Day: June 21, 2023

More than 20 people arrested in Uganda in connection with Friday’s school massacre have been accused of collaborating with the rebel group blamed for carrying out the killings.

Among those held are the school’s director and headteacher.

Officials say there may have been a dispute over the ownership of the school where the 42 people died.

The army say Daesh-linked militants were behind the attack, but other motives are being investigated.

They belong to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a group created in the 1990s and took up arms against President Yoweri Museveni, alleging persecution of Muslims. It is now largely based in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.

The arrests raise difficult questions about whether locals, and those responsible for the children, had a hand in what happened.

Thirty-seven pupils were among those killed, when, late on Friday, attackers stormed Lhubiriha Secondary School in the small town of Mpondwe, close to the border with DR Congo.

The victims, many of them staying in dormitories, were burnt or hacked to death, and some were reportedly shot.

Eight people were also abducted. On Tuesday, the authorities said that three – one woman and two boys – had been rescued by the army as they targeted the assailants, killing two of them.

In the immediate aftermath of the attack, army commander Maj Gen Dick Olum said the violence was a way for the ADF to distract his soldiers from their pursuit of the militants inside DR Congo.

According to military intelligence, it is suspected that five ADF militants took part in the attack.

The ADF, which is now linked to the Daesh group, has not yet said it was behind the attack though it has carried out attacks in Uganda in the past.

While blaming “the terrorists of ADF” for what happened, President Museveni has also talked, without elaborating, about “wrangles” over the school.

First Lady Janet Museveni, who also serves as education minister, said there had been a “conflict” between “groups in [the district of] Kasese who wanted to take it over” and the non-governmental organisation (NGO) that built it.

She pointed out that auditors from the NGO had been at the school the day before the attack, but said on Saturday that a proper investigation was under way.

Ugandan army spokesperson Brig Gen Felix Kulayigye said that along with school officials, two people accused of guiding the attackers “to avoid detection” in Mpondwe have also been detained

Source: Nam News Network

The National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) called for the release of journalist Zied El Héni after the Public Prosecutor decided on Tuesday to remand him in custody. El Héni was questioned by the unit against ICT communication crimes at the National Guard in El Aouina. The union said in a statement Wednesday the journalist's interrogation follows the interpretations and comments made on Radio IFM. He is accused of committing an offence against the President of the Republic, in accordance with Article 67 of the Penal Code,' the same source said. The SNJT called on all journalists and civil society activists to hold a rally in solidarity with Zied El Héni, adding that his lawyers did not attend the interrogation, claiming that he did not ask for a lawyer to be present. This is a clear violation of the provisions of Law No. 2016-5 on the right to the presence of a lawyer during detention, the SNJT said. The union said that El Héni's health was deteriorating, indicating a possible illness. His lawyer stressed the need for him to undergo a medical examination. The SNJT expressed its full solidarity with the journalist and condemned what it described as a "flagrant violation" of Law No. 2016-5 of 16 February 2016 amending and supplementing certain provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which in particular guarantees the right to be assisted by a lawyer during questioning.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

As part of his working visit to Budapest, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad, Nabil Ammar, held talks with Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Péter Szijjártó. The meeting was followed by an extended working session attended by delegations from both countries in the framework of the work of the 5th session of the Tunisian-Hungarian Joint Economic Commission, held for the first time at the level of the foreign ministers of the two countries. During the meeting, the two sides reviewed bilateral relations, their prospects and ways to develop them in priority areas for both countries, as well as regional and international issues of common interest, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The two Ministers highlighted the richness and diversity of areas of cooperation, particularly in agriculture, water management, ICT, the green economy, tourism, higher education and scientific research. On this occasion, they reaffirmed their desire to further develop bilateral relations, given the promising opportunities for cooperation and the mutual trust and interests that exist between the two countries. Nabil Ammar stressed the willingness of the Hungarian authorities to support Tunisia in its efforts to cope with the effects of the global food and energy crisis, climate change and its negative impact on the Tunisian economy. He welcomed the "positive response" of the Hungarian authorities to the possibility of recruiting qualified Tunisian workers in Hungarian economic sectors suffering from labour shortages, within an organised framework whose mechanisms will be defined by experts from both countries. The two ministers also expressed their common desire to establish fruitful cooperation in the fields of rail transport and mining. The work of the Fifth Tunisian-Hungarian Joint Economic Commission led to the signing of two memoranda of understanding on cooperation in the fields of agriculture and archives. For his part, the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade took the opportunity to respond positively to the Tunisian proposal to increase the number of scholarships for Tunisian students from 200 to 250 from the start of the next academic year. The two ministers also held a press conference to review the results of the fifth meeting of the Joint Economic Commission and the position of the two countries on certain issues of common interest.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

A driver and one passenger died on Tuesday night in a train derailment in Msaken, Sousse. Thirty-four other passengers sustained injuries, said Communications Director and spokesperson of the Tunisian National Railways Company (French: SNCFT) Hassen Miaadi. The injured were to taken to the hospitals of Msaken, Sahloul and Farhat Hachad, Miaadi Wednesday told TAP correspondent in Sousse. They are in a stable condition. Six among the injured are still hospitalised in Farhat Hachad and Sahloul facilities. Three buses operated by transport company Société de transport du Sahel (STS) were made available to carry passengers bound for Gabès, El Jem and Sfax. Investigations are underway to identify the causes of the accident.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse