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Malian military helicopter fires rockets close to UK peacekeepers’ location

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The UK Ministry of Defence has confirmed that a Malian military helicopter on Wednesday, fired several rockets close to the location of British members of a UN peacekeeping force in the country.

The incident which was also confirmed by the United Nations, was the first of its kind between Mali which is backed by Russian forces, and the UN peacekeepers, a UN official said, adding that the peacekeepers were all safe and accounted for.

“We are aware of a recent incident in Mali in which rockets were fired by a Malian Armed Forces helicopter close to a detachment of UK personnel.

“All UK personnel are safe and accounted for, and the circumstances surrounding this incident are being investigated,” the official said.

The incident, according to a diplomatic document, took place in the area of Tessit, near Gao city, about 950 kilometres north-east of Bamako, the capital, where the Malian army helicopter allegedly fired six rockets in quick succession.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said an investigation into the events was under way.

On March 31, Africa News Watch had reported how a United Nations helicopter carrying eight peacekeepers and UN observers was shot down by rebels in Congo, leaving no survivors.

The Congolese Army which confirmed the incident, hadrevealed that the helicopter was carrying out reconnaissance for the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo along with another helicopter when it was attacked.

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Mozambique: Ruling FRELIMO announces Chapo as presidential candidate

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Daniel Chapo has announced that he will run for president in the October election on behalf of the ruling FRELIMO party in Mozambique.

Since achieving independence in 1975, FRELIMO has ruled the nation in southern Africa, and the party is hoping that Chapo can lead it to another win in the election on October 9.

“The soap opera of speculation is over, including speculation about the third term,” President Filipe Nyusi said on state television on Sunday, dismissing the prospect of contesting elections again.

“We must all unite around comrade Daniel Francisco Chapo, in the demanding march towards electoral victory next October,” Nyusi said.

The president of Mozambique is limited to two terms of five years by the constitution. Nevertheless, following his reelection as party leader in 2022, there had been conjecture in the media that Nyusi may run for a third term.

Chapo, a relatively unknown person in national politics, is the governor of the province of Inhambane in southern Mozambique. As to the party announcement, he secured 225 votes (about 94%) from the central committee of the party.

“We are going to work with all social strata,” Chapo said on television after his win.

Chapo, a former radio host, was born in 1977, making him the first candidate for FRELIMO to be born since the nation gained its independence.

He has served in many governmental capacities, most notably as an administrator of the districts of Nacala and Palma. He also has a master’s degree in development management and a law degree.

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Again, Rwanda denies it attacked displaced persons in DR Congo

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For the sixteenth time, Rwanda refuted US charges on Saturday that its troops attacked a camp for internally displaced persons in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), placing the blame instead on militants it claimed were backed by the military of the Congo.

The US State Department released a statement in which it vehemently denounced the incident that claimed at least nine lives on Friday.

There have been persistent accusations against Rwanda of providing support to the armed organizations, which has resulted in diplomatic tensions between the neighbours in East Africa.

Citing the threat that Rwanda’s surface-to-air missile systems posed to civilians, U.N. and other regional peacekeepers, aid workers, and commercial aircraft operating in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the US demanded in February that Rwanda remove its systems and all of its armed forces from the DRC immediately. Rwanda denies providing any assistance to the rebels.

According to the U.S. statement, the M23 rebel group, which Rwanda supports, and the Rwandan Defense Forces (RDF) held the positions from which the attack was launched. The United States is “gravely concerned about the recent RDF and M23 expansion” in eastern Congo.

Speaking on behalf of the Rwandan government, Yolande Makolo refuted claims that the RDF was responsible for the attack, blaming instead rebels backed by the Congolese military.

“The RDF, a professional army, would never attack an IDP (displaced persons). Look to the lawless FDLR and Wazalendo supported by the FARDC (Congolese military) for this kind of atrocity,” she said in a post on X.

Wazalendo is a Christian sect, while the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) is a Hutu organization that was founded by Hutu officials who left Rwanda after planning the 1994 genocide.

Thousands of people from the surrounding areas have fled to Goma in eastern Congo as a result of the M23 rebels’ two-year offensive, which has advanced toward the city in recent months.

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