Boko Haram: N'Djamena está em perigo

Engagé début 2013 dans le Nord-Mali aux côtés de l'armée française, le Tchad va envoyer des troupes chez son voisin camerounais pour l'aider à combattre les islamistes nigérians de Boko Haram, ont annoncé les autorités des deux pays. Quel soutien ? "Le président de la République du Cameroun, Paul Biya, annonce que (...) M. Idriss Deby Itno, président de la République du Tchad, a décidé d'envoyer un important contingent des forces armées tchadiennes pour venir en appui aux forces armées camerounaises", a indiqué jeudi 15 janvier au soir un communiqué du porte-parole du gouvernement camerounais, Issa Tchiroma Bakary. >> Lire aussi : Des images satellites montrent les ravages de l'attaque de Baga par Boko Haram Pour le moment, ni les effectifs du contingent tchadien, ni la date de son déploiement au Cameroun n'ont été précisés. Les autorités tchadiennes pourraient également envoyer du matériel et fournir des renseignements. Pourquoi le Tchad intervient ? L'engagement des soldats tchadiens "s'inscrit dans le cadre des excellentes relations d'amitié et de bon voisinage qui unissent le Cameroun et le Tchad", tous deux frontaliers du nord-est du Nigeria, fief de Boko Haram, souligne le communiqué du président Biya. Ce dernier "salue chaleureusement ce geste de fraternité et de solidarité (de Idriss Deby Into) qui s'inscrit dans l'engagement constant des deux chefs d'État en faveur de la stabilité, de la paix et de la sécurité de leurs pays et de leurs peuples respectifs". >> Lire aussi : Les forces de sécurité camerounaises réclament des renforts Face à la détérioration de la situation dans l'extrême-nord du Cameroun, "qui menace dangereusement la sécurité et la stabilité du Tchad et porte atteinte à ses intérêts vitaux, le gouvernement tchadien ne saurait rester les bras croisés", avait indiqué mercredi le gouvernement tchadien. Quelle est la réalité de la menace pour le Tchad ? Le Tchad a jusqu'à présent été épargné par les attaques de Boko Haram, mais seule l'étroite bande de terre formée par l'extrême-nord du Cameroun - une cinquantaine de kilomètres - sépare N'Djamena de l'État nigérian de Borno, fief des islamistes. La menace est donc bien réelle. >> Lire aussi : Nigeria, Cameroun, Niger, Tchad... La menace s'étend Ces derniers jours, les services de sécurité ont renforcé la surveillance à la frontière avec le Cameroun, que ce soit au pont de Ngueli, aux portes de N'Djamena ou le long du Logone, le fleuve qui sert de frontière naturelle entre les deux pays. Les exactions de Boko Haram ont également drainé un flot important de réfugiés. Selon des sources humanitaires citées par RFI, plus de 12 000 Nigérians ont fui le nord de leur pays en direction du Tchad. (Avec AFP) Lire l'article sur Jeuneafrique.com

Londres e Washington contra extremismo

Britain and the US are to share expertise on preventing radicalism and tackling domestic "violent extremism". Prime Minister David Cameron announced the move following talks with President Barack Obama at the White House, warning that they both faced a "poisonous and fanatical ideology". The taskforce will report back to the two leaders within six months. Mr Cameron also said Britain would deploy more unarmed drones to help ground forces tackle Islamic State. The prime minister is on a two-day visit to Washington for talks with President Obama, likely to be his final Washington visit before the UK general election in May. At a press conference in the White House, Mr Obama hailed Mr Cameron as a "great friend" while the British prime minister said the US was a "kindred spirit". The talks between the two leaders come a week after the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris which killed 17 people. Concerns over additional attacks by Islamic extremists intensified on Thursday, after two people were killed during a targeted anti-terror raid by police in Belgium, to pre-empt what officials there called a major impending attack. 'Fanatical ideology' UK police have said there is "heightened concern" about the risk to the UK's Jewish communities in the wake of last week's attacks and are considering stepping up patrols in certain areas. At a press conference in the White House, Mr Cameron said: "We face a poisonous and fanatical ideology that wants to pervert one of the world's major religions, Islam, and create conflict, terror and death. "With our allies we will confront it wherever it appears." President Obama said the US, UK and its allies were "working seamlessly to prevent attacks and defeat these terrorist networks". The UK prime minister also announced that the UK will send an additional 1,000 troops to take part in NATO military exercises in the Baltic states and eastern Europe amid heightened tensions in the region following Russia's conflict with Ukraine. Mr Cameron and President Obama were also due to discuss the economy, amid uncertainty in the eurozone and controversy over a planned EU-US trade deal. Mr Cameron was also expected to raise the case of Shaker Aamer, the final British resident in Guantanamo Bay. Ahead of the talks, which lasted just over an hour, it was announced that the UK and US are to carry out "war game" cyber attacks on each other as part of a new joint defence against online criminals. BBC

Chade: O futuro decide-se nos Camarões

N'Djamena: Tens of thousands of people rallied in the capital of Chad on Saturday in support of the authorities` decision to send troops to fight Nigeria`s Boko Haram Islamists. Prime Minister Kalzeube Pahimi Deubet led the demonstrators as they marched from city hall in the capital N`Djamena to the Place de Nation square, carrying Chadian flags and chanting in French and Arabic: "Kick the forces of evil out of our territory." A large banner read: "We support our army. The people of Chad support their Cameroonian and Nigerian brothers in the fight against terrorism." "Today`s march is a strong signal, a warning to Boko Haram and above all a march for peace to protect our vital interests, to protect our economy, to protect Chad`s security," Deubet said. "The country is seriously threatened by Boko Haram," said Ouchar Tourguidi, head of the main party in parliament, calling the rally "important for boosting morale of our troops who are going to the front." Dozens of Chadian tanks headed out of the capital Friday south towards Cameroon after Chad`s parliament approved the deployment. Chad`s plunge into the war against Boko Haram came after a large-scale attack by the militants in Baga, the Nigerian town on the shores of Lake Chad were as many as 2,000 people were massacred by the militants in a raid on January 7 described by US Secretary of State John Kerry as a "crime against humanity". Cameroon`s President Paul Biya had announced Thursday that his Chadian counterpart Idriss Deby had agreed to send "a substantial contingent" of troops to help Cameroonian armed forces, who have faced repeated attacks from Boko Haram. The Russian ambassador to the country also pledged to supply Cameroon with more modern weapons to combat the Islamist insurgents. AFP

África: O terrível LRA

The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group led by Joseph Kony, originated in Northern Uganda as a movement to fight for the interests of the Acholi people. Kony rapidly lost support, and for the last 24 years has led a terrifying regime targeting attacks on innocent civilians, kidnapping children and forcing them to fight in his rebel forces. Driven out of the country by the Ugandan army, the LRA’s rebels are now scattered across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Central African Republic (CAR) and southern Sudan, where brutal attacks continue on remote villages that can take months to be reported. How did it all start? The Lord’s Resistance Army began life in the early 1980’s as the Holy Spirit Movement, led by a woman called Alice Lakwena who claimed the Holy Spirit had ordered her to overthrow the Ugandan government, which was accused of treating the Acholi people of the North unfairly. As resentment towards the Ugandan government intensified, supporters flocked to Lakwena and the Holy Spirit movement gathered momentum, until a battle won by the government led to Lakwena’s exile. With no clear direction for the movement, a man claiming to be Lakwena’s cousin, Joseph Kony, took over as leader and rebranded the movement in 1986 as the Lord’s Resistance Army. Kony initially stated that the LRA’s mission was to overthrow the government and rule Uganda based on the Ten Commandments. He rapidly lost support, however, and in frustration Kony began abducting thousands of children to swell its ranks, turning them into killers and unleashing them on villages. How does the Lord's Resistance Army operate? The rebels often masquerade as military soldiers, or pounce as villagers gather together for occasions such as church services. They launch vicious attacks, killing the weak and the old with machetes, swords or stones, and cutting off people’s ears, lips and noses to serve as a warning to others. The rebels capture those who can be useful to them, including children strong enough to carry weapons. The captives are tied together and marched to camps where they are violently indoctrinated and turned into soldiers, porters, cooks, or sex slaves. Captives are often forced to kill or rape family members, making it impossible for them to think about returning home. Those who do resist or try to escape are tortured and killed. Why hasn’t the conflict been resolved? Numerous attempts to reach a peace agreement were made between the LRA and the Ugandan government, but Kony withdrew each time. The Ugandan People’s Defence Force (UPDF) – i.e. the Ugandan army continues its pursuit of the rebels and claims that they have substantially weakened the LRA, but the ongoing attacks suggest otherwise. In the DRC, the UN mission MONUSCO is under-resourced and unable to protect civilians or contain the LRA’s activities. Communication is also a severe problem; attacks are happening in extremely remote regions, and news of incidents can take weeks, even months, to come to light. Why does the LRA target innocent civilians? By attacking villages and carrying out its notorious vicious attacks, the LRA defies claims that the group is weakening. Rebels also loot villages for food and supplies, and abduct adults and children to fight for them. The attacks also serve to divert military resources towards defending civilians instead of pursuing the rebels. Who are the key players? Joseph Kony (foto)is the founder and leader of the LRA. His top commanders, wanted alongside Kony for war crimes, are Okot Odhiambo, Dominic Ongwen, and Raska Lukwiya. Kony’s deputy, Vincent Otti, was executed on Kony’s command in 2007 for his role in peace talks. Another high profile commander, Bok Abudema, was killed in battle in early 2010. How have children been affected? Children have been affected the most acutely by this conflict, with thousands abducted, used as child soldiers and sex slaves, beaten and forced to torture and kill friends, family and innocent people. Those lucky enough to escape the clutches of the LRA deal with ongoing psychological trauma from their experiences, and face huge problems reintegrating back into their communities. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced from their homes and are forced to live in camps with poor sanitation and health facilities. Even those not directly in contact with the LRA suffer the consequences of poor education due to schools being destroyed by rebels and not being able to afford fees. How has the international community responded? The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in 2005 for Joseph Kony and his top level commanders, but regional and international agents have failed to apprehend them.

Chade e Camarões enfrentam Boko Haram

Chad's government on Wednesday pledged "active support" for neighbouring Cameroon in fighting Boko Haram, after another cross-border raid this week by the Nigerian-based Islamist group. The offer followed a meeting in Chad's capital N'Djamena between President Idriss Deby and Cameroon Defence Minister Alain Mebe Ngo'o to discuss the threat from Boko Haram. The group is fighting to create a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria along the border with Chad, Cameroon and Niger. Soldiers in Limani, Cameroon, look out at the border with Nigeria on November 12, 2014, where Boko Haram Islamists attacked a nearby city ©Reinnier Kaze (AFP/File) The government of Chad "expresses its solidarity with Cameroon and is disposed to provide active support in the courageous and determined response of its armed force against the criminal and terrorist acts of Boko Haram", it said in a statement. On Monday, Boko Haram fighters crossed into Cameroon to attack a military base in the northern town of Kolofata. The country was also targeted by the group in 2014. Cameroon's military said it killed 143 insurgents in firefight, and that one Cameroonian soldier was killed. Chad has so far been spared attack by Boko Haram but only a thin sliver of land in northern Cameroon separates the desert state from the Islamists' stronghold in Nigeria's Borno state. Chad has also been affected by the refugee crisis sparked by Boko Haram's insurgency, which has killed over 13,000 people since 2009. Over 11,000 people fleeing an onslaught last week on the Nigerian town of Baga sought refuge in Chad, according to the United Nations. Deby's government warned it would "not stand idly by" faced with the threat from Boko Haram and called on the west African ECOWAS bloc and international community to also step up their response. AFP

Nigéria: Grande nau e grande tormenta

Nigéria: Grande nau, grande tormenta (artigo por mim publicado em Julho de 2013) A Federação da Nigéria, que ao longo de cinco décadas tem lutado por sobreviver como um Estado moderno, um dos primeiros da África e do Terceiro Mundo, luta agora contra a ameaça islamita que se faz sentir na sua parte setentrional, acima dos rios Níger e Benue. A imensa Nigéria, o mais populoso dos países africanos, proibiu oficialmente este mês de Junho dois grupos islamitas, avisando muito seriamente que qualquer pessoa que os ajude enfrenta um mínimo de 20 anos na cadeia, pois que os fundamentalistas são um entrave a todos os esforços para transformar a sociedade que se começou a desenvolver na década de 1960 e a economia, que se pretende próspera e integrada. O presidente Goodluck Jonathan, que conta com as boas graças dos Estados Unidos da América, proclamou o Boko Haram e o Ansaru grupos terroristas, daqueles que não são de forma alguma bem aceites nas sociedades ocidentais. O Exército, o enorme Exército da Nigéria, tem estado desde Maio envolvido numa profunda ofensiva contra os combatentes islamitas entrincheirados no Norte do país, muito em especial para os lados de Kano e do Nordeste. Desde há quatro anos, quando as esquadras começaram a ser atacadas em Maiduguri, a rebelião islamita já causou a morte a pelo menos 2000 pessoas, enlutando assim um pedaço da África que obteve a sua independência em 1960, então fundamentalmente dividido em Norte, Leste e Ocidente, tendo em Agosto de 1963 este dado origem a uma quarta unidade, o Midwest, ou Ocidente Médio. O presidente Jonathan deixou bem claro, no início de Junho, que as actividades do Boko Haram e do Ansaru são sem qualquer dúvida terroristas, como se viu em Dezembro de 2010 com o ataque a Jos e o subsequente assalto aos quartéis de Abuja. Quase que em sintonia com as palavras presidenciais, os Estados Unidos ofereceram recompensas por quaisquer informações sobre os combatentes islamitas que existem na África Setentrional e Ocidental, a começar por dados respeitantes ao paradeiro do líder do Boko Haram, Abubakar Shegau. Quatro anos de guerra Foi em 2009 que aquele grupo lançou a insurreição armada no Norte e no Centro da Nigéria, um país onde a indústria petrolífera gera diariamente milhões de euros, rivalizando com a de Angola. E no dia de Natal de 2011 uma série de ataques bombistas matou dezenas de pessoas, depois de na Páscoa de 2012 terem sido atacadas igrejas em Kaduna. Quanto ao grupo Ansaru, que é como que um derivativo ou uma sucursal do Boko Haram, começou a notar-se mais activo o ano passado, raptando e assassinando naturais da Europa e do Médio Oriente, até que o presidente Goodluck Jonathan proclamou o estado de emergência nos estados de Borno, Yobe e Adamawa, perto das fronteiras com o Níger, o Chade e os Camarões. Enquanto isto, alguns defensores dos direitos humanos têm vindo a acusar as Forças Armadas de se virarem por vezes contra pessoas inocentes, que são (sem grande fundamento) acusadas de apoiarem os fundamentalistas islâmicos. Uma das novidades deste último mês foi a descoberta, no Norte da imensa Nigéria, de um arsenal pertencente ao grupo libanês Hezbollah, o que dá bem conta de quanto os problemas do Médio Oriente e da África se encontram agora interligados, havendo uma vasta rede de cumplicidades desde a Síria ao golfo da Guiné. Três libaneses foram detidos, segundo um porta-voz militar, o brigadeiro Ilyasu Isa Abba, de acordo com o qual havia armas antitanque, entre outras, no arsenal que foi descoberto na cidade de Kano. «Se um grupo como este existe aqui, poderá muito bem apoiar alguns dos terroristas locais», sentenciou Bassey Etan, director do Serviço de Segurança do Estado de Kano. Os meandros da História As mais recentes posições do Governo de Goodluck Jonathan, dominado por pessoas do delta do Níger, muito rico em petróleo, fazem recordar as questões políticas nigerianas da década de 1990. Nessa altura, um regime militar, dirigido pelo general Sani Abacha, precisamente natural do Nordeste do país, tentou recorrer ao Exército para esmagar uma rebelião que havia no delta do Níger. Alguns observadores mais cépticos alegam que as tropas e os polícias poderão não conseguir dominar o Boko Haram e os seus aliados, antes chamando uma vez mais a atenção para as profundas divergências existentes entre um Norte muçulmano e um Sul cristão, num território que precisa de se unir e de ultrapassar as suas crises de identidade nacional se realmente desejar ter êxito na sua reivindicação de um lugar de membro permanente do Conselho de Segurança das Nações Unidas. A cruzada contra os grupos fundamentalistas setentrionais está a deixar para segundo plano os objectivos de se conseguir tornar mais rendível a indústria nacional do petróleo e do gás natural, que ao fim e ao cabo é um dos sustentáculos de uma Nigéria que pretende controlar toda a Comunidade Económica dos Estados da África Ocidental (CEDEAO). Os problemas da segurança, nomeadamente os derivados das questões religiosas e do fundamentalismo islamita, ameaçam os desejos de crescimento económico, essencial para que o país se solidifique como potência regional e tenha a primeira palavra a dizer em todas as questões que surjam desde a Guiné-Bissau até aos Camarões e à própria República Centro-Africana. A economia nigeriana passou de um crescimento de 7,4 por cento em 2011 para um de 6,6 por cento em 2012, o que só se poderá agravar se a agricultura não tiver condições para se desenvolver normalmente em partes do território nacional, devido aos confrontos entre o Exército e os fundamentalistas. Constelação de 36 estados Os perto de 180 milhões de Nigerianos distribuem-se por 36 Estados e têm Abuja como capital federal, sendo Lagos a maior cidade, com 11 milhões de habitantes, seguida por Kano, Ibadan e Kaduna, todas elas com mais de dois milhões de seres humanos. Um dos problemas da República Federal da Nigéria é que tem duas centenas e meia de grupos étnicos, a começar pelos Igbos, pelos Iorubas, pelos Hausas e pelos Fulas, congregando estes dois últimos grupos 29 por cento da população total e sendo muçulmanos, como o é metade da população em geral (os cristãos são cerca de 40 por cento e os animistas constituem os restantes 10 por cento). Ter 250 etnias e falar mais de 550 línguas é um grande quebra-cabeças para um dos oito países mais populosos do mundo, e no qual ainda nem sequer 63 por cento da população se encontra alfabetizada, em inglês, que é o idioma oficial. Além do petróleo e do gás natural, a Nigéria tem chumbo, minério de ferro, carvão, zinco e outras riquezas, mas também a maior população de pobres de toda a África, o que poderá contribuir para a actividade dos grupos mais radicais ou fundamentalistas. A corrupção, a má gestão, a instabilidade política e a má governação são cancros a gangrenar a sociedade nigeriana, que sofre de um elevadíssimo nível de desemprego. Até mesmo muitas pessoas com cursos acabam na rua, sem nada para fazer, pelo que por vezes se dedicam a conhecidos esquemas de burlas pela Internet, pedindo a ajuda monetária de estrangeiros para desbloquear hipotéticas fortunas herdadas de supostos parentes.

Charlie: comissário da polícia suicida-se

A Commissioner SRPJ Limoges has committed suicide in his office with his service weapon . Information confirmed by his superiors. It is unknown at this time the reasons for his actions.

The Commissioner Helric Fredou aged 45 years was from Limoges began his career in 1997 as a police officer at the regional office the judicial police of Versailles, before returning to Limoges. He was deputy director of the regional police service since 2012. His father was a former police officer, his mother was a nurse in the emergency context CHU Limoges. He was single and had no children. According to the police union commissioner was depressed and experiencing burnout . In November 2013, the Commissioner Fredou had discovered the lifeless body of his colleague, number 3 of SRPJ Limoges, who had also committed suicide with his service weapon in his office. He was also 44 years old. The Commissioner Fredou, like all agents SRPJ worked yesterday on the case of the massacre at the headquarters of Charlie Hebdo . In particular, he surveyed the family of one of the victims. He killed himself before completing its report. A psychological cell was set up in the police station.