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Al-Shabaab militants attack key Somali towns day after President Mohamud called them ‘bedbugs’, kill 15

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Not less than 15 people have been confirmed killed and over 50 injured in three separate bombings in a strategic Somali towns in the central Hirshabelle state, carried out by the al-Shabaab militants a day after President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud called them “bedbugs.”

The Somali authorities said the simultaneous attacks on Saturday occured in Bulobarde town, kilometers north of Mogadishu, where suicide car bomb killed 11 people

“A suicide bomber driving an SUV vehicle laden with explosives came under fire from security forces before reaching his goal, but detonated explosives near a police station and the base of the African Union peacekeepers from Djibouti,” the statement said, quoting security agencies.

“At least 11 people were killed in the blast and more than 50 injured, 30 of them in critical condition,” Yusuf Isaq Mumin, a medical official in the town, told journalists.

“We are now sending those critically injured to Mogadishu since the local hospital has not the capacity to handle their cases here,” he added.

According to the report, another powerful car bomb exploded near a Somali military checkpoint in Jalalaqsi town, some 160 kilometers north of Mogadishu, when soldiers operating the checkpoint intercepted an explosives-laden vehicle.

“A vehicle driven by a suicide bomber detonated near the checkpoint. Another suicide bomber detonated a vehicle at a location close to a school. At least four people were killed in the attack,” a former deputy district commissioner of Jalalaqsi, Mire Hussein Siyad, said.

Both towns of Jalalaqsi and Bulobarde are important trading and farming towns located along the banks of the Shabelle River, and they also are the second- and third-biggest towns in Hiran province and have been under al-Shabaab “isolation” for more than 10 years.

They have recently been the focal point of efforts to mobilize the local population against al-Shabaab amid an ongoing Somali military campaign to defeat militants following Mohamud’s declaration of a “total war” against the al-Qaida-linked terrorist group after being elected in May last year.

Al-Shabab has threatened violence against clans mobilizing against them in the past.

In October of last year, similar terrorist attacks that targeted bridges in those towns killed at least 21 people.

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Zambia: APP leader lampoons PF over pledge to reverse forfeited properties

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Leader of one of Zambia’s opposition parties, Advocates for People’s Prosperity (APP), Mwenye Musenge, has criticised the Patriotic Front (PF) over its promise to reverse forfeited properties if the party won the 2026 presidential election.

Musenge, who was reacting to a statement credited to the PF Member of Parliament (MP) for Lukashya Province, George Chisanga, described the PF’s promise as a betrayal, saying the declaration had exposed the party’s disregard for accountability and justice.

The APP leader, who spoke to Zambia Monitor in a telephone interview from Kitwe, expressed shock that Chisanga, a former Law Association of Zambia president, would endorse what he termed a “regressive agenda,” accusing the PF of prioritising the protection of corrupt individuals over the welfare of citizens.

“This declaration reveals the PF’s true intentions, returning to power not to serve Zambians, but to shield their corrupt network and restore stolen assets,” Musenge said.

He alleged that former President Edgar Lungu’s consistent calls to protect his family, who he claimed cannot explain their amassed wealth, further demonstrate the party’s self-serving mission.

Musenge further described the PF as “a political carcass animated by greed and nostalgia for its days of unchecked looting,” and accused its leaders of leaving Zambia impoverished while enriching themselves.

“Allowing them near power again would be akin to handing a butcher’s knife to a thief already drenched in the blood of the nation’s resources.

“The PF represents everything wrong with Zambian politics—a relic of the past clinging to survival through recycled lies and corrupt agendas,” he added.

Musenge went on to call for the party to be permanently eradicated, saying it had no vision, morality, or credibility to serve Zambians.

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Nigerian Senate confirms influx of terrorists from Mali, Burkina Faso into the country 

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The Nigerian Senate has raised the alarm over the influx of terrorists from Mali and Burkina Faso who operate in the name of Lakurawa, into Kebbi, Sokoto, Kaduna and Niger States in the northern parts of the country.

The Upper Chamber, which raised the alarm during plenary on Wednesday, called on the military to set up early warning mechanisms to forestall further incursions by terrorist groups as well as maintain presence and vigilance in the affected communities to halt the activities of the terror group from spreading further across the region.

The resolutions of the Senate were sequel to a motion titled, “Urgent need for the federal government to take stringent measures to stop the infiltration of a group of violent terrorists, known as Lakurawa, from entrenching themselves in some northwest states of Sokoto and Kebbi,” and was sponsored by the senator representing Kebbi North, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, and co- sponsored by Senators Adamu Aliero, from Kebbi Central, and Garba Musa Maidoki, representing Kebbi South.

While presenting the motion, Senator Abdullahi said:

“The Senate is aware that a group of terrorists from neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali, known as Lakurawa, has infiltrated the country through the Nigeria-Niger border, at Illela, Tangaza and Silame Local Government Areas of Sokoto and are from there, attacking communities in Augie and Arewa LGAs in Kebbi State.

“Recall that this violent gang of terrorists had raided and dispossessed these communities, prior to the large-scale invasion of Mera, a village in Augie Local Government, on November 8, 2024, killing more than 20 people and fleeing with their livestock, amounting to hundreds of millions of naira.

“Senate is aware that Kebbi State government promptly responded by sending a delegation with relief materials to the affected villages and assistance to the families of the deceased.

“Aware that Senator Yahaya A. Abdullahi (Kebbi North) and Senator Adamu Aliero (Kebbi North Central) and Senator Garba Musa Maidoki (Kebbi South), along with some members of the House of Representatives from Kebbi State, have been to those areas, to commiserate with victims of the attacks on behalf of the National Assembly.

“Aware that if timely, adequate and decisive measures are not taken, this group can spread its reign of terror to other northern parts of the country and beyond.

“Notes the prompt response of the ministry of defence and the armed forces who despatched a well-armed military response squad that was able to dislodge the terrorists and secured the release of herds of cattle and other livestock stolen by the terrorists. These foreigners have invaded the country.

“We need to nip the situation in the bud, they have international connections, heavily armed with very dangerous weapons, the federal government should take the matter very seriously.

‘These terrorists are well armed with highly sophisticated weapons, this is a very serious matter on national security, they control the whole of Northern Mali and now attacking Kebbi, Sokoto, Kaduna, Niger, and others. The time to act is now, we have to take action on how to tame terrorism.”

He said the Senate should revisit past resolutions on terrorism and send them to the Presidency for immediate action.

”I want us to recall what happened in the 8th and 9th Senates. We discussed extensively how we can stem the tide of banditry and terrorism. We made far-reaching recommendations, and we asked the Executive arm of government to implement those resolutions.

“It is still relevant for us to insist that those resolutions should be implemented, if we do so, it will reduce the incidences of banditry and insurgency in the country. We can reduce it to the barest minimum.”

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