- A group of Darfuris women was saved from the hands of bandits who are believed to have been on a mission to take them hostages or possible war slaves.
The Un reports said troops from the joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur, tasked with protecting civilians and suppressing the bloody conflict in the region, foiled an attempted abduction of several women who had strayed outside a makeshift camp in the war-torn western flank of Sudan.
The report said a patrol from the hybrid force, known as UNAMID, was dispatched yesterday to the Hassa Hissa camp in West Darfur after being alerted that six women had been snatched while collecting firewood in nearby fields.
The kidnappers are said to have released the women when they saw the UNAMID team, made up of protection force personnel, police and military observers, approaching the scene.
The incident follows a series of violent incidents surrounding the Hassa Hissa camp last month, with the latest involving unidentified gunmen having shot dead the traditional leader or “sheikh” in the camp.
Reports say that on 1 December, two Janjaweed militiamen, usually allied with Government forces, armed with a rifle quarrelled with settlers at the camp, when one of the militiamen was severely beaten and later died and a camp settler suffered a minor injury. The other militiaman was arrested and taken into custody by Sudanese police, the report pointed out.
It continued that the following day a dozen armed men set ablaze a water pump and five generators supplying energy to Hassa Hissa, lightly injuring one of the settlers.
An estimated 300,000 people have been killed since fighting erupted in Darfur in 2003 pitting government troops and the Janjaweed against rebel forces, and 2.7 million others have been forced from their homes, according to the UN report.
The Security Council has authorised 26,000 uniformed personnel, including military and police, for UNAMID. So far some 12,369 military personnel have been deployed out of the authorised 19,555, with senior UN officials repeatedly calling on countries to supply the remaining troops and equipment needed.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
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