The United Nations Security Council said the attack which killed at least 58 people on a UN base in South Sudan where thousands of civilians were sheltering may ‘constitute a war crime’. Continue reading
South Sudanese soldier shot dead after killing an Ethiopian soldier in Gambella, Ethiopia
GAMBELLA, Ethiopia – A dangerously armed SPLA (Sudan People’s Liberation Army) soldier was killed yesterday in the Ethiopian region of Gambella after attempting to enter a government building with a gun and bombs loaded in a bag.
The soldier who was believed to have come from Pochalla, a South Sudanese town near Punyido in Gog Woreda refused to be checked Continue reading
Ethiopia relocates over 50,000 South Sudanese refugees
Addis Ababa, 31 March 2014 (WIC) – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has 52,323 South Sudanese refugees in Gambella region of Ethiopia. According to newbusinessethiopia.com, the daily movement of the refugees by boat reached 450 people.
Since the eruption of violence in the capital of the Republic of South Sudan between government-led forces and rebel factions in December, the total number of refugees IOM has transported to refugee camps within Ethiopia is over 52,323 individuals.
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Is South Sudan Distancing Itself From Ethiopia?
A soldier with the Sudan People’s Liberation Army – the army of the Republic of South Sudan – is pictured behind a South Sudan flag as he sits on the back of a pick-up truck in Bentiu, Unity State, Jan. 12, 2014. (Credit: Retuers)
It seems South Sudan is attempting to distance itself from Ethiopia of late. On Sunday, 22 March, South Sudan signed bilateral military cooperation with Egypt, following a visit to Cairo by a delegation led by defense minister Kuol Manyang Juuk. The signing comes a week after state-owned News Agency of South Sudan reported Egypt condemned rebel leader Riek Machar and promised to send troops to South Sudan in support of the government. Continue reading
Japan Takes On China Far From Home—in Africa
In the courtyard of a small compound in Geta, 1.7 miles above sea level in southern Ethiopia, members of a local farming cooperative pound and sift barley, the chaff picked up by the vicious wind that blows across the mountains. Behind them, taped to the wall of their packing house, is a poster bearing two kanji characters, hand drawn in marker pen: Kai and Zen. Continue reading
South Sudan rebels, government claim oil town as talks delayed
JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN – South Sudanese rebels and government troops both said they controlled the capital of an oil-producing state on Thursday after days of fighting, as another attempt to resume peace talks in neighboring Ethiopia fell through. Continue reading
UN arms seizure in S. Sudan “confirms unfaithful conduct”
JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN – The South Sudan government said on Saturday that the seizure of a UN arms shipment by security agents confirms earlier suspicions over the conduct of “some individuals” within the world body.
South Sudan’s information minister, Michael Makuei Lueth, airlifted journalists to Rumbek, the capital of Lakes state, the site where the confiscated arms and ammunition are being held.
The arms were found inside 12 trucks belonging to the UN Mission in South Sudan en route to Unity state capital Bentiu, and had been declared as “general goods”. Continue reading
The Impact of Sudan Civil Wars on the Anywaa Society
By Obang Jobi (USA) – The Anywaa communities in both Ethiopia and Sudan (now South Sudan) are bordering to the most hostile communities in Africa. Since 1955 until 2005, Sudan, like most African countries, has experienced three consecutive civil wars. The first civil war (Anyanya) erupted in 1955 and ended in 1972. The peace agreement which was signed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1972 did last long. The discontented former Anyanya I leaders took up arms again in 1975 and formed Anyanya II. Continue reading
Ethiopian Airlines co-pilot hijacks plane to seek Geneva asylum
The hijacker – who has been arrested – waited for the pilot to go to the toilet to lock himself in the cockpit. He was unarmed. He has requested asylum in Switzerland.
The airline said in a statement that all 202 passengers and crew were safe.
Geneva airport, which was closed for a time, has now reopened. Continue reading
Foreign regimes use spyware against journalists, even in U.S.
By Craig Timberg – Mesay Mekonnen was at his desk, at a news service based in Northern Virginia, when gibberish suddenly exploded across his computer screen one day in December. A sophisticated cyberattack was underway. But this wasn’t the Chinese army or the Russian mafia at work.
Instead, a nonprofit research lab has fingered government hackers in a much less technically advanced nation, Ethiopia, as the likely culprits, saying they apparently used commercial spyware, essentially bought off the shelf. This burgeoning industry is making surveillance capabilities that once were the exclusive province of the most elite spy agencies, such as National Security Agency, available to governments worldwide. Click here to watch the video Continue reading