes les civils, musulmans comme chrétiens.

L'insurrection de Boko Haram et sa répression ont fait au moins 17.000 morts et plus de 2,5 millions de déplacés depuis 2009 au Nigeria.

rek-jpc/gg

Yaoundé, Cameroon | AFP | Saturday 11/28/2015 - 23:53 GMT

Five people were killed on Saturday in a double suicide attack by two women in the restive far north of Cameroon, the governor of the region said.

"Two women blew themselves up at around 6:00 pm" (1700 GMT) in the town of Dabanga, the governor of the far northern region, Midjiyawa Bakary, told AFP.

"The initial death toll is seven dead, including the two suicide bombers."

Two soldiers who had been stationed to fight the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram were also seriously wounded, he added.

The first bomber let off her explosives inside a house while a second blew herself up near a welding shop, said Midjiyawa.

This is the first time suicide bombers have attacked Dabanga, a small town on the road to the Kousseri border post, that is separated by only a stream from Nigeria.

The region has been regularly targeted by Boko Haram, a radical Sunni jihadist group which wants to create a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria.

One week ago, four female suicide bombers blew themselves by near Fotokol, in the same region, killing five people including a traditional leader.

In total, more than 100 people have been killed in the far north of Cameroon in 20 suicide attacks blamed on the Nigerian jihadists since July.

Boko Haram's six-year insurgency has left at least 17,000 people dead and made more than 2.6 million homeless.

rek-jpc/cah/mtp

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Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso | AFP | Sunday 11/29/2015 - 14:46 GMT

Suspected jihadist fighters attacked an armoured van transporting money from a gold mine in Burkina Faso, the country's security minister said Sunday, the latest sign of Islamist violence spreading from neighbouring Mali.

A group of heavily armed men with rocket launchers and automatic rifles attacked the truck in the country's north on Friday, killing the driver and wounding one other person, security minister Alain Zagre told AFP.

Police accompanying the van fought off the attackers, who fled the scene, a police source said.

"We think it is certainly a jihadist group that identified the Inata gold mine and decided to take action to get hold of funds," Zagre said.

Military operations had seriously disrupted Islamist fighters in Mali, forcing them to move to neighbouring countries, Zagre said as his country went to the polls on Sunday to elect a new president and parliament.

Security was tight for the election, with up to 25,000 troops deployed to ward off the threat of an attack, following two recent assaults against police barracks on the country's long western border with troubled Mali.

pgf/jhd/pdw/ccr

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Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso | AFP | dimanche 29/11/2015 - 13:23 GMT

Un fourgon de transport de fonds provenant d'une mine d'or du nord du Burkina Faso a été attaqué vendredi par des hommes lourdement armés, a affirmé dimanche à l'AFP le ministre délégué à la Sécurité qui soupçonne un groupe jihadiste.

Un groupe d'hommes armés a attaqué vendredi le fourgon avec des kalachnikov et au lance-roquette, tuant le chauffeur et faisant un blessé, a dit le ministre Alain Zagré.

Des gendarmes qui accompagnaient le véhicule ont repoussé les assaillants qui ont pris la fuite, selon une source au sein de la gendarmerie.

"Nous pensons que c'est certainement un groupe jihadiste qui a repéré la mine d'or d'Inata et qui a décidé de passer à l'action pour se faire de l'argent", a commenté le ministre.

"Les opérations (militaires) qui se passent au Mali ont sérieusement compliqué la tâche des groupes alors ils essayent de s’infiltrer dans les pays limitrophes qui ont aussi rehaussé leur niveau de sécurité. Il leur faut vivre et survivre", a expliqué le ministre alors que 5,5 millions de Bukinabè sont appelés à voter dimanche pour des élections présidentielle et législatives.

"A situation exceptionnelle, mesures exceptionnelles" a affirmé le ministre, justifiant le déploiement de 25.000 membres des forces de l'ordre pour sécuriser le scrutin.

Le Burkina Faso, pays à majorité musulmane, a été touché pour la première fois de son histoire par le jihadisme en 2015. Plusieurs attaques, dont la plus spectaculaire a coûté la vie à trois gendarmes et un civil en octobre, se sont produites près de la frontière avec le Mali, ébranlé le 20 novembre par l'attaque sanglante d'un grand hôtel à Bamako (20 morts).

pgf/jhd

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