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Somali Foreign Minister escapes assassination attempt

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Somali’s Foreign Minister Abdisaid Muse Ali, on Thursday evening, escaped an assassination attempt at Galkayo town in Puntland province, located in the northwest of the country, officials say.

One person was reportedly killed and others injured in the attack Ali said was carried out by forces loyal to the local administration of Puntland which controls the northern portion of the town.

One of the minister’s bodyguards was killed while the clan elder Yasin Abdisamad, sustained injuries, according to the state officials.

Somalian state TV reported that one soldier was killed and three people were wounded in the attack on the minister.

The incident comes amid heightened political tensions in Somalia and a prolonged electoral process marred by alleged corruption and irregularities.

In a tweet on the incident later on Thursday, Ali claimed the attack was an attempt on his life.

The Minister said that he had been on holiday in the town when a regional police commander ordered local security forces to attack him.

“The attack happened when my family was having iftar, the meal taken after sunset during Ramadan, that was hosted by a local traditional elder.

“I strongly condemn violence as a means to achieve political ends and will hold all involved accountable by all means necessary,” he tweeted.

However, the Governor of Puntland’s Mudug region, Abdilatif Muse Nur, blamed the minister for causing the confrontation.

“I want to tell the public in Puntland and the Somali people at large, that the confrontation in Galkayo town was provoked by the Somalia Foreign Minister Abdisaid Muse Ali, who came to the town to propagate unproductive policies,” said Nur.

Ahmed Karash, the deputy leader of Puntland, has condemned the incident and promised an investigation, saying a committee will be set up and those responsible will be brought to justice.

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Kenya: Senior ICC prosecutor drops probe into 2007 post-election violence

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A senior official of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Nazhat Shameen Khan has announced an end to all further investigations into crimes committed in Kenya relating to violence that erupted following elections in 2007.

The ICC Deputy Chief Prosecutor said the 13-year legal saga, which involved senior Kenyan politicians, had been dropped

“I have reached this decision after considering the specific facts and circumstances of this situation,” she said in a statement.

“Accordingly, the Office will not pursue additional cases into the alleged criminal responsibility of other persons.”

Prosecutors claim that during the nation’s post-election violence in 2010, some 600,000 people were left homeless, and 1,300 people killed in a case in which suspects included former and current Kenyan presidents, Uhuru Kenyatta and President William Ruto. The Hague-based tribunal began looking into the incident in 2010. Six suspects were initially charged with crimes against humanity, which included deportation and murder.

However, in 2014, former chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda dropped the charges against Kenyatta, and in 2016, the prosecution’s case against Ruto was also dropped due to insufficient evidence. The lack of evidence caused the case against all six to fall apart.

Prosecutors opened a new investigation into witness intimidation and bribery after Bensouda claimed that an unrelenting campaign of intimidation against victims and witnesses prevented a trial.

Decades after the “third wave of democratisation,” widespread violence still occurs in sub-Saharan Africa after elections. Nigeria, Ivory Coast, and Zimbabwe, among others, have had their share of election conflicts.

Kenya is still not free from election disturbances, as levels of violence also played out during and after the 2022 elections.

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Sierra Leonean govt finally labels weekend attack ‘failed coup’

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The Sierra Leonean government has finally labelled attacks on several locations in the capital, Freetown, on Sunday as failed attempt to overthrow the government, having previously refraining from so classifying it.

Authorities in the West African nation said that gunmen stormed a military barracks, a prison, and other locations on Sunday, freeing roughly 2,200 prisoners and leaving over 20 people dead. On Monday, everything had returned to normal.

“The incident was a failed attempted coup. The intention was to illegally subvert and overthrow a democratically elected government,” said President Julius Bio.

“The attempt failed, and plenty of the leaders are either in police custody or on the run. We will try to capture them and bring them to the full force of the laws of Sierra Leone.”

The tense situation in Sierra Leone, which is still recuperating from a civil war that claimed over 50,000 lives between 1991 and 2002, has persisted since Bio was re-elected in June.

International allies, such as the US and the EU, questioned the outcome, and the major opposition candidate rejected it.

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