Resistance Factions Arrive to Hama to Back Syrian Army: Exclusive

By Al Mayadeen English

2 Dec 2024 23:47

A source from the Resistance factions confirmed to Al Mayadeen that reinforcements from the Syrian Army's allies in the Axis of Resistance have arrived to join the Syrian Army in the fight against the terrorist militants.

A source from the Axis of Resistance's factions told Al Mayadeen that reinforcements from the Syrian Army's allies in the Axis of Resistance have reached the frontlines north and east of Hama, extending to the southern frontlines of Aleppo Governorate.

The source explained on Monday that reinforcements, both in terms of equipment and personnel, will be arriving gradually to support the Syrian Army in countering the terrorist assault currently being waged against Syria.

A source from the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Iran stated to Al Mayadeen that the recent terrorist attack on Syria has prompted the return of Iranian military advisors to the country. These advisors had previously left when the political process in Syria began to progress years ago.

The source confirmed that the disruption of the political process, along with the use of terrorism against Damascus, made it essential for Iranian military advisors to return to Syria. This move is important given the numerous military support agreements between Syria and Iran that have been reached in recent years.

SDF making moves

A field source from the Syrian Army's allies in the Axis of Resistance in Deir Ezzor, eastern Syria, told Al Mayadeen that they had detected movements by militants from the Deir Ezzor Military Group, affiliated with the SDF and backed by the US. The militants are reportedly preparing to open a new front against the Syrian army in the seven villages east of the Euphrates River in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor.

The source confirmed that the Syrian army has heightened its combat readiness in the region and will respond decisively and forcefully to any attempt to attack its positions in the Deir Ezzor countryside and eastern Syria.

The source also confirmed that the Syrian Army's allies in the Axis of Resistance are prepared to assist in targeting the movements of the Deir Ezzor Military Council militants and will confront any actions by its members on the Deir Ezzor fronts with firm and decisive force.

This comes as the Syrian army continues to confront terrorist militants. The Syrian Army emphasized Monday its units' readiness and determination to continue their operations and confront terrorist groups to expel them from the north of the country.

A statement issued by the General Command of the Syrian Army and Armed Forces on Monday indicated that in 24 hours, operations continued in cooperation with the Russian forces, carrying out focused air, missile, and artillery strikes on terrorist positions, their warehouses, supply lines, and movement corridors in the rural areas of Aleppo and Idlib.

The statement confirmed that the precise strikes carried out by the Syrian Armed Forces, in cooperation with Russian forces, destroyed five command centers, and seven ammunition and weapon storage sites, some of which contained drones, in 24 hours.

Additionally, more than 400 terrorists, including individuals of various foreign nationalities, were eliminated in the past hours in the rural areas of Aleppo and Idlib.

The statement also highlighted taking action on several fronts in the countryside of Aleppo, Hama, and Idlib to encircle and expel terrorists from areas they had entered, securing them fully, and establishing new positions in preparation for the next offensive. These movements are taking place alongside the continued arrival of further military reinforcements to the conflict zones.

Syrian Army Advances in Aleppo Countryside, as Terror Lines Collapse

By Al Mayadeen English

Sources have also reported the spotting of Ukrainian militants among terrorists in Aleppo.

The lines of terrorist organizations, which took over several towns in Syria, are "dramatically collapsing," in the countrysides of Aleppo and Hama, Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported. 

A counteroffensive led by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) on the road linking the towns of Khanaser, in the eastern countryside of Aleppo, to the town of Ithriyah in the northern outskirts of Hama's countryside, is achieving great success. 

The towns, nearly 50 km apart, link the two governorates and the extermination of terrorists in the area will allow for a deeper advance of SAA and allied forces into the southern countryside of Aleppo. 

According to our correspondent, the SAA, early on Tuesday, has begun its advance into the town of al-Safeera, which is 35 km north of al-Khanaser and around 20 km to the southeast of Aleppo City. 

Al Mayadeen's correspondent also reported, citing informed sources in Aleppo, that Ukranian militants have been spotted in the city alongside terrorists. 

The terror offensive launched by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and other insurgent groups, including the Turkish-backed National Army, has been accompanied by accusations of foreign powers providing support, with claims of Ukrainian and Turkish backing fueling the escalation.

Particularly, Ukraine has been accused of providing HTS terrorists with FPV drones and other explosive drones, as well as the know-how to conduct coordinated assaults between ground forces and drone operators. 

Meanwhile, the Syrian government continues to rally regional and international support against the onslaught. Moreover, Resistance factions and other allies continue to provide the Syrian government with personnel and equipment to thwart the goals of terrorists and their backers.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Intend to Deploy Toxic Materials in Aleppo, Idlib

By Al Mayadeen English

2 Dec 2024 22:23

Russia's RIA NOVOSTI agency reported on a dangerous operation that terrorists are planning to execute in Syria using toxic material.

A reliable Syrian source informed RIA Novosti that militants from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra, are preparing to use toxic substances in Syria's Idlib and Aleppo provinces.

An informed source revealed that militants from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham have transferred several cylinders containing toxic gases from a stronghold of the Turkistan Islamic Party near Jisr al-Shughur to southern Idlib and other areas in western Aleppo.

The terrorists carried out this action using ambulances belonging to the White Helmets organization.

In October, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service reported that Western intelligence agencies were preparing a simulation involving the use of toxic substances in Syria’s Idlib province, intending to accuse the Syrian army and Russian military forces stationed in the Russian industrial zone.

Following that, the plan was to launch a campaign aimed at discrediting Damascus and Moscow at the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

Subsequently, Captain Oleg Ignasy, Deputy Head of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in Syria, confirmed that the terrorists of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham were planning to carry out the attack.

In June last year, Jabhat Al-Nusra terrorists transported 20 containers containing unknown, potentially toxic materials from one of the terror group's headquarters on the Western flank of Jisr Al-Shughur in the Idlib southwestern countryside.

British militants in Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, the rebranded version of the terrorist Jabhat Al-Nusra, arrived at a refrigeration facility used to store foodstuffs to be used out-of-season, taking tightly sealed metal containers out of the facility after they had been stored there for six months.

Local sources told Russian news agency Sputnik at the time that the nature of the containers, their shape, and their mode of transport all indicate that they are used to store toxic material and potentially poisonous gas.

According to the sources, this same shipment was stored in the storage facility in the winter.

Al Mayadeen Obtains Fatah-Hamas MoU on Civil Affairs in Gaza

By Al Mayadeen English

Talks in Cairo led to an agreement detailing the work of a Palestinian committee that will govern civilian affairs in the Gaza Strip.

Al Mayadeen has obtained the final document of an agreement signed between the leading Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas, during talks in Cairo, Egypt. 

The document outlined the work of a committee responsible for the governance of civil affairs in the Gaza Strip. According to the agreement, the "Community Support Committee in the Gaza Strip" will be in charge of civil affairs in the besieged territory, under the supervision of the Palestinian government. 

The committee's structure, jurisdiction

As per the document, the committee will be subordinate to the Palestinian political leadership in the West Bank, al-Quds, and the Gaza Strip, meaning that the Gaza Strip will not be cut off from other Palestinian territories in the future. 

The parties also agreed that the committee will be comprised of 10 to 15 members, including independent and specialized Palestinian individuals. 

Moreover, the committee will be responsible for governing all civil affairs in the Gaza Strip, while advancing the interests of Palestinian citizens in all fields. 

In detail, the committee's authority will rest with the Palestinian government and the supervisory bodies affiliated with the Palestinian Authority, and it will be granted the necessary powers to carry out its mission.

According to the document obtained by Al Mayadeen, the committee will take up its responsibilities following a meeting that includes all Palestinian political factions, in Cairo, where a final agreement will be signed to appoint its members. 

The committee will also implement the mechanisms previously employed to manage the Gaza Strip's crossings into Israeli-occupied territories, which were in effect prior to October 2023.

Positive talks result in substantial breakthroughs

Earlier, a senior Palestinian official told Al Mayadeen that talks in Cairo have resulted in positive progress. According to the official, the committee to govern the Gaza Strip after the Israeli war will be composed of experts in government and administrative affairs, with members drawn from within Gaza. The official also confirmed that the Palestinian government in Ramallah will oversee the committee’s operations.

Both Hamas and Fatah have agreed that the committee will remain professional and independent, excluding members from either faction, the senior official maintained, highlighting that several Arab countries have offered support to help establish the governing body for Gaza.

Recent talks between Palestinian factions have made significant strides toward unity, paving the way for agreements that could establish a unified governance of Palestinian territories. Multiple countries, including China and Egypt, have been involved in mediating such talks. 

In July, Palestinian factions met in Beijing to discuss efforts to end national division and launch a process for reconciliation between major political parties. 

The meetings saw the participation of 14 Palestinian factions, including Fatah, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Al Mayadeen obtained a copy of the Beijing Declaration in which the participants promised to "end the Palestinian national division," and to "unify national efforts to confront the [Israeli] aggression and stop the genocide."

Hezbollah Fires Warning Strike in Response to Israeli Violations

By Al Mayadeen English

2 Dec 2024 18:09

After dozens of Israeli violations against the ceasefire with Lebanon, which took effect on November 27, the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon carried out a preliminary defensive response to warn the occupation against any further violations.

The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon announced Monday that it carried out a preliminary defensive response to repeated Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement that took effect at dawn on November 27, 2024. 

Hezbollah targeted the Israeli-occupied Ruwaysat al-Alam site in the Kfar Chouba hills, in southern Lebanon.

The Resistance said in its statement that it conducted the operation in response to the violations, "which have included various forms of aggression, such as firing on civilians and conducting airstrikes in different areas of Lebanon—resulting in the martyrdom of civilians and injuries to others—and the continued breach of Lebanese airspace by enemy aircraft, even reaching the capital Beirut." 

Hezbollah said the operation was an "initial defensive and warning response", concluding its statement by saying, "You have been warned".

'Israel's' latest violations on Monday

In the latest set of blatant violations Israeli warplanes launched an aggression on Lebanon, targeting the towns of Haris, Jiba', Wadi Gaza, al-Khraybeh, al-Khiyam, Rashaya al-Fukhar, Yaroun, and the outskirts of the town of Shebaa. 

As a result of these strikes, 10 individuals were martyred, according to preliminary reports, Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported. 

In Talousa, four people were martyred and one person was injured, in an Israeli strike. 

Five people were also killed in the town of Haris in southern Lebanon and two others were injured as a result of an Israeli strike that targeted the town. 

Israeli military drones also breached Lebanese airspace, flying over multiple areas, including the capital Beirut, and its southern suburbs. 

Earlier today, the Israeli occupation violated the ceasefire agreement with Lebanon by targeting southern border villages, as well as areas in the Bekaa Valley.

In its latest breach, the Israeli occupation military carried out Monday a drone strike on a bulldozer operating near a Lebanese Army post in the village of Hosh al-Sayyed Ali, north of the Hermel district, wounding a Lebanese soldier.

The Lebanese Army announced on X that an Israeli drone targeted a bulldozer belonging to the army while it was conducting fortification work inside the military post of al-Abbara in the area of Hosh al-Sayyed Ali, resulting in moderate injuries to one soldier.

Later, the Lebanese General Directorate of State Security announced that an [Israeli] enemy drone targeted one of its members, Mahdi Khreis, in a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement.

The drone struck Corporal Khreis with a guided missile while he was performing his national duty, resulting in his martyrdom, it added, calling the attack "a serious escalation and a flagrant violation of Lebanese sovereignty."

In the South, the Israeli occupation forces fired bursts of machine guns toward homes in the town of al-Naqoura, coinciding with the flight of reconnaissance aircraft over villages in the Tyre district. The occupation forces also launched four artillery shells toward al-Khiam, with one hitting a chalet in the area between Marj'youn Plain and al-Khiam, according to Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA).

Hezbollah Strikes Back – Resistance Roundup – Day 423

December 2, 2024

Hezbollah responded to Israeli violations of the ceasefire deal. (Photo: video grab)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

In its statement, the group cited repeated Israeli violations, “which have included various forms of aggression, such as firing on civilians and conducting airstrikes in different areas of Lebanon”.

The Lebanese movement Hezbollah announced on Monday that it had carried out an initial defensive operation in response to ongoing Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement, which came into effect at dawn on November 27, 2024.

Hezbollah stated that it targeted the Israeli-occupied Ruwaysat Al-Alam site in the Kfar Chouba hills in south Lebanon.

In its statement, the group cited repeated Israeli violations, “which have included various forms of aggression, such as firing on civilians and conducting airstrikes in different areas of Lebanon—resulting in the martyrdom of civilians and injuries to others—and the continued breach of Lebanese airspace by enemy aircraft, even reaching the capital Beirut.”

The Resistance described the operation as an “initial defensive and warning response” and concluded with the warning: “You have been warned.”

Earlier in the day, the Israeli military violated the ceasefire agreement by launching attacks on southern border villages and areas in the Bekaa Valley.

One incident involved a drone strike targeting a bulldozer near a Lebanese Army post in the village of Hosh Al-Sayyed Ali, located north of the Hermel district. The Lebanese Army reported on X that the Israeli drone struck the bulldozer during fortification work inside the Al-Abbara military post, injuring a soldier moderately.

Additionally, the Lebanese General Directorate of State Security announced that an Israeli drone attack killed one of its members, Mahdi Khreis. 

The statement condemned the strike as a “serious escalation and a flagrant violation of Lebanese sovereignty,” explaining that the drone targeted Khreis with a guided missile while he was performing his national duties, resulting in his martyrdom.

In south Lebanon, Israeli forces also fired machine guns at homes in Al-Naqoura, while reconnaissance aircraft flew over villages in the Tyre district. According to the National News Agency (NNA), the Israeli military launched four artillery shells at Al-Khiam, one of which struck a chalet in the area between Marj’youn Plain and Al-Khiam.

Below are the latest statements by the main Resistance force in Gaza, and the Lebanese Resistance Movement Hezbollah. 

The statements were communicated via their Telegram channels and are published here in their original form. 

“Al-Qassam Brigades target enemy sites in the settlements of Nirim and Third Eye with a number of 114mm Rajoom rockets.”

Hezbollah

“In response to the repeated violations committed by the Israeli enemy against the ceasefire agreement, which officially went into effect at dawn on Wednesday, November 27, 2024, and given the various forms these violations have taken—including firing on civilians, conducting airstrikes in different areas of Lebanon resulting in the martyrdom of civilians and injuries to others, and the continued breach of Lebanese airspace by Israeli warplanes, reaching as far as the capital, Beirut—and since attempts to address these violations with the concerned parties have proven unsuccessful, the Islamic Resistance carried out a preliminary defensive warning response on the evening of Monday. 

“The operation targeted the Ruweisat Al-Alam site, which belongs to the Israeli enemy’s military in the occupied Lebanese Kfar Shuba hills.”

(The Palestine Chronicle)

Who is Palestinian Authority President Successor Rawhi Fattouh – Profile

December 2, 2024

Palestinian Authority President Successor Rawhi Fattouh. (Photo: via WAFA)

By Robert Inlakesh

Unlike what happened following Yasser Arafat’s death, it appears somewhat unlikely that a Presidential election would be held within the allotted span of time that is mandated by the PA’s Constitution.

The President of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Mahmoud Abbas, has selected a successor to run an interim administration in the event of his death or he is forced to step down from the role he occupies due to health reasons. The man he has picked for the job is Rawhi Fattouh.

Rawhi Ahmed Muhammad Fattouh, otherwise known as Abu Wissam, was born on August 23, 1949, and spent the earliest years of his life in the Rafah refugee camp near the southernmost city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. 

However, his family originated from the village of Barqa, located north of Gaza, which was ethnically cleansed by Israel in their infamous “Operation Barak” in 1948.

Fattouh attended a school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) during primary school, before later attending another school in the Egyptian city of al-Arish where his family had moved.

Eventually, after the initiation of the 1967 war – in which Israel launched a surprise attack on Egypt and illegally occupied the Sinai Peninsula – his family then moved once again to the city of Zarqa, in Jordan, where he would complete his high-school diploma.

The future Palestinian Authority official studied English Literature and graduated in 1979 from the University of Damascus in Syria, he would much later go on to complete a Masters degree in political science in 2002.

He began his involvement with the Fatah Party, led by Yasser Arafat, only a year after moving to Jordan, in 1968, and joined the group’s mainstream armed wing known as al-Asifah. He later moved with Fatah’s forces and received training in Jordan, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.

Fattouh’s political career started with Fatah’s Syria Region branch, for which he served as a Secretary of the Organization, as well as heading Fatah Student Movement branches in Syria. 

He eventually became a member of the Executive Body of the Union of Palestinian Students and in 1989 was elected as a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council at the Fifth General Conference.

In 1996, Fattouh was first elected as a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) for the Rafah Governorate District, in 2003 he became the PA’s Minister of Agriculture and in 2004, the Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council.

In 2004 he also became the President of the Palestinian Authority for the period of 60 days, as he was selected by Yasser Arafat to fill his position for this interim period in the event of his death. He was succeeded by Mahmoud Abbas, who was then elected as PA President.

PA President Abbas has now made the same decision and made Rawhi Fattouh his successor in the event of his death or he bows out of the position due to illness.

However, unlike what happened following Yasser Arafat’s death, it appears somewhat unlikely that a Presidential election would be held within the allotted span of time that is mandated by the PA’s Constitution.

There has not been a Palestinian Authority Presidential election in nearly 20 years, as Mahmoud Abbas had chosen to block all previous attempts to go to new elections. This decision has been argued to have come due to Israel blocking the PA’s ability to allow for ballots to exist in East Jerusalem, despite experts arguing that this is no longer an issue that cannot be solved.

During his 20-year rule, Mahmoud Abbas has assumed de facto control of the judiciary, security, intelligence, and just about all elements of the Palestinian Authority, receiving US, EU, and Israeli backing throughout his term to maintain the status quo. This has created what has been argued to be a quasi-dictatorship which has been set up and maintains limited control over areas A and B in the occupied West Bank.

While Fattouh will be a name change, he will also struggle to remedy the popular view in the West Bank that the PA is a corrupt institution, especially due to the fact that in the late 2000’s he was found to have been smuggling thousands of mobile phones into the territory from Jordan, using his Israeli granted “VIP pass”. 

Even if Fattouh manages to improve the image of the PA, he will be caught in the middle of a power struggle between various elements of the PA’s ruling Fatah Party, who will be vying for political power and/or moves to be taken towards reform.

(The Palestine Chronicle)

– Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. He focuses on the Middle East, specializing in Palestine. He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle.

Drone Strikes by Mali’s Military Regime Kill 8 Tuareg Leaders in the Country’s North

By BABA AHMED

9:29 PM EST, December 1, 2024

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Drone strikes by Mali’s military regime killed eight Tuareg rebel leaders in the town of Tinzaouatine in the north of the country, a rebel spokesman said Sunday. It was the first time since the start of the rebellion in 2012 that so many Taureg leaders have been killed in a single attack.

“Several synchronized drone strikes martyred some Azawad leader on December 1, 2024 in Tinzaouatine, near the Algerian border,” spokesman Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane said in a statement.

Azawad is the term used by the separatists for northern Mali. The statement from the separatists lists the names of eight Tuareg chiefs, the best known of whom is Fahad Ag Al Mahmoud, Secretary General of the Gatia, a Tuareg armed group.

Later Sunday evening, the General Staff of the Malian armed forces confirmed the deaths of the rebel leaders, whom it described as terrorists, “in a special operation.” The military statement was broadcast on Malian national television channel ORTM.

“Clearly this is a major loss to northern Malian groups since among the victims there are key leaders who have been influential in their communities,” said Rida Lyammouri, senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, a Moroccan think tank. “However, it will further intensify the anti sentiment toward Bamako, and the setback doesn’t mean the fight is over.

He said “the junta has demonstrated with these airstrikes that it is not afraid to use the air assets (drones) it acquired anytime it can.”

The attack by Mali’s military regime comes a day after the armed groups in the north announced they were merging into a single political-military entity, now called the Azawad Liberation Front. The new group’s mission is “the total liberation of Azawad and the formation of the Azawad Authority”, said Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, a spokesman for the groups, in a press release dated Nov. 30.

Islamic Rebels Kill at Least 10 People and Abduct Others in Attack in Eastern Congo, Authorities Say

By JEAN-YVES KAMALE

12:20 PM EST, December 2, 2024

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — At least 10 people were killed and an unspecified number of others were abducted in eastern Congo by extremist rebels linked to the Islamic State group, a military spokesperson said Monday.

The rebels with the Allied Democratic Forces, an IS-affiliate in the region, attacked the area of Batangi-Mbau the North Kivu province on Sunday night, according to the spokesperson, Mak Hazukay. Several houses were burned down in the attack, he added.

“We call on the population to be vigilant and we assure them that we will drive the enemy out of our territory,” Hazukay said.

Eastern Congo has struggled with armed violence for decades as more than 120 groups fight for power, land and valuable mineral resources, while others try to defend their communities. Some armed groups have been accused of mass killings.

The violence has sent nearly 7 million people fleeing their homes.

In recent years, attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces have intensified and spread towards Goma, eastern Congo’s main city, as well as neighboring Ituri province. Rights groups and the United Nations have accused the ADF of killing hundreds of people and abducting even more, including a significant number of children.

Earlier this month, the ADF killed at least 13 people in another village in North Kivu.

Left Behind in Kenya, Children of British Soldiers Struggle to Find Their Identity

By DESMOND TIRO

12:00 AM EST, December 1, 2024

NANYUKI, Kenya (AP) — Margaret Wandia became pregnant after a week-long relationship with a British soldier training near her community in Kenya. They met while she worked at a bar in her early 20s. She knew little about him. He left her with a biracial child.

Now that son is 26, and he is part of an effort by a Kenyan lawyer to take a number of such children to Britain. The goal is to confront authorities over hundreds of such cases reported over the years, and to find the fathers and seek their support.

It is a long shot after years of attempts by human rights groups to hold the British military and its personnel accountable for their actions during weeks of training in Kenya — including alleged rapes — and the children they leave behind.

The countries’ $44 million defense cooperation agreement was renewed in 2021. It allows up to 10,000 British forces to train for eight weeks in Kenya every year. Kenya’s biracial children are part of broader concerns about the British mission, notably the persistent allegations of rape of local girls and women.

Like many biracial children in largely conservative Kenya, Wandia’s son, Louise Gitonga, said he has felt excluded by society and left out of education and employment opportunities for being “too white.”

“I have an identity crisis that has driven me to alcoholism,” the unemployed Gitonga told The Associated Press at his home in the central town of Nanyuki. “Everywhere I pass, people call me a white man. Others call me an albino. These names cause me a great deal of pain and hurt.”

His mother recalled taking him to boarding school and being asked to pay higher fees for her white child. She later married a local farmer, Paul Wachira, who acknowledged the challenges of raising a biracial child.

“At times, I had to hide him from the rest of the family during gatherings to avoid many questions, as he looked very different from his siblings,” Wachira said.

Kenyan lawyer Kelvin Kubai represents 10 such children of visiting British forces. He asserted that not all of their parents’ relationships were consensual. In collaboration with a British law firm he declined to name, he hopes to take some of the children to Britain next year and go to court.

“You know, such children do not know the circumstances under which they were born,” Kubai said.

He hopes they’ll obtain citizenship. According to British law, children born to British citizens are eligible for British citizenship and care of both parents if they are below 18. Seven of the children Kubai represents are under 18. For those older than 18, the trip is a quest for identity and support.

Kubai is also raising money — $4,600 so far — to conduct DNA testing to help find the children’s fathers.

The identity crisis affects children born to white fathers. Kubai said he has yet to come across children of Black British fathers. “They would not be easy to spot and not face discrimination,” he said.

A British High Commission spokesperson in a statement to the AP said it and the British military training mission in Kenya “cooperate fully with local child support authorities where there are claims relating to paternity.” Those authorities didn’t respond to questions.

But Kenyan mothers and civil society groups have long said British authorities have been little or no help.

Jenerica Namoru, 29, has a 5-year-old after dating a British man with the training mission. The man’s name appears on the birth certificate as the father after he consented and shared his documentation for the process.

Namoru said the man initially accepted the child and communicated with her but refused to send financial support. She sought help at the British Army Training Unit Kenya offices. She said they wouldn’t listen.

“At times, they even blocked me from entering the gate,” she said. She’s now being represented by Kubai.

Biracial children in the area around the British training site date back to the 1960s when Kenya was under British rule. Those born decades ago are also part of current efforts to seek justice and support.

David Mwangi Macharia, 68, bears the nickname “British” due to his light skin color. He said his mother had a relationship with a British soldier. He works as a night guard and part-time mason after dropping out of primary school due to being ridiculed and discriminated against.

“(Kenyans) always think that I cannot do menial jobs despite the fact that I am not educated,” Macharia said. He has even found it difficult to get along with his darker-skinned siblings.

Attempts to hold visiting British forces accountable have long gained little traction, Kenyans say.

Marion Mutugi, a commissioner with the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, said the relationships between British soldiers and local women range from consensual to transactional to forced.

The commission says it has documented over 200 rape cases involving British troops between 1983 and 2003, and it continues to collect data.

Britain’s defense ministry dismissed the rape cases as “not genuine,” and an investigation by the Royal Military Police in 2007 did not lead to compensation or justice for the victims, the KNCHR said in a report to Kenya’s parliament protesting a past renewal of the countries’ defense agreement.

“(Authorities) also interfere with investigations by compromising the local community. The human rights defenders on the ground are threatened and intimidated by both the BATUK and the Kenyan forces and Kenyan officials to ensure that justice is not reached,” Mutugi said.

“Our take at the commission was that they wanted to put a Band-Aid on a wound instead of lacerating, dealing with it and operating on it,” the commissioner added.

The British High Commission has said it was looking into the allegations. Kenyan authorities have never responded to the allegations.

The most well-known case is that of Agnes Wanjiru, was killed in 2012 after an evening in the company of British soldiers. An inquest in 2019 concluded that Wanjiru was murdered by British soldiers but no suspect has been charged. A public hearing by the Kenyan parliament’s defense committee, which started in May, has revived investigations.

Kubai said he hopes to provide Kenyan children of British soldiers a much-needed sense of identity.

“What we are bringing in the UK court is not just the issue of rape, it is the issue of these children who happen to be prisoners of an identity they did not chose for themselves,” he said.

___

For more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulse

Belgian Court Rules Against State in a Landmark Case Addressing its Colonial Past

By RAF CASERT

10:48 AM EST, December 2, 2024

BRUSSELS (AP) — A Brussels appeals court ruled on Monday that the Belgian state committed a crime against humanity in the case of five mixed-race women who were taken away from their Black mothers in infancy in a landmark case addressing the nation’s colonial past in Africa.

The five women fought a legal battle over some some six years to make Belgium recognize responsibility for the suffering of thousands of mixed-race children. Known as “métis,” the children were snatched away from families and placed in religious institutions and homes by Belgian authorities that ruled Congo from 1908 to 1960.

A lower court had first dismissed their challenge in 2021 but they appealed.

“It is deliverance for my mother now that she finally has closure,” said Monique Fernandes, the daughter of Monique Bintu Bingi, one of the five plaintiffs. “She finally has it recognized as crime against humanity,” Fernandes told The Associated Press.

The initial ruling had said that the policy, even if unacceptable, was not “part of a generalized or systematic policy, deliberately destructive, which characterizes a crime against humanity” and had to be seen within its context of European colonialism.

Monday’s decision also orders the state to pay damages of some 50,000 euros to each of the plaintiffs and Fernandes said it would help cover all the costs involved. “We did not want to go for a moral symbolic euro since it would amount to some sort of insult after everything my mother went through,” she said.

The five women, who are now in their 70s and 80s, filed their lawsuit in 2020 amid growing demands for Belgium to reassess its colonial past in Congo, Rwanda and Burundi.

In the wake of protests against racial inequality in the United States, several statues of former King Leopold II, who is blamed for the deaths of millions of Africans during Belgium’s colonial rule, have been vandalized in Belgium, and some have been removed.

In 2019, the Belgian government apologized for the state’s role in taking thousands of babies from their African mothers. And for the first time in the country’s history, a reigning king expressed regret four years ago for the violence carried out by the former colonial power.

Lawyers said the five plaintiffs were all between the ages of 2 and 4 when they were taken away at the request of the Belgian colonial administration, in cooperation with local Catholic Church authorities.

According to legal documents, in all five cases the fathers did not exercise parental authority, and the Belgian administration threatened the girls’ Congolese families with reprisals if they refused to let them go.

According to the lawyers, the Belgian state’s strategy was aimed at preventing interracial unions and isolating métis children, known as the “children of shame,” to make sure they would not claim a link with Belgium later in their lives.

“The story always was: look, we have done so much good in Congo. But there is also such a dark history,” said Fernandes.

___

Associated Press writer Sam Petrequin in London contributed to this report.

Panic Among Spectators at Soccer Game Kills at Least 56 in the West African Nation of Guinea

4:02 PM EST, December 2, 2024

CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — Chaos erupted at a soccer game in Guinea after fans protested a referee’s call and thousands of panicked spectators tried to flee the stadium, leaving at least 56 people dead in the West African nation, officials and witnesses said Monday.

Amid the confusion, security forces used tear gas, local news website Media Guinea reported. Many of the dead were crushed as they tried to escape through the stadium gates, a journalist covering the game for a local sports website told The Associated Press.

“The gates, that’s where the stampede happened,” said Cissé Lancine, who got away by climbing over one of the stadium walls. “I was saved because I did not rush towards the exit.”

The world’s latest sports crowd disaster unfurled Sunday in the second-largest city in a military-run nation where information is sparse and government-controlled at the best of times. It was not immediately clear how much the death toll could grow.

AP correspondent Karen Chammas reports on a stampede at a soccer match in Guinea that killed dozens of people.

Lancine said between 20,000 and 30,000 people were present at the Third of April stadium to watch the local Labe and Nzerekore teams compete in the final of the first national tournament honoring military leader Mamadi Doumbouya.

Checkpoints were set up Monday throughout Nzerekore, a city of about 200,000 that was at a standstill as soldiers guarded the hospital where victims were being treated. Most shops were closed.

Video, apparently from the scene, showed shouting fans protesting the refereeing. People ran as they tried to escape the stadium, many of them jumping the high fence.

“Supporters threw stones. This is why the security services used tear gas,” reported Media Guinea, which also wrote that several of the dead were children and some of the injured were in critical condition.

The footage showed people lying on the floor of a hospital as members of a crowd helped the wounded.

Enock Loua, a resident of Nzerekore, learned over the phone that his niece Aline Olivier had been killed.

“We have a hard time realizing what happened to us, it is as if the sky has fallen on our heads,” Loua told The Associated Press.

Authorities are trying to establish who was responsible, Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah said on national television.

The National Alliance for Alternation and Democracy opposition coalition said the tournament was organized to drum up support for Doumbouya’s “illegal and inappropriate” political ambitions.

Doumbouya, who ousted then-President Alpha Conde in 2021, has been eyeing a possible run for the presidential election, for which the date has not been set. The transition charter put in place by his own regime does not allow him to run.

Guinea is one of a number of West African countries — including Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso — where the military has taken power and delayed a return to civilian rule.

Doumbouya said he was preventing the country from slipping into chaos and chastised the previous government for broken promises. He has, however, been criticized for not meeting the expectations that he raised.

Guinea’s leader announced three days of national mourning starting on Tuesday, in a presidential decree read on national television.

Yemen Strikes US Destroyer, Three Army Ships, in Top-tier Military Operations

By Al Mayadeen English

Source: Yemeni Military Media

1 Dec 2024 20:52

The Yemeni Armed Forces' drone and missile forces jointly strike US Army assets in the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden, in support of Palestine and in defense of Yemen.

In support of the Palestinian people and its Resistance, in response to the Israeli crimes in the gaza Strip, and in retaliation to the American-British aggression on Yemen, the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) announced on Sunday the targeting of one US destroyer and three US supply ships in the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden. 

Spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree confirmed in a statement that the Stena Impeccable, Maersk Saratoga, and Liberty Grace ships, belonging to the US Army, as well as an American destroyer, were targeted in a top-tier military operation carried out by the YAF's missile and drone forces. 

According to the statement, 16 ballistic missiles, one cruise missile, and one drone were used to carry out the multifaceted operation, achieving precise hits, in both the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden. 

Saree further affirmed that the Yemeni Armed Forces will continue executing their military operations at an escalating pace in the declared naval operational area against the Israeli and American enemies, further reiterating that they would not cease until the aggression on Gaza ends and the blockade is lifted. 

Earlier, the missile force of the Yemeni Armed Forces also carried out an operation targeting a vital site in the occupied Yafa region using a hypersonic missile of the Palestine 2 type, YAF spokesperson Saree announced on Sunday, confirming its success. 

‘Humanitarian Duty’ – Ansarallah Announces New Operation Targeting Tel Aviv

December 1, 2024

Yahya Saree, the military spokesman for Yemen's Ansarallah. (Photo: video grab)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

The Ansarallah movement, affiliated with the Yemeni Armed Forces, announced on Sunday that it had launched a ballistic missile targeting a “vital site” in central Israel.  

Ansarallah military spokesperson Yahya Saree stated that the hypersonic missile successfully struck its intended target. 

According to the statement, the operation was carried out “in support of the oppressed Palestinian people and its fighters, and in response to the crimes committed by the Israeli enemy against our brothers in the Gaza Strip”.

Saree warned of continued missile and drone attacks unless Israel halts its offensive in Gaza and lifts the ongoing siege.  

“The Yemeni Armed Forces, in light of the continued crimes of the enemy in the Gaza Strip, will escalate their military operations using missiles and drones as part of their religious, moral, and humanitarian duty to support the fighters in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank,” the statement said.

Earlier on Sunday, Israeli public broadcaster KAN claimed that a missile fired from Yemen had been intercepted by air defense systems.

The Israeli Army Radio also reported that four Israelis were slightly injured as they ran to shelters after sirens sounded in a number of areas in central Israel.

Ongoing Genocide

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza. 

Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7. 

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 44,382 Palestinians have been killed, and 105,142 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7, 2023.

Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip. 

Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’. 

Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children. 

 The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety. 

(The Palestine Chronicle)

Georgia’s Special Forces Push Protesters Away from Parliamentary Building in Tbilisi

Members of the law enforcement have demanded that the protesters disperse, sometimes using water cannons

© Mikhail Egikov/TASS

TBILISI, December 2. /TASS/. Special purpose units from Georgia’s Interior Ministry have been clearing the square in front of the parliamentary building in downtown Tbilisi, a TASS correspondent reported.

Members of the law enforcement have demanded that the protesters disperse, sometimes using water cannons.

Another anti-government rally was taking place in front of the Georgian parliament. Several thousand people took to the streets, demanding the government’s resignation and new parliamentary elections. The number of protesters has considerably diminished compared to previous days. A similar protest rally was held in Batumi.

A new wave of anti-government rallies began in Georgia on November 28, triggered by Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze saying that the ruling Georgian Dream — Democratic Georgia party had decided to postpone any talk about launching EU accession negotiations until late 2028 and decline any funding from the European Union. According to the premier, the decision comes after repeated attempts by the EU to blackmail Georgia with promises of launching the talks in exchange for Tbilisi revoking certain laws passed by the country’s parliament.

Kobakhidze’s statement was followed by protests in downtown Tbilisi. Protest rallies in front of the parliamentary building grew into clashes with the police who used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the protesters.

Protesters in Tbilisi Tossing Stones at Riot Police

The police are using pepper spays against the demonstrators

© Mikhail Yegikov/TASS

TBILISI, December 1. /TASS/. Protesters in downtown Tbilisi are tossing stones at riot police guarding the parliamentary building, a TASS correspondent reported from the site.

The police are using pepper spays against the demonstrators.

Another anti-government rally is being held near the parliamentary building in Tbilisi. Several thousand people have blocked traffic along Rustaveli Avenue in front of the building. They are demanding the government resignation and rerun parliamentary elections. According to the TASS correspondent, the rally is being attended by less people than in previous days.

Another wave of protests was sparked by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze's statement on November 28 when he said that the ruling Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia party had decided to postpone any talk about launching accession negotiations until late 2028 and decline any funding from the European Union. According to the premier, the decision comes after repeated attempts by the EU to blackmail Georgia with promises of launching the talks in exchange for Tbilisi revoking certain laws passed by the country’s parliament.

African Union Commission (AUC) and UNDP Partnership Recommit Ambition to Accelerating Africa's Progress

The parties agree to subscribe to the principle of One Framework, Two Agendas in delivering AU Agenda 2063, which is fully aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals

November 28, 2024

Addis-Ababa, 26 November 2024 – The African Union Commission and the United Nations Development Programme, represented by the Regional Bureau for Africa, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide a framework for cooperation and facilitate development activities. The MoU will foster the principle of ‘One Framework, Two Agendas’ within the existing coordination and planning mechanisms across the continent – including the Africa Regional Collaborative Platform, planning mechanisms of AU Member States for national and local authorities, and UN sustainable development cooperation frameworks in the Member States.  

H.E. Dr. Monique Nsanzabaganwa, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC) noted the MOU is a critical milestone enabling the AU, UNDP, and other UN entities to drive Africa towards collective progress. “We, therefore, look forward to UNDP pushing the sustainable development envelope within the framework of this MOU and enhancing synergies to ensure the integration of the two Agendas into subnational, national, regional and continental plans,” she added.

The three-year Memorandum details UNDP and AUC’s commitment to cooperating in areas of common interest by advancing bold Moonshots for inclusive growth, integration, and empowerment. With only six years left to meet the SDG targets, Africa is aligning its agenda with accelerated pathways. The renewed partnership between AUC and UNDP is a significant step towards aligning resources, expertise, and strategies to accelerate Africa’s development agenda. It will proceed within the AU-UN Framework to implement Agenda 2063 priorities and the UN’s Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development at the national and regional levels.

Ms. Ahunna Eziakonwa UN Assistant Secretary General and UNDP Regional Director for Africa said AUC and UNDP have transformed the Regional Collaborative Platform from simple information exchange sessions into a more structured, deliberate, and results-oriented partnership. 

“Over the past four years, UNDP has co-created initiatives and programmes with the African Union that exceed $100 million across our collaborative areas. We are proud to partner with Africa’s premier continental body to collectively realize the Africa we want and the continent that the world needs. Through efforts like the African Young Women Leaders Programme, the Africa Facility to Support Inclusive Transitions (AFSIT), and our support for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), we are proud to advance inclusive growth, regional integration, and empowerment.” She added.

Under the Memorandum, AUC and UNDP commit to harmonised mechanisms for domesticating, awareness creation, monitoring, reporting and delivering the Second Ten Year Implementation Plan (STYIP) of Agenda 2063 alongside the SDGs in support of all Stakeholders, including but not limited to Member States, development partners, private sector, Regional Economic Communities, citizens of African Union Member States, and civil society. AUC and UNDP also pledge to consult and keep each other informed of matters of common interest and review the progress of partnership implementation through various initiatives.

For more information and media enquiries

Ms. Faith Adhiambo | Communications Officer, Directorate of Information and Communication, African Union Commission OchiengJ@africa-union.org 

Ngele Ali – UNDP Regional Communications Advisor, Africa ngele.ali@undp.org 

France Fails in Africa After Chadian Snub

By David Lewis and John Irish

November 29, 20247:41 PM EST

Summary

France plans to reduce military presence in West Africa

Move irked Chad, which ended defence pact on Thursday

French drawdown comes as Russia and others gain ground

NAIROBI/GENEVA, Nov 29 (Reuters) - A French plan to significantly reduce its military presence in West and central Africa risks backfiring and further diminishing the former colonial power's influence in the region at a time when Russia is gaining ground.

A French envoy to President Emmanuel Macron this week handed in a report with proposals on how France could reduce its military presence in Chad, Gabon and Ivory Coast, where it has deployed troops for decades.

Details of the report have not been made public but two sources said the plan is to cut the number of troops to 600 from around 2,200 now. The sources said Chad would keep the largest contingent with 300 French troops, down from 1,000.

However, in a surprise move that caught French officials on the hop, the government of Chad - a key Western ally in the fight against Islamic militants in the region - on Thursday abruptly ended its defence cooperation pact with France. That could lead to French troops leaving the central African country altogether.

"For France it is the start of the end of their security engagement in central and Western Africa," said Ulf Laessing, director of the Sahel Programme at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Mali.

"Chad was the aircraft carrier of the French army, its logistical headquarters. If Chad doesn't exist, the French army will have a huge problem to keep running its other operations."

In a further blow to France, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye told French state TV on Thursday it was inappropriate for French troops to maintain a presence in his country, where 350 French soldiers are currently based.

France has already pulled its soldiers out from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, following military coups in those West African countries and spreading anti-French sentiment.

Paris is also shifting more attention to Europe with the war in Ukraine and increasing budgetary constraints, diplomats said.

The review envisions the remaining French soldiers in the region focusing on training, intelligence exchange and responding to requests from countries for help, depending on their needs, the sources said.

French soldiers stand at attention during a morning drill at the French military base in Chadian capital N'Djamena

French soldiers stand at attention during a morning drill at the French military base in Chadian capital N'Djamena, October 26, 2014. Picture taken October 26, 2014 REUTERS/Emma Farge/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

Chad's move to end the cooperation deal had not been discussed with Paris and shocked the French, according to the two sources and other officials.

France, which wants to keep a presence in Chad in part because of its work to help ease one of the world's worst humanitarian crises unfolding now in neighbouring Sudan, responded only 24 hours after Chad made its announcement.

"France takes note and intends to continue the dialogue to implement these orientations," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

One of the two sources, a French official with knowledge of Chadian affairs, said Chad's government appeared to have seen the French decision to more than halve its military presence there as a snub. Chad also felt the French would no longer be in a position to guarantee the security of the military regime led by President Mahamat Idriss Deby, this source said.

Macron had backed Deby despite criticism since Deby seized power following the death of his father, who ruled Chad for 30 years until he was killed in 2021 during an incursion by rebels. Deby won an election held this year.

In its statement on Thursday evening, released hours after the French foreign minister had visited the Sudanese border in eastern Chad with his counterpart, Chad's foreign ministry said N'djamena wanted to fully assert its sovereignty after more than six decades of independence from France.

It said the decision should in no way undermine the friendly relations between the two countries. Earlier this year, a small contingent of U.S. special forces left Chad amid a review of U.S. cooperation with the country.

The French drawdown, coupled with a U.S. pullback from Africa, contrasts with the increasing influence of Russia and other countries, including Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, on the continent. Russian mercenaries are helping prop up the military governments of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, and are also fighting alongside them against Islamist militants.

However, French officials and other sources played down Russia's ability to take advantage of the French setback in Chad, at least in the short term.

The French source familiar with Chadian affairs noted that Russia and Chad back rival factions in Sudan's war. Russia also has major military commitments in Syria and the war in Ukraine.

Reporting by David Lewis in Nairobi and John Irish in Geneva; Writing by Silvia Aloisi; Editing by Peter Graff and Richard Chang

France Admits Colonial 'Massacre', Says Senegal's Leader

Damian Zane

BBC News

An archive black-and-white archive shot of African troops being inspected by French officials. The Tirailleurs Senegalais, seen here at the end of the conflict, were sent to France ahead of an anticipated German invasion during World War Two. (Photo)

France has for the first time acknowledged that its soldiers carried out a "massacre" in Senegal in which dozens – perhaps hundreds – of West African troops were killed almost exactly 80 years ago, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has said.

Those who died were part of the Tirailleurs Senegalais unit, recruited at the start of World War Two to help defend France, the colonial power.

On returning to Senegal in 1944 many protested about their pay, historians say, which led to a brutal response.

The killings have been a point of contention between Senegal and France and their reported acknowledgement by Paris comes as Faye is talking about a reassessment of the countries’ relationship.

Those who joined the Tirailleurs Senegalais not only came from Senegal but also from across France’s African empire, including what is now Mali, Guinea, Niger, Benin and Chad.

They were sent to France and many were captured by Germany during its successful invasion of the country. Liberated in 1944, the soldiers were taken back to Senegal and housed in the Thiaroye military camp, 15km (nine miles) from the capital, Dakar.

Even before leaving France, many had been complaining about the pay they were set to receive and the fact that it was not the same as other French troops, historian Armelle Mabon says. Anger over the money grew once at Thiaroye, which the colonial authority viewed as a mutiny.

On 1 December, the French violently brought an end to the protests. At the time it was said that 35 of the tirailleurs were killed, but some have put the death toll as high as 400.

"France must recognise that on that day, the confrontation between soldiers and riflemen who demanded their full legitimate wages be paid, triggered a chain of events that resulted in a massacre," the AP news agency quotes a letter from French President Emmanuel Macron to Faye as saying.

Previously, in 2014, then President François Hollande had called what happened a "bloody repression".

Senegal is due to mark the 80th anniversary of the shootings on Sunday.

In his response to Macron’s letter, Faye is quoted by AP as saying that his French counterpart’s acknowledgement would "open the door" so the "whole truth about this painful event of Thiaroye" can be discovered.

"We have long sought closure on this story and we believe that, this time, France’s commitment will be full, frank and collaborative," he added.

He also indicated that he might be asking for an apology.

Sixty-four years after Senegal's independence, France still has a military presence in the country, but speaking to the AFP news agency on Thursday, Faye, who was elected in March, said that France should close its base there.

"Senegal is an independent country, it is a sovereign country and sovereignty does not accept the presence of military bases in a sovereign country," he is quoted as saying.

Additional reporting by Mamadou Faye in Dakar.

Senegal Demands Answers as the West African Country Commemorates a French Colonial Massacre

By MARK BANCHEREAU

1:43 PM EST, December 1, 2024

THIAROYE-SUR-MER, Senegal (AP) — Biram Senghor regularly pays his respects at a military cemetery in Thiaroye, a fishing village near Senegal’s capital Dakar, bowing in front of a different grave each time.

The 86-year-old has no way of knowing which grave belongs to his father, M’Bap Senghor, one of the hundreds of West African riflemen who fought for France during World War II but were likely killed on Dec. 1, 1944, by the French army after demanding unpaid wages.

In this cemetery, where they are supposedly buried, all the graves are anonymous and the exact location of the remains is unknown, as is the number of victims. The true scale and circumstances of the killings remain unclear as Senegal commemorates the 80th anniversary of the massacre on Sunday, threatening to reignite smoldering tensions between France and the former colony.

“I have been fighting to get answers for over 80 years,” says Biram Senghor. “(French President Emmanuel) Macron cannot do what the other French presidents before him did; France has to repent.”

The West Africans were members of the unit called “Tirailleurs Sénégalais,” a corps of colonial infantry in the French Army that fought in both World Wars. According to historians, there were disputes over unpaid wages in the days before the massacre and on Dec. 1, French troops turned on the unarmed African soldiers and shot them dead.

For decades, French authorities tried to minimize what had happened in Thiaroye. Reports by the French military shortly after the massacre determined that 35 West African soldiers were killed in response to a “mutiny.” Other reports by the French army mention 70 deaths.

But today, many French and Senegalese historians agree the true death toll is likely in the hundreds, with some speaking of almost 400 African soldiers killed, based on estimates of the number of riflemen present at the camp on the day of the massacre.

On Thursday, Macron officially recognized the events of Thiaroye as a massacre for the first time in a letter to Senegal’s President Diomaye Faye, which was seen by The Associated Press.

“France must recognize that on that day, the confrontation between soldiers and riflemen who demanded their full legitimate wages be paid, triggered a chain of events that resulted in a massacre,” read Macron’s letter.

But many historians dispute the idea of a confrontation between the French soldiers and the West African riflemen.

“What happened on December 1st was the execution of unarmed soldiers,” says Martin Mourre, a French historian and author of Thiaroye 1944, History and Memory of a Colonial Massacre.

He points to the fact that no weapons were mentioned during the trial of the African riflemen accused of mutiny and the absence of any injuries among the French soldiers as evidence that no confrontation took place.

In his letter to the Senegalese president, Macron did not mention the number of soldiers killed.

The controversies and unknowns about the massacre are in part due to a lack of transparency by French authorities regarding the military reports and testimonies.

In 2014, French President Francois Hollande handed over the European nation’s archives on Thiaroye to Macky Sall, then-president of Senegal.

But historians say that key documents, including ones indicating the site of the mass graves and the number of West African soldiers present at the camp on the day of the massacre, are still missing. It is unclear if France holds such archives or if they even exist.

Macron’s office and the French foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

Additionally, very little was done by the Senegalese authorities under former president Sall to allow historians to delve into the historical documents.

“The archives remained inaccessible until this year, for obscure reasons,” says Mourre.

Mamadou Diouf, a Senegalese historian who heads the commemoration committee for the Thiaroye massacre this year, says Sall did not show much interest in the subject to avoid diplomatic tensions with France.

But Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who was elected in March in part on a promise of redefining Senegal’s relationship with the former colonizer, has vowed to regain control of the historical narrative on Thiaroye.

His administration has organized major commemorations of the massacre from Dec. 1 to April 2025 across the country.

“The authorities’ goal behind the major commemorations is to make Thiaroye part of Senegal’s national story,” says Babacar Ndiaye, political analyst at the Wathi think tank, which focuses on political and economic issues in West Africa.

“It will be talked about a lot on television, in the press and most importantly on social media,” he adds. “This will reach a younger audience who might know little about the events of Thiaroye.”

The 80th anniversary of the massacre comes as France’s influence is declining in the region, with Paris losing its sway in its former West African colonies.

French troops have been ousted in recent years from Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso after years of fighting Islamic extremists alongside regional troops. Earlier this week, Chad, one of the last countries in the region where France had maintained a large military presence, ended a military cooperation agreement with Paris.

France still has around 350 troops in Senegal, mainly in a supportive role. Asked about their continued presence, Faye suggested it is not something the Senegalese would want.

“Historically, France enslaved, colonized and stayed here,” he said. “Obviously, I think that when you reverse the roles a little, you will have a hard time conceiving that another army — of China, Russia, Senegal, or any other country — could have a military base in France.”

At the ceremony held at the military cemetery in Thiaroye on Sunday, Faye announced the construction of a memorial in honor of the riflemen, the creation of a research center where archives on the massacre will be kept, and streets named after the event. History lessons on the massacre will also be added to the school curriculum and Dec. 1 will officially become “national day of the tirailleur.”

“What we are doing here is part of our duty of remembrance and to reveal the truth of the facts, to discharge a moral debt towards the riflemen and their families,” said during his speech in front of an audience that included France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, as well as Gambia, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Gabon and the Comoros heads of state. Macron was not present at the ceremony.

“We are not opening a door to arouse resentment, maintain anger or hatred,” Faye said.

But once more, Senegal and the former colonizer’s account of the massacre differed.

While the French foreign minister described the events of Thiaroye as a “cry of anger” from the riflemen that France “repressed in a bloodshed,” the Senegalese president said they were “a premeditated act.”

___

Associated Press writers Babacar Dione in Dakar, Senegal, and Sylvie Corbet in Paris, France, contributed to this report.

A Landmark Climate Change Case Will Open at the Top UN Court as Island Nations Fear Rising Seas

By MOLLY QUELL

1:42 PM EST, December 1, 2024

THE HAGUE (AP) — The top United Nations court will take up the largest case in its history on Monday, when it opens two weeks of hearings into what countries worldwide are legally required to do to combat climate change and help vulnerable nations fight its devastating impact.

After years of lobbying by island nations who fear they could simply disappear under rising sea waters, the U.N. General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice last year for an opinion on “the obligations of States in respect of climate change.”

“We want the court to confirm that the conduct that has wrecked the climate is unlawful,” Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh, who is leading the legal team for the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, told The Associated Press.

In the decade up to 2023, sea levels have risen by a global average of around 4.3 centimeters (1.7 inches), with parts of the Pacific rising higher still. The world has also warmed 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times because of the burning of fossil fuels.

Vanuatu is one of a group of small states pushing for international legal intervention in the climate crisis.

“We live on the front lines of climate change impact. We are witnesses to the destruction of our lands, our livelihoods, our culture and our human rights,” Vanuatu’s climate change envoy Ralph Regenvanu told reporters ahead of the hearing.

Any decision by the court would be non-binding advice and unable to directly force wealthy nations into action to help struggling countries. Yet it would be more than just a powerful symbol since it could serve as the basis for other legal actions, including domestic lawsuits.

On Sunday, ahead of the hearing, advocacy groups will bring together environmental organizations from around the world. Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change — who first developed the idea of requesting an advisory opinion — together with World Youth for Climate Justice plan an afternoon of speeches, music and discussions.

From Monday, the Hague-based court will hear from 99 countries and more than a dozen intergovernmental organizations over two weeks. It’s the largest lineup in the institution’s nearly 80-year history.

Last month at the United Nations’ annual climate meeting, countries cobbled together an agreement on how rich countries can support poor countries in the face of climate disasters. Wealthy countries have agreed to pool together at least $300 billion a year by 2035 but the total is short of the $1.3 trillion that experts, and threatened nations, said is needed.

“For our generation and for the Pacific Islands, the climate crisis is an existential threat. It is a matter of survival, and the world’s biggest economies are not taking this crisis seriously. We need the ICJ to protect the rights of people at the front lines,” Vishal Prasad, of Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change, told reporters in a briefing.

Fifteen judges from around the world will seek to answer two questions: What are countries obliged to do under international law to protect the climate and environment from human-caused greenhouse gas emissions? And what are the legal consequences for governments where their acts, or lack of action, have significantly harmed the climate and environment?

The second question makes particular reference to “small island developing States” likely to be hardest hit by climate change and to “members of “the present and future generations affected by the adverse effects of climate change.”

The judges were even briefed on the science behind rising global temperatures by the U.N.’s climate change body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, ahead of the hearings.

The case at the ICJ follows a number of rulings around the world ordering governments to do more to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In May, a U.N. tribunal on maritime law said that carbon emissions qualify as marine pollution and countries must take steps to adapt to and mitigate their adverse effects.

That ruling came a month after Europe’s highest human rights court said that countries must better protect their people from the consequences of climate change, in a landmark judgment that could have implications across the continent.

The ICJ’s host country of The Netherlands made history when a court ruled in 2015 that protection from the potentially devastating effects of climate change is a human right and that the government has a duty to protect its citizens. The judgment was upheld in 2019 by the Dutch Supreme Court.

Why African Americans Searching for Their Roots Should Look to Angola

When President Biden visits the country this week, he is expected to highlight a largely overlooked bond between Angola and the United States that was born out of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

John Eligon and Joao Silva

New York Times

Dec. 1, 2024

They stood on a concrete platform over a cobblestone plaza as slave traders cast their final judgment, gazing westward at a bend in the mighty Cuanza River, where unknown horrors lay ahead.

For the ancestors of millions of African Americans, this slave market in Massangano, a village in Angola, was likely the place where they were sold into bondage. It was a point of no return.

Historians believe that people from the southern African nation of Angola accounted for one of the largest numbers of enslaved Africans shipped to the United States, including the first to arrive at Point Comfort, Va., in 1619.

That history has largely gone unnoticed in Angola and the United States, where many Black Americans often make pilgrimages to Ghana and Senegal in West Africa to trace their ancestors’ treacherous journeys but not to Angola.

Angola is trying to change that.

The country’s ministry of tourism is developing a global campaign to highlight the significance of Massangano. The ministry is also partnering with the United Nations Development Program and the American Chamber of Commerce in Angola to launch a crowdfunding campaign to rehabilitate the village and its historical sites. Angola’s president, João Lourenço, has asked his government to repair the lone dirt road to Massangano that becomes impassable with heavy rain.

The government has applied for the Cuanza River corridor to be declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. “This is the place where African Americans came from,” said Márcio de Jesus Lopes Daniel, Angola’s tourism minister. “Come and see where your roots are.”

There are also hopes that this history will draw the United States and Angola closer together diplomatically.

When President Biden travels to Angola this week, he is scheduled to visit the National Slavery Museum near the capital, Luanda, to highlight the bond between the two nations that was born out of slavery. A vast majority of African Americans have Angolan ancestry, said Stephen Lubkemann, an anthropology professor at George Washington University. In the battle for influence in mineral- and oil-rich Angola, that gives the United States an ability to draw historical and cultural ties to the country in ways that China, its rival, cannot.

Mr. Biden’s delegation is expected to include Wanda Tucker, whom Angolan government officials glowingly refer to as one of their own. She traced her ancestors to the first ship that docked at Point Comfort and has visited the country several times.

When he visited Angola last year, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, the first African American to hold the position, drew a blunt connection between himself and the Angolans he was addressing. “Four centuries ago, slavers from far away put the men and women and children of this country into shackles — people who looked just like you and me,” he said.

About a quarter of all enslaved Africans confirmed to have arrived in the United States came from a region that included Angola, according to SlaveVoyages, a digital database. That is more than anywhere else in Africa.

Because Massangano sits at the intersection of Angola’s largest river, the Cuanza, and a major tributary, it was the country’s main transit point for trafficking captives to the coast, scholars said. Today, Massangano is a quiet village of a couple of hundred residents.

Behind a wall made of mud blocks on the edge of the village is a large wooden deck covered by a thatched roof and surrounded by empty concrete bungalows — a restaurant and lodge that an Angolan businessman hopes to open by January.

Most residents live at the bottom of a hill in homes made of mud and logs. Some blast music at night, others gather beneath trees and play loto, a game similar to bingo.

At the top of the hill, European Renaissance-style stone buildings sit mostly in ruins. Each one features a hand-painted sign identifying its purpose: the old town hall, the fort of Massangano. The slave market, at the village’s highest point, is marked by a concrete cross standing about two stories tall, at the spot where enslaved people in shackles would have stood before being sold.

“They cry. Always cry,” Afonso Vita, a historian who works for Angola’s tourism ministry, said of African American visitors.

The effort to elevate Angola’s history in the slave trade has prompted new awareness and conversation nationally, local historians said. The legacy of the slave trade is rarely discussed in Angola, in part because its consequences are not as easily felt as in the United States, where many African Americans are aware of lingering racial disparities, said Vladimiro Fortuna, the director of the National Slavery Museum in Luanda.

Mr. Fortuna said that by next year he hopes to have a plan in place to construct a new, larger slavery museum. Visitors to Luanda are increasingly touring sites related to the slave trade. That includes the Street of Flowers, where slave traders once laid flowers to cover the blood of brutalized enslaved people.

Mr. Vita, the historian, said that when he gave lectures about the atrocities endured by the enslaved, Angolans became visibly angry. “The time is right,” he said, “for us to start a revolution to reclaim our history.”