In Syria, thousands of troops are assaulting the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour where the government claims 120 of its soldiers and police were killed last week. Leaving aside exactly how they died, the government in Damascus is making it lethally clear that in future its opponents, peaceful opponents or not, will be treated as if they were armed gunmen. An extraordinary aspect of the Syrian uprisings is that people go on Read more…
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Posts Tagged ‘civil war’
Boko Haram’s Rise in Nigeria Sparks Civil War Fears
January 22, 2012
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Photo: Reuters
A survivor of a bomb attack rests at a hospital bed in Nigeria’s northern city of Kano, January 21, 2012.
Friday’s deadly bomb attacks in Nigeria’s second largest city, Kano, are the latest in a series of spectacular strikes by the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram. The coordinated series of assaults on police stations and other government offices killed at least 200 people. The rise of Boko Haram is sparking concerns that Africa’s most populous country may be edging closer to civil war.
Nigeria’s Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka predicted it; political analysts are regularly asked about it; and the Kano attacks prompted the Leadership newspaper to run as its weekend edition headline, “Finally, Boko Haram Launches War.”
The radical Islamist Boko Haram has made headlines with increasing frequency lately for a series of audacious terrorist strikes. Among them, a Christmas Day bomb blast that Read more…
Categories: Nigeria
Christian persecution, christians, civil war, Muslims, Nigeria, radical Islamists
Hopes for democracy fade as civil wars grip the Arab world
June 13, 2011
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A Syrian soldier on a military bus near Jisr al-Shughour, where authorities said 120 soldiers and police were killed
The Arab awakening is turning into the Arab nightmare. Instead of ushering in democracy, the uprisings in at least three Arab states are fast becoming vicious civil wars. In the past 10 days, crucial developments in Syria, Libya and Yemen have set these countries spiralling into violent and intractable struggles for power.
Categories: Middle East
Ali Abdullah Saleh, Bahrain, censorship, civil war, Egypt, Libya, middle east, protests, Saudi Arabia, Sunni, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen
Yemen’s President Saleh ‘wounded in palace attack’
June 3, 2011
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Four of his guards were killed and the speaker of the parliament was in a critical condition after shells hit a mosque in the compound. The prime minister was also reportedly injured in the attacks as street fighting between President Saleh’s forces and a tribal federation widened on Friday in the capital Sana’a.
Opposition television claimed President Saleh was killed after the attack but the reports appeared to be false. A Yemeni party official later said President Saleh was “fine”, and will hold a news conference later today.
The attack was blamed by the authoritites on dissident tribesmen loyal to Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar, who have been Read more…
Categories: Protests, Yemen
Ali Abdullah Saleh, Change Square, civil war, protests, Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar, Yemen
Egypt and Tunisia: risk of civil war
May 10, 2011
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The deadly clashes between Muslims and Christians in Cairo, in Egypt and unrest in Tunis region, spark fears of renewed sectarian violence in Egypt, and insecurity in Tunisia. In Egypt, a religious leader warns against a “civil war”, while police is accused of inaction.
- The Egyptian government has promised to use all available legislative arsenals to prevent further clashes after those in the neighbourhood of Imbaba Saturday night having made 12 dead and 232 wounded.
- On Monday, the press was concerned about an expansion of violence: “The fire of religious fanaticism threatens Egypt,” headlined the daily Al-Ahram, while the independent Al-Masri al-Yom emphasized: “extremism burns the revolution.”
- Newspapers and the power blamed the “cons-revolutionaries” and “extremists” for the violence orchestrated by these followers of former President Hosni Mubarak ousted Feb. 11 by a popular revolt. The army has provided since the country’s leadership.
- Quoted by Al-Masri al-Yom, Mufti Ali Gomaa, one of the highest Muslim authorities in Egypt, has warned against “a possible Read more…
Ivory Coast Rebels Advance South, Closing in on Abidjan and Key Cocoa Port
March 30, 2011
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Troops loyal to Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognized winner of November’s presidential election in Ivory Coast, moved closer to Abidjan and a key cocoa-exporting port, adding to pressure on embattled incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo.
The Republican Forces seized at least five towns this week and moved to within 240 kilometers (149 miles) of Abidjan, the commercial capital, after taking the eastern town of Abengourou yesterday, said Meite Sindou, spokesman for Ouattara’s prime minister and defense minister, Guillaume Soro.
“It seems the security forces of Laurent Gbagbo refused to fight when the rebels entered the town,” said Modeste Kouao, a resident of Abengourou.
Until now, the loyalty of the army and police has proved key to Gbagbo’s ability to retain control of much of the world’s top cocoa producer. He refuses to hand power to Ouattara, alleging electoral fraud in the election on Nov. 28.
“Militarily, Gbagbo is weak,” said Rinaldo Depagne, a Dakar-based analyst for International Crisis Group. “If he wants to stay, he’s got to put all the forces he has in Abidjan and he’s got to try to stop the progression of rebels inside Abidjan. Inside the army you’ve got mass Read more…
Categories: Ivory Coast
Abengourou, Abidjan, civil war, cocoa, Daloa, Duekoue, Guiglo, ivory coast, United Nations
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