United News of Bangladesh

Guinea will hold its first presidential election since Gen. Mamadi Doumbouya seized power in a 2021 coup, according to a presidential decree broadcast on state television Saturday. The announcement came a day after the Supreme Court validated the results of a constitutional referendum that could pave the way for Doumbouya to run for president. Guinea is among several West African nations where the military has assumed control and delayed a return to civilian rule. Doumbouya, who has led the country since 2021, had agreed in 2022 to initiate a democratic transition with a deadline of Dec. 31, 2024. The junta’s failure to meet this timeline sparked opposition protests that paralyzed the capital, Conakry, earlier this year. Doumbouya had previously declared he would not seek the presidency, but the newly approved draft constitution allows members of the ruling junta to contest elections. The changes also extend the presidential term from five to seven years, with the possibility of two renewals.

Thousands of young Moroccans staged anti-government protests across at least 11 cities over the weekend, accusing authorities of neglecting health and education while prioritizing preparations for major sporting events, including the 2030 FIFA World Cup. Demonstrators clashed with police in several cities, including Rabat, Marrakech and Casablanca, where arrests were made. Protesters carried slogans such as “Stadiums are here, but where are the hospitals?” linking Morocco’s struggling healthcare system with the government’s heavy investment in new and renovated stadiums. The unrest followed a series of local demonstrations earlier this year, with anger intensifying after eight women died while giving birth at a public hospital in Agadir. According to the Moroccan Association for Human Rights, dozens of protesters were detained on Saturday, some of whom reported being physically assaulted. The group said the crackdown reflects an attempt to restrict free expression. Unlike earlier demonstrations led by political groups or trade unions, the latest protests were largely coordinated online by youth movements like “Gen Z 212” and “Morocco Youth Voices,” urging “peaceful and civilized” gatherings. “We want not only reforms in health and education, but an entire system reform,” said Youssef, a 27-year-old engineer in Casablanca, speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear of arrest. Morocco’s youth—those born between 1995 and 2010—make up the largest segment of the population and have increasingly drawn inspiration from youth-led movements abroad, including recent protests in Nepal. Facing mounting criticism, Health Minister Amine Tahraoui dismissed senior officials in Agadir after the hospital deaths. Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch, meanwhile, defended government spending, insisting that health reforms and new hospitals were underway. WHO data shows Morocco has just 7.7 medical professionals per 10,000 people—well below the recommended 25—with shortages more acute in poorer regions such as Agadir.

At least 11 children were killed in the Friday drone strike that hit a mosque in the besieged city of el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, the U.N. children’s agency said Monday. Local aid groups and activists and the Sudanese army accused the paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces of launching the drone that struck the mosque during Fajr prayers early Friday, killing at least 70 people. UNICEF’s Executive Director Catherine Russell in the Monday statement called the attack “shocking and unconscionable.” Russell said initial reports indicated that at least 11 children between the ages of 6 and 15 were killed and “many more” injured in the attack, which also damaged nearby homes. The strike in the besieged city of el-Fasher completely destroyed the mosque and many bodies were trapped under rubble, said a worker with the local aid group Emergency Response Rooms on Friday. The worker spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation by the RSF. The strike comes as the army and the RSF are fighting increasingly intense battles as part of the country’s ongoing civil war. The war has killed at least 40,000 people, according to the World Health Organization, displaced as many as 12 million others, and pushed many to the brink of famine. Three doctors also died in the attack, according to the Preliminary Committee of Sudan’s Doctors Trade Union and Sudan Doctors Network. They were among 231 medical personnel killed since the war in Sudan broke out, according to Sudan Doctors Network. “The latest attack has torn apart families and shattered any sense of safety for children who have already suffered so much,” said Russell, adding that the RSF's siege of el-Fasher has trapped children who endure violence and have little access to food, clean water and healthcare while being “forced to witness horrors no child should ever see.” Antoine Gerard, Sudan Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator with the U.N., told The Associated Press on Monday that they are seeing more attacks on civilians now inside el-Fasher, who are also struggling to seek safety outside the city due to the siege and lack of safe routes. “We are quite concerned about targeting civilians, targeting the population and particularly hospital, mosque and schools and any other civilian premises,” he said. In a statement on Sunday, Sudan’s neighboring nation Egypt condemned the drone strike on the mosque and said it “constitutes a blatant violation of international humanitarian law, denouncing the targeting of places of worship and innocent civilians in the conflict.” Fighting over the control of el-Fasher and surrounding areas in North Darfur intensified by early April and more than 400 civilians have been killed in RSF attacks in the area since April 10, according to a Friday report by the U.N.'s human rights office. The majority were killed in a major offensive that seized the nearby Zamzam displacement camp. The camp was turned into an RSF military base used to launch assaults on el-Fasher, according to the report.

Polls opened in Guinea on Sunday for a constitutional referendum that could allow the country’s junta leader, Gen. Mamadi Doumbouya, to contest the presidency, four years after seizing power in a coup and would transition the African nation from military to civilian rule. The referendum, seen as a crucial step in Guinea’s transition from military to civilian rule, is drawing close scrutiny across West Africa, a region increasingly dominated by juntas. Critics, however, denounce the vote as a “power grab” by Doumbouya. Elections are scheduled for December. Some 6.7 million eligible voters to cast a “yes” or “no” vote on a new constitution that would lengthen the presidential term from five to seven years, with the draft constitution requiring at least 50% turnout to be validated. Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. and will close at 6 p.m. In Conakry, voters queued early, many in festive attire, though the presence of tanks and military barricades underscored the junta’s dominance. The campaign has been marked by rallies, concerts and prayers backing Doumbouya, but opposition voices have been absent. More than 50 political parties were dissolved last year, and three major opposition groups were suspended weeks before the vote. The draft constitution extends presidential terms from five to seven years, renewable twice, and permits junta members to run for office. It also introduces a Senate and allows independent candidates. Rights groups accuse the regime of silencing dissent, disappearing opponents and restricting media. Yet many Guineans credit Doumbouya with building roads and improving services, fueling speculation that he intends to seek the presidency. “Today, the question is about the referendum,” said Gen. Amara Camara, Secretary-General to the Presidency. “When the time comes, we will talk about it.”

A Sudanese paramilitary group reportedly killed 43 civilians while praying inside a mosque early Friday in the besieged city of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, said a local medical group. The Sudan Doctors Network said Friday on X that Muslim worshipers, including older people and children, were killed in a drone strike launched by the Rapid Support Forces, calling it a “heinous crime” against unarmed civilians that showed the group’s “blatant disregard for humanitarian and religious values and international law.” The Resistance Committees in El Fasher, a group comprised of local citizens from the community that includes human rights activists, who track abuses, posted a video Friday reportedly showing parts of the mosque reduced to rubble with several bodies scattered on the site, now filled with debris. The Associated Press could not independently verify the footage. No details were shared about the exact location of the mosque, but the latest drone strike is among a series of attacks over the past week as the RSF and the army heavily clashed in El Fasher. The fight between the army and the RSF escalated in April 2023, erupting into a civil war that has killed at least 40,000 people, according to the World Health Organization, displaced as many as 12 million others and pushed many to the brink of famine. El Fasher has been at the epicenter of fighting for over a year between the two and is the military’s last stronghold in the Darfur region. Intense fighting on Thursday centered in the western and southern parts of the city, where residents told the Darfur Victims Support Organization, which monitors abuses against civilians, that they heard loud explosions and saw drones being used, according to a statement by the nonprofit. The Resistance Committee in El Fasher said in a statement Thursday that the RSF targeted several unarmed civilians, including women and older adults, in displacement shelters in the city. The group also said Wednesday heavy artillery by the RSF continuously targeted residential neighborhoods.  

  Two separate boat accidents in northwestern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) this week have left at least 193 people dead and dozens more missing, authorities and state media said Friday. The tragedies occurred on Wednesday and Thursday, about 150 kilometers apart in Equateur province. On Thursday evening, a whaleboat carrying nearly 500 passengers caught fire and capsized along the Congo River in Lukolela territory, killing 107 people, according to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs. At least 209 survivors were rescued near the village of Malange, while a memo from the Ministry of Social Affairs said 146 others were still missing. A day earlier, another motorized boat capsized in Basankusu territory, claiming the lives of at least 86 people, most of them students, state media reported. Several others remain unaccounted for, though no official figure was given. The cause of the accidents was not immediately clear. State media, citing reports from the scene, blamed Wednesday’s disaster on “improper loading and night navigation.” Photos from the area showed villagers mourning beside recovered bodies. A local civil society group accused the government of negligence and claimed the toll was even higher. Search operations were launched after the accidents, with naval personnel and community volunteers combing the riverbanks. Authorities pledged medical treatment for the injured, assistance to bereaved families, and the repatriation of survivors. River transport remains a lifeline in the DRC’s vast rainforest regions, where wooden vessels serve as the primary mode of travel between remote villages. The boats are often poorly maintained, overloaded with passengers and goods, and travel without life jackets, making accidents frequent and deadly. Night navigation adds further risk, often complicating rescue efforts and leaving many victims unaccounted for. Limited resources and the remoteness of accident sites also hamper search and recovery operations. Source: AL Zazeera    

Sudanese authorities said Thursday they recovered and buried the bodies of hundreds of people who died in a landslide over the weekend in Sudan’s western region of Darfur. Mujib al-Rahman al-Zubair, head of the Civil Authority in the Liberated Territories, said in a video address shared with The Associated Press that the authority, along with help from local aid workers, was able to reach 375 bodies, but the remaining bodies remain trapped underground. “May the victims of this devastating incident receive mercy,” he said as he and dozens of others gathered at the scene of the landslide to pray for the dead. Al-Zubair is leading rescue missions, hoping to recover more bodies and find survivors despite the lack of equipment and resources. The Aug. 31 landslide that followed days of heavy rainfall in Tarasin, in the Marrah Mountains, could have possibly killed as many as 1,000, Mohamed Abdel-Rahman al-Nair, a spokesperson for the Sudan Liberation Movement-Army, previously told the AP. The United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, had a similar death toll estimate, but said it’s hard to confirm the magnitude of the tragedy because the area is hard to reach. The U.N. has said that efforts have been mobilized to support the impacted area, located more than 900 kilometers (560 miles) west of the capital, Khartoum. U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said in a briefing on Thursday that an estimated 150 people from Tarseen and neighboring villages have been displaced. OCHA and partners launched a rapid assessment and response mission Thursday, with teams from local NGOs, U.N. agencies and international groups reaching the site partly by donkey due to rough terrain, according to Dujarric. Their focus is to verify the number of people affected and deliver essential aid for up to 750 people, including medical kits and food. Mobile health clinics and emergency medical teams were also deployed to the area. Al-Nair said in a statement Thursday that the landslide caused a “catastrophic humanitarian situation” that requires a rapid response from the international community to provide food and shelter for those who have lost everything. The Marrah Mountains region is a volcanic area with a height of more than 3,000 meters (9,840 feet) at its summit. The mountain chain is a world heritage site and is known for its lower temperature and higher rainfall than its surroundings, according to UNICEF. A small-scale landslide hit the area in 2018, killing at least 19 people and injuring dozens of others, according to the now-disbanded United Nations-African Union mission in Darfur. Sudan is already impacted by one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world caused by the ongoing civil war that erupted in April 2023 in the capital city, Khartoum. The conflict spread across the country after simmering tensions escalated between the Sudanese army and its rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. More than 40,000 people have been killed and as many as 12 million displaced. Some areas in the country are struggling with famine and disease outbreaks such as cholera.

Congo’s public prosecutor on Friday requested the death penalty for former President Joseph Kabila, who is being tried in absentia on treason charges that include war crimes linked to his alleged support for the M23 rebel group. Kabila, who led Congo from 2001 to 2019, has faced trial since July for war crimes, murder, and rape. He became president at 29 after the assassination of his father, former President Laurent Kabila, and extended his term by delaying elections for two years after 2017. The Congolese government accuses him of backing the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, who have seized key towns in eastern Congo in recent months. Kabila had lived in self-imposed exile since 2023 but returned in April to Goma after the city fell to the rebels. His current whereabouts are unknown. Supporters claim the trial is politically motivated. Prosecutor Gen. Lucien René Likulia asked for, in addition to the death penalty, a 20-year sentence for allegedly condoning war crimes and 15 years for conspiracy, without detailing the specific incidents. No date has been set for the verdict. Islamic State-linked rebels kill at least 21 in church attack in Eastern Congo President Felix Tshisekedi accused Kabila last year of supporting the rebels and planning an insurrection, charges Kabila denies. Ferdinand Kambere, a former minister under Kabila, called the immunity revocation “the start of a campaign against him,” while analyst Henry-Pacifique Mayala described the prosecution’s demands as “more about settling scores than seeking truth.”      

A bus carrying mourners back home from a funeral in southwestern Kenya overturned and plunged into a ditch on Friday evening, killing at least 21 people, police said. The bus was travelling from the western town of Kakamega to the city of Kisumu, where the accident happened. The driver lost control of the bus as it approached a roundabout at high speed and plunged into a ditch, according to Peter Maina, a regional traffic enforcement officer for the province of Nyanza, where Kisumu is located. The victims include 10 women, 10 men, and a 10-year-old girl, he said. Road accidents are common in Kenya and the wider East African region, where roads are often narrow and in poor condition with many potholes. Police often blame road accidents on speeding drivers. In another accident on Thursday, nine people were killed in a bus crash in the town of Naivasha in the county of Nakuru. The victims were among 32 workers going to work when the bus crashed at a railway crossing, police said.  

Nigerian security forces have killed at least 30 gunmen in a joint military and police operation following a wave of violent attacks in the country’s northwest, officials said Thursday. The operation was launched on Wednesday in response to coordinated assaults by armed men on several villages the previous evening, according to a statement by Nasir Mua’zu, State Commissioner for Home Affairs. He confirmed that three police officers and two soldiers were killed during the counter-assault. “We are working tirelessly with federal security agencies to ensure the safety of all citizens,” Mua’zu said. Violence has surged across northwestern and north-central Nigeria in recent months, with armed gangs—often referred to as “bandits”—carrying out deadly raids and mass abductions for ransom. Hundreds have been killed, and many more injured or displaced as these groups exploit the region's limited security presence. At least 10 Nigerian soldiers are killed in an ambush, the army says The gangs, primarily composed of former herders, frequently clash with settled farming communities. Dozens of such groups now operate with near impunity in the mineral-rich northwest, attacking rural communities and travelers along major routes. In addition to banditry in the northwest, Nigeria is grappling with a long-running insurgency in the northeast. The United Nations estimates that more than 35,000 civilians have been killed and over 2 million displaced due to ongoing conflict in that region. Source: Agency