US troops join in Somali raid

Washington - US troops took part in a helicopter-borne special forces raid against Shabaab insurgents in Somalia, a US official said on Wednesday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the operation overnight on Tuesday to Wednesday as a "US partnered raid" with US troops accompanying Somali forces.

The raid came just days after a US aircraft and drones killed an estimated 130 Shabaab fighters training for a major operation, according to the Pentagon.

Special forces operatives in two helicopters targeted the Shabaab-controlled town of Awdhegele, about 50km west of Somalia's capital Mogadishu, Somali government officials and a Shabaab spokesperson said.

"We have reports Shabaab militants suffered casualties," local district commissioner Mohamed Aweys told reporters.

It was not immediately clear what the objective was, but helicopter raids in the past have been hostage rescue missions, such as a US commando operation in 2012 to free two aid workers who had been held for three months by the group.

Shabaab has stepped up their attacks since the start of the year.

Source

Uganda police accused of stealing evidence in poll dispute

Kampala - An opposition group that launched a court case against the re-election of Uganda's long-time president is accusing the police of breaking into a lawyer's office and seizing crucial evidence.

The group, known as Go Forward, said Wednesday that men in police uniform jumped over a wall and broke into the office of lawyers representing former presidential candidate Amama Mbabazi.

Mbabazi, who was the Go Forward Candidate in presidential elections last month, pressed a lawsuit at the Supreme Court challenging the re-election of President Yoweri Museveni.

Police spokesman Fred Enanga denied police were involved in the alleged burglary and accused the opposition of "playing games."

International election observers cited may irregularities with the polls.

Source

Somalia fighting: 30 dead, 40 000 flee

New York - The United Nations says renewed fighting between armed forces in Somalia's central Galmudug region and semi-autonomous Puntland to the north have killed more than 30 people and forced 40 000 people to flee according to estimates.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Monday that UN aid agencies and international humanitarian organisations have temporarily relocated because of the latest fighting which began on November 28.

Dujarric said this has left a gap in providing basic services to vulnerable communities in the area though local non-governmental organizations are providing mobile health care, water and sanitation services.

He said the UN humanitarian agency continues to warn that Somalia's needs "are immense," with an estimated 4.9 million people in need of assistance and 1.1 million displaced around the country.

http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/somalia-fighting-30-dead-40-000-flee-20151201

Drought Grips South Africa

Johannesburg - After one of the driest rainy seasons on record, South Africa is in the grip of a severe drought.

This has placed a strain on water supplies across the country, affecting 2.7 million households.

The hardest hit are those living in rural areas, where residents have to collect water in buckets once a day.

With the drought persisting, South Africa has now declared five of its nine provinces a drought disaster for agriculture.

The lack of rain has had a dramatic impact on crops. According to Senzeni Zokwana, the agriculture minister, the average maize yield has been the lowest since 2008.

South Africa has failed to produce enough to maize to export to neighbouring Botswana and Swaziland.

This means that not only will prices be forced to rise locally, but Zokwana claimed that if the drought persisted, it could become a regional disaster.

South Africa often suffers a drought during an El Nino event. El Nino is the natural warming of the surface temperatures of the Pacific Ocean, which occurs approximately every two to seven years.

The change in the ocean temperature has been seen to have a dramatic effect on the weather around the world.

The current El Nino event is one of the strongest on record, and is still strengthening.

This is not good news for the provinces of Northwest, Kwa-Zulu Natal and Mpumalanga, which are the worst hit by the drought.

In these provinces, the majority of the rain falls between October and March, but with El Nino expected to dominate the weather for the coming months, the prospect of decent rainfall looks slim.

Cameroon army kills 116 Boko Haram fighters

2014-12-18 12:53

Boko Haram (File: AFP)

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Yaounde - Cameroon's army said on Thursday its troops had killed 116 Nigerian fighters from the Islamist Boko Haram group in the far north.

Insurgents attacked an army base in Amchide on the border with Nigeria on Wednesday, but soldiers repelled them, inflicting heavy losses, the defence ministry said.

"A column made up of a military truck and four pick-ups from the BIR [Rapid Intervention Battalion] were caught in an ambush that began with an explosion of a roadside bomb," the army said.

"At the same time... the Amchide military base was attacked by hundreds of fighters from the sect, but the response from our defence forces was instant and appropriate," the statement said.

"There are 116 of the assailants dead on Cameroonian territory and undetermined casualties on the Nigerian territory from our artillery fire," the statement said.

"There is one dead on the Cameroonian side and one officer missing."

According to the army, the Boko Haram fighters destroyed a pick-up and a troop truck, as well as managing to capture another military truck.

Boko Haram has grown in power in the area, where Cameroon and Nigeria are linked by a bridge.

Militants have carried out repeated massacres of civilians and attacks on villages there, but are now increasingly active against military targets.

- AFP

http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Cameroon-army-kills-116-Boko-Haram-fighters-20141218