Lesotho Ebola drill leads to scare in South Africa

Lesotho Ebola drill leads to scare in South Africa

South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) assured the public Thursday that there are no cases of Ebola within the nation and it is not testing for any cases in neighboring countries, following miscommunication over an Ebola drill at a Lesotho border crossing. “The NICD houses the only biosafety…

Three Ebola workers are dead – this time, in South Sudan

Three Ebola workers are dead – this time, in South Sudan

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says three of its aid workers were killed earlier this week in South Sudan, where they were assisting with Ebola health screenings in the border area with Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. The three volunteers, two men and a woman, were caught in…

Rwanda, Uganda trade denials across the border

Rwanda, Uganda trade denials across the border

Uganda is denying charges from neighboring Rwanda that, among other things, it has arrested and tortured dozens of Rwandan citizens, in the latest round of a diplomatic feud between the two nations that’s led to tensions at the border. The Ugandan foreign minister also denied Kigali’s allegations that his country…

Angola’s deportations to DRC spark security fears

Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), warned Friday that Angola’s deportation of Congolese nationals is resulting in serious human rights violations by security forces on both sides of the border. Some 330,000 people have crossed from Angola back into the troubled Kasai and Kwango provinces…

Angola defends crackdown on Congolese refugees, illegal mines

Officials in Angola defended on Tuesday the closure of 67 illegal diamond mine operations as part of its “Operation Transparency” crackdown, a National Police effort in seven provinces meant to curb illegal mining and migration. Police spokesman António Bernardo told state news agency ANGOP that some 260 Congolese migrants left…

Angola sees influx of Congolese fleeing Kasai violence

More than 4,000 Congolese have crossed the border into Angola since Wednesday, seeking refuge from the fighting between Kamuina Nsapu rebels and government forces in the southern Kasai region of Democratic Republic of Congo. That’s according to figures provided on Saturday by the DR Congo consulate in Moshico, cited by…

Brahimi’s appeal on Algeria-Morocco ties gets the cold shoulder

Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi has called for a reopening of the border between Morocco and Algeria in the context of regional cooperation, but that overture was quickly rebuffed by some in the latter country’s media outlets. Brahimi, a well-regarded elder statesman with close ties to Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, suggested…