Photo : BBC/AFP
NIAS Area Studies
AFRICA MONITOR
Photo : BBC/AFP
IN BRIEF
By Ashwin Dhanabalan, Angkuran Dey and Meghna Manoj
South Africa: Fatalities rise in Durban floods
On 14 April, as unprecedented floods hit Durban with dozens still reported missing, the death toll has now climbed to 341. With lines of transport being hit in the region, sending supplies has become an arduous task as rescuers battle the calamity. The premier of the KwaZulu-Natal, Sihle Zikalala, stated: “The level of devastation of human life, infrastructure, and service delivery network in the province is unprecedented. A total number of 40,723 people have been affected.”
Mali: EU ends its trading session with armed forces, citing Russian interference
On 12 April, the EU’s diplomat Josep Borrell announced that the EU would halt its training with Mali’s armed forces. This is because the authorities in Mali had failed to assure the EU that Russian military contractors would not interfere in the work. Borrell added: “We have decided to suspend, to stop, certain formations of our training mission in Mali focused on the units of the armed forces of the Malian national guard.” Mali and Russia have been defending their position by stating that the Wagner Group had sent trainers and not mercenaries to help its troops with equipment brought from Russia.