Photo : Reuters/CBS News
NIAS Area Studies
AFRICA MONITOR
Photo : Reuters/CBS News
IN BRIEF
by Padmashree Anandhan, Sejal Sharma, and Satyam Dubey
Burkina Faso: Explosion in gold mining site kills 59 people
On 22 February, the explosion, believed to be caused by the stocking of chemicals used to treat gold at the mining site in southwestern Burkina Faso, has killed around 59 people and left more than 100 others injured. A forest ranger who is the witness of the explosion at the mining site, Sansan Kambou, informed that: “I saw bodies everywhere. It was horrible.” Burkina Faso is the fastest growing gold producer in Africa, and topping the list of exports shows that it is the mainstay of Ouagadougou’s economy.
Nigeria: Military airstrike wounds 12 children
On 20 February, seven children were killed and five wounded in an air attack by the Nigerian military. The Governor of Maradi Chaibou Aboubacar said that the airstrike took place in Nachade village, a few kilometres away from the Nigerian border, which mistakenly resulted in the victimization of 12 children. Nigerian Director of Defence Information Major General Jimmy Akpor said: “As a matter of policy, the Nigerian Air Force does not make any incursions into areas outside Nigeria’s territorial boundaries. That’s our policy.”
Ethiopia: Addis Ababa opens mega-dam despite condemnation
On 20 February, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmad inaugurated a mega-dam on the river Nile to produce electricity from its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) Sudan and Egypt, its neighbours, consider as a blockade to cause severe water shortage downstream. Abiy said: “Ethiopia’s main interest is to bring light to 60 per cent of the population who is suffering in darkness, to save the labour of our mothers who are carrying wood on their backs to get energy.” Egypt’s Foreign Minister, Sameh Hassan Shoukry, accused Addis Ababa of ‘persisting in its violations’ of the deal signed between three countries in 2015 prohibiting any of the parties to take unilateral action on the river water use.
Somalia: Suicide bomber killed 13 people on the eve of voting
On 19 February, 13 people were killed after a suicide bomber in central Somalia detonated an explosive in a restaurant full of politicians and local officials. The attack was led by Al-Shabab, an extremist organization that monitors armed groups online, which had claimed its responsibility. The attack took place despite tightened security in Beledweyne on the eve of the completion of a first round of voting for parliamentary seats in the constituency. A Police spokesman said: “the blast caused huge damage as the dead were mostly civilians along with two deputy district commissioners and 20 others were wounded in Beledweyne.”