Nine Congolese soldiers killed by Rwandan Hutu rebels

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Nine Congolese soldiers killed by Rwandan Hutu rebels

In Summary

The attack by the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) happened Monday afternoon in eastern Masisi district of North Kivu.
Since the launch of the operation five weeks ago, the army claimed to have "neutralised" a few hundred rebels.

GOMA

Nine Congolese soldiers were killed in an ambush by Rwandan Hutu rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a military source said Tuesday, over a month after the army launched a sweeping offensive against the militias.

The attack by the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) happened Monday afternoon in eastern Masisi district of North Kivu, said Major General Leo Mushale, who commands forces in the northeast of the country.

Three officers were among the dead, including commander of Masisi district Colonel Raphael Bawili, Mushale said at a press conference in Goma, the capital of North Kivu.

"The enemy was able to carry out this ambush because a number of Congolese continue to collaborate with them," said the general.

"We have not yet eradicated the FDLR but they are being neutralised by our forces and we ask the public not to collaborate with the enemy," he added.

In late February DR Congo forces launched a fresh offensive against rebels active in the restive eastern provinces of North and South Kivu.

COMMANDERS WANTED

The FDLR, a militia of Rwandan Hutu rebels, has been active in DR Congo since crossing over the border from Rwanda after the 1994 genocide of Tutsi people there and the subsequent seizure of power by a Tutsi-led rebel faction.

Some of the Hutu militia's older commanders and soldiers are wanted by international courts for their alleged role in the massacre, which claimed the lives of some 800,000 people in Rwanda, mainly from the Tutsi minority.

Since the launch of the operation five weeks ago, the army claimed to have "neutralised" a few hundred rebels, according to General Mushale, out of a fighting force of around 2,000.

Mushale confirmed only that 13 rebels had been killed and refused to give the total number of army losses.

In late March, the UN security council voted to cut 2,000 troops from the 20,000-strong peacekeeping force in the country, despite calls by Kinshasa for UN troops to hand over responsibility for security to the country's army.

Kikwete, Ban Ki-moon hold talks over global health bid

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Kikwete, Ban Ki-moon hold talks over global health bid

THE Chairman of the United Nations High-level Panel on the Global Response to Health Crisis, President Jakaya Kikwete, on Monday met and held talks with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York.

This was the first time President Kikwete met the UN Chief since he appointed him to chair the panel, whose other members include those from Brazil, Switzerland, Indonesia, Botswana and the United States.

Mr Kikwete and Mr Ban Ki-moon reviewed the terms of reference of the panel, which is mandated to come up with recommendations to strengthen national and international systems to prevent and manage future health crises, taking into account lessons learned from the response to the outbreak of Ebola virus.

In carrying out its work, the panel will undertake a wide range of consultations with representatives from the affected countries and communities, the UN system, multilateral and bilateral financial institutions and regional development banks.

Others are Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), countries supporting the response effort, other member states, health care providers, academic and research institutions, the private sector and other experts.

The panel will hold its first meeting in early May and is expected to submit its final report by the end of the year to the UN Secretary General, who will make the report available to the General Assembly and undertake further action as appropriate.

Government freezes terror accounts

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Government freezes terror accounts

FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

In Summary

Move affects accounts of 86 individuals and entities suspected to be financing terrorism.
Government urges Kenyans to remain vigilant.

By ABIUD OCHIENG

The government has frozen the accounts of 86 individuals and entities suspected to be financing terrorism in the country.

Also affected are forex bureaus and Hawalas, which is an informal system of money transfer used commonly by the Somali community.

The government is concerned that the millions of shillings transacted daily, especially through the Hawalas, is the main source of funding for terrorism.

The Somali business community that heavily relies on Hawalas to trade have been urged to make use of mainstream banking.

The government is optimistic that crippling the financial arm of terror groups will greatly affect their operations.

The government has also urged Kenyans “to remain vigilant and play their part by reporting suspected terrorism activities in the country as a means of assisting the government to curb the vice”.

Speaking on Citizen TV on Tuesday, Mandera Governor Ali Roba said the northeastern leadership met for three days after the attack on Garissa University College and discussed on ways they could assist in fighting terrorism.

The governor added that the leadership acknowledges the effect frequent attacks in the area will have, adding that they have resolved to take charge of eliminating rogue elements with their communities.

Terrorist was a gifted, obedient student

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Mohammed Abdirahim Abdullahi (seated 3rd from left) during a lesson when he was a student at Wamy High School in South B, Nairobi.

In Summary

Former teachers of Garissa attack leader say he was among their best.
Wamy High School was position 23 nationally in the 2013 KCSE examinations.

The best education that Mohammed Abdirahim Abdullahi received in his formative years and the strict discipline at his school did not stop him from leading the massacre of 148 people years later.

Abdullahi, the man who led the Al-Shabaab killer squad that raided Garissa University College just two months after celebrating his 27th birthday, has been described by his high school teachers as a genius and a “gifted kid”.

After scoring 283 out of 500 marks in KCPE exams at the Mandera D.E.B. Primary School, he left Mandera County to pursue the rest of his education in Nairobi.

“Indeed, a very obedient and hardworking boy. He can do well and perform better if given an opportunity,” reads his primary school final results slip.

He got the opportunity at Wamy High School, which he joined in 2004 and quickly rose to become among the top-performing students in his class.

“He struggled in the first few months of his first year, largely because he was adjusting to the urban culture and new friends.

“He would adjust quickly and by the time he was in Form Three, he was (at) the top of his class,” Mr Paul Ng’ang’a, Abdullahi’s former Mathematics teacher, told the Nation.

Mr Ng’ang’a is also the deputy principal at Wamy High School, and was, therefore, responsible for Abdullahi’s discipline in the four years the teenager was there.

“The boy was a very active and outstanding member of the Mathematics Club. He also loved football and was active in the field,” he adds, a mixture of pride and perplexity in his eyes.

One of Abdullahi’s former classmates says claims that he could have been radicalised at the school are not only false, but also unreasonable.

“I remember at least 80 per cent of our teachers were non-Muslims. Abdirahim and the other guy known as Atom, who allegedly crossed borders and joined IS, became very good friends after high school. They shared a lot because they both came from the northeastern part of the country.

“I think that was when they became radicalised,” says the friend, whose name cannot be revealed to protect his privacy.

When we visited the school on Tuesday afternoon, we established that only five of its 32 teachers are Muslim, while 27 of the 30 non-teaching staff are Christians.

“So it doesn’t make any sense to even speculate that Abdirahim may have come into contact with radical groups while at the school. Furthermore, he left the school way back in 2007, when radicalisation was unheard of,” says Mr Ng’ang’a.

He was responding to Mandera County Commissioner Alex ole Nkoyo, who suggested that the boy might have had contact with extremists while in school.

Abdullahi’s high school academic record reveals that he lived up to the school’s motto: “Strive to Excel”.

His Form One results slip shows that he was at position five out of 70 students, with a mean grade of A- (minus). He would have scored A were it not for his poor performance in Kiswahili, where he scored a C- (minus).

Wamy High School was established in 2003 and has been among the best-performing private schools. A majority of its students are Muslims.

STELLAR PERFORMANCE

The school was at position 23 nationally in the 2013 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations.

This stellar performance, Mr Ng’ang’a explains, is because the school is founded upon the Muslim values of strict personal discipline and excellence.

Lethome Ibrahim, a member of the school’s board and a parent at the institution, told the Nation that the institution strives to meet the highest quality standards.

“In fact, quality assurance officers from the Ministry of Education visited the school last year after our stellar performance.

“They checked our curriculum and admission processes and everything came out squeaky clean,” he says.

The school’s mission is to “encourage and facilitate formation of each student’s moral character, unique skill, capacities and creation of strong communal social responsibility”.

“Muslim parents are drawn to the school because of our discipline record and teaching ethic.

“Beyond this, there is nothing particularly Muslim in our curriculum. That’s why (the) majority of our teachers are Christians,” adds the deputy principal.

Ironically, despite the disproportionately large percentage of Christian teachers in the school, only 21 of its current 500 students are Christians. The rest are Muslims.

The school’s website says it was established by the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (Wamy) to enable Muslims to access education.

Suspects in Kenya university attack appear in court

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Suspects in Kenya university attack appear in court

Jane Onyanga-Omara,

Five suspects arrested in connection with a terror attack at a Kenyan university that killed 148 people appeared in court Tuesday, the Associated Press reports.
Police have accused the suspects of supplying guns to the four gunmen who carried out the attack at Garissa University College in northeastern Kenya on Thursday. The al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab militant group, based in neighboring Somalia, has taken responsibility.
The court granted police 30 more days to investigate the suspects — Mohammed Adan Surow, Osman Abdi Dakane, Mohammed Abdi Abikar, Hassan Aden Hassan and Sahal Diriye Hussien — before any charges can be brought.

Kenya launches airstrikes against militants in Somalia

The police also said they want more time to investigate a sixth suspect, Tanzanian national Rashid Charles Mberekesho, who is being held in Garissa.
The gunmen were killed after security forces stormed the university.
Around 250 students gathered in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Tuesday to honor those who died and to demand better security on campuses and around the country. They stopped at President Uhuru Kenyatta's office building to present their demands.
Their demands include state compensation for the families of the victims, and a memorial for the dead.
Many of the students held flowers and lit candles.
Security services have faced criticism for a slow response to the attack. The country's Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed on Monday told CNN that the response was "adequate."

Kenyan lawyer among terrorists killed in school attack

Nairobi Universiy engineering student Maureen Mucheri, 21, told the AFP news agency that she refuses to go to malls and churches because "the government is doing nothing."
She added: "We are mourning the loss of our fellow comrades, we have lost the vibrant blood that would have built tomorrow's Kenya."
Walter Mutai, 22, a statistics student at Moi University in Eldoret, western Kenya, said: "We might be next. These people, they can target anywhere."
Kenya launched airstrikes on two Islamic militant camps in Somalia on Monday in retaliation for the attack on the university. No casualty reports related to the airstrikes were immediately released.
Al-Shabab said the attack was a reprisal for Kenyan efforts to put down the Islamic insurgency in Somalia. The group's leaders have warned of a "long, gruesome war" unless Kenya withdrew its troops from Somalia.
Contributing: John Bacon, Associated Press

Kenyan Authorities Say Son of Official Was Among Gunmen in University Attack

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NAIROBI, Kenya — One of the gunmen who attacked the Kenyan university where nearly 150 students were massacred last week was the son of a government official — and once a promising student himself — who had recently broken off contact with his family and disappeared, the Kenyan authorities said Sunday.

The discovery was made after Kenyan police officers paraded the gunman’s naked, bullet-riddled body in the back of a pickup truck. It immediately rekindled fears that chaos in neighboring Somalia was not the only factor driving terrorist attacks in Kenya and that the problem here may be more homegrown.

Tremendous grief, pain, rising frustration and a palpable sense of dread were starting to seep across Kenya as a three-day period of mourning began and the students’ bodies slowly made their way back to towns and villages in nearly every corner of this country.

Accounts emerged Sunday that the police commandos who finally ended the siege of the university did not arrive until more than eight hours after the attack began because of logistical issues, raising questions about whether more young people could have been saved.

A Christian prayer service Sunday in Garissa for the victims of Thursday's attack.CreditDaniel Irungu/European Pressphoto Agency

“Something has to change,” said an editorial in the Sunday Nation, a Kenyan newspaper. “Kenya must change from its Hakuna Matata posture” — “hakuna matata” is a common Swahili expression meaning “no problem” — “and realize that a war is afoot against a merciless enemy.”

Kenyan officials believe there were four gunmen who stormed Garissa University College on Thursday, moving from dorm to dorm, tricking students into coming out of their rooms and lying down in rows and then shooting them in the head. The Kenyan commandos, after waiting several hours to fly from Nairobi, the capital, to Garissa, a frontier town in eastern Kenya, cornered and killed all four gunmen, the authorities said.

One of the gunmen was identified as Abdirahim Abdullahi, approximately 25, the son of a local chief near the Somali border and considered by acquaintances to be exceptionally bright.

Mr. Abdullahi graduated from the University of Nairobi and worked at a bank in Nairobi, but he abruptly quit in recent months to join the Shabab Islamist militant group in Somalia, Kenyan officials said.

The Shabab are considered one of the most violent offshoots of Al Qaeda and vowed this weekend to make Kenyan cities “run red with blood” as retribution against the Kenyan government for sending troops into Somalia to help restore order.

Kenyan officials are increasingly worried that the Shabab have succeeded in co-opting disaffected youth inside Kenya, especially Somali-Kenyans like Mr. Abdullahi.

Workers transported the bodies of suspected gunmen. CreditNoor Khamis/Reuters

Outside of Somalia, Kenya sends more fighters to the Shabab than does any other country. Analysts say that many young Kenyan men have drawn payments of up to $1,000 to cross the border and hit the battlefield.

But ever since the Kenyan military stormed into southern Somalia in 2011, ousting the Shabab from some of their last strongholds, some Kenyan fighters may have drifted back. The fear is that Kenya, which has struggled with ordinary crime for decades, is now home to a growing network of trained jihadists.

On Saturday, in a televised address to the nation, President Uhuru Kenyatta said, “The planners and financiers of this brutality are deeply embedded in our communities.”

Kenyan Fighter Jets Bomb Shabab Training Camps in Somalia

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NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenyan fighter jets bombed two training camps of theShabab militant group in Somalia, defense officials said on Monday, the first military response to the attack on a university last week that killed nearly 150 students.

Kenya’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta, had vowed to respond “in the severest way possible” to the massacre at the university.

Military officials said it was difficult to assess the damage because of heavy cloud cover. Kenya has carried out bombing raids in Somalia after terrorist assaults in the past, and the Shabab militants, knowing what was coming, have often abandoned their camps after major attacks.

The Kenyan public has been deeply unnerved by the assault on Garissa University College, in which Shabab gunmen moved from dorm to dorm, luring students to come out of their rooms and then shooting them in the head. Many students were found clumped together, face down.

It was the deadliest terrorist attack in the country since the 1998 bombing of the United States Embassy in the capital, Nairobi.

The pressure on the government to hit back has been rising, with many Kenyans angry that it took more than eight hours to send commandos to the school. The delay was attributed to logistical issues, but the slow response raised questions about whether more lives could have been saved.

Over the weekend, students at other universities threatened to stage large protests unless security at their schools was significantly improved. Others have complained that the Kenyan government had intelligence that such an attack was in the works and did little to prevent it.

The Shabab has struck Kenya many times, killing hundreds of civilians, and last week the militants vowed to make Kenyan cities run “red with blood” until Kenya withdrew military forces from Somalia. Kenya sent forces into Somalia in 2011 to protect its borders and economic interests along the Indian Ocean coast.

The Shabab attacks have only intensified since then. People have been killed on country buses, in churches, in remote coastal towns and even inside one of Kenya’s fanciest malls during a devastating siege in 2013 that left 67 people dead and rattled the country’s prized image as a cornerstone of stability in this part of Africa.

The Kenyan government is so desperate to stop the Shabab, one of the most violent franchises of Al Qaeda, that some officials have proposed building a 424-mile wall across the entire Somali border.

But Kenya’s struggles with extremism are internal as well. On Sunday, the Kenyan authorities said that one of the gunmen who attacked the university was the son of a local government official — and once a promising student himself — who had recently broken off contact with his family and disappeared.

It immediately rekindled fears that chaos in neighboring Somalia was not the only factor driving terrorist attacks in Kenya and that the problem here may be more homegrown.

On Saturday, in a televised address to the nation, Mr. Kenyatta said, “The planners and financiers of this brutality are deeply embedded in our communities.”

Body of a Rebel Leader Is Identified in Uganda

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The bullet-scarred remains of the No. 2 commander in the Lord’s Resistance Army, the guerrilla group that once terrorized central Africa, have been positively identified after having been exhumed three months ago in aUganda-led military expedition, a person involved in the recovery operation said Monday.

The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of an official announcement from Uganda, said forensics experts were still completing DNA confirmation on the remains of the commander, Okot Odhiambo, one of five Lord’s Resistance Army soldiers, including its leader, Joseph Kony, wanted for the past decade by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The person said there was no doubt, based on other evidence, that the remains were those of Mr. Odhiambo.

Rumors of his death have circulated for years and last came up in October 2013, when he was thought to have been critically wounded in an ambush by Ugandan soldiers patrolling the Central African Republic. With the substantiation of Mr. Odhiambo’s death — plus the already confirmed deaths of two other L.R.A. defendants and the surrender of a fourth in January — only Mr. Kony, a warlord and self-described prophet, remains at large.

Ugandan military officials were not available to comment on Mr. Odhiambo’s death. A spokesman for the International Criminal Court, based in The Hague, did not immediately return telephone and email messages.

Tipped off about Mr. Odhiambo’s possible remains, a team from the Uganda People’s Defense Forces went to a grave site in January in the Central African Republic’s southeast, near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, a longtime domain of the L.R.A.

The Ugandan military team was assisted by advisers from the American military and the Bridgeway Foundation, a Houston-based charity that has contributed to the hunt for Mr. Kony and his disciples. They found a decomposing body with a bullet wound to the stomach, people involved in the recovery operation said.

The body was transported to Kampala, Uganda’s capital, where it has remained pending the official release of the DNA confirmation.

Mr. Odhiambo, a Ugandan thought to have been born in 1970, was known for his absolute fealty to Mr. Kony. For that loyalty Mr. Odhiambo was rewarded with senior positions, including the rank of lieutenant general, according to a biography by the L.R.A. Crisis Tracker, a website created by human rights organizations that have sought to publicize the group’s history of atrocities.

A warrant for his arrest was issued by the International Criminal Court in July 2005 on two counts of crimes against humanity and eight counts of war crimes including murder, pillaging and the forced conscription of children.

News of his death came three months after Dominic Ongwen, a senior L.R.A. commander and co-defendant under indictment by the court, surrendered to a joint military task force of the United States and the African Union. Mr. Ongwen, believed to be about 35, got his start as a child soldier abducted when he was 10.

Mr. Ongwen was transferred to International Criminal Court custody, and the first hearing in his case has been scheduled for next January.

The Lord’s Resistance Army originated as a Ugandan rebel force nearly three decades ago. It evolved into an organization of marauding fighters who pillaged parts of Uganda, southern Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic.

Disciples swore obedience to Mr. Kony, who ordered village massacres and mutilations, kidnapped children for soldiering and kept a harem of prepubescent brides.

The United Nations has estimated that from 1987 to 2012, the L.R.A. killed more than 100,000 people, abducted up to 100,000 children and displaced more than 2.5 million civilians.

In 2011 the United States military began collaborating with the African Union to hunt down Mr. Kony, whose whereabouts remains unknown. Some rights activists believe he and followers have taken refuge in Sudan, lying low but still dangerous.

“Given Joseph Kony’s incredible capacity to survive, one always has to remain concerned for the civilians in proximity to the L.R.A.,” said Maria Burnett, senior researcher in the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch.

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