A spokesman for South Sudan's president has said a committee is looking at whether the war-torn country should add three or four more states to its current total of 28.
Ateny Wek Ateny told VOA that a committee led by first vice president Taban Deng Gai was formed last week to study the issue.
Ateny said the people, not President Salva Kiir, are asking for the new states because different ethnic groups have been contesting certain areas.
“In South Sudan, the creation of 28 states has brought jubilation, and has brought many people – not less than, more than – 80 percent of the people of South Sudan have appreciated the fact that the states were increased to 28,” said Ateny in a phone interview late Tuesday.
But many disagree with Ateny’s assessment, saying when Kiir took the unilateral move of increasing the number of states from 10 to 28 last year, he angered many, including opposition leader Riek Machar, who wanted 21 states.
And Cirino Hiteng, former deputy foreign minister of South Sudan, does not believe that another increase of states is going to solve the country’s problems, which include the ongoing conflict that has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than two million since December 2013, as well as annual inflation rate that has topped more than 600 percent.
A military tank patrols along one of the main roads in the South Sudanese capital Juba, Dec. 16, 2013. The South Sudanese president declared a curfew in the capital Juba on Monday after clashes overnight between rival factions of soldiers.
“Even adjusting state boundaries, even if increasing or reducing the states, cannot solve the current crisis in South Sudan, because it is more about political power now,” said Hiteng.
University of Pretoria law professor and South Sudanese expatriate Remember Miamingi says Kiir’s move will increase conflict in the country. He argues that Kiir wants to increase the states in order to buy loyalty and support from those who will benefit from the corresponding new political jobs, albeit in a time of financial crisis.
“So it is a job creation, a job creation that has resource implications, and the little resources that we have, as you know, the government basically does not have the resources to finance the budget of this year,” said Miamingi. “And so to now create additional structures that demand money, is certainly quite unrealistic and is using, in an unfortunate way, public funding for personal and political reasons. And that is basically an abuse of his office.”
Ateny disagrees with the idea that the president has sinister motivations behind the pending decision.
“But these are administrative units, that are to be created within the sitting government,” said Ateny. “There’s no reason why it is to be taken negatively.”
Hannah Bryce, assistant head of international security at London-based Chatham House, said that context matters.
“In another situation, in another context, you could see it as decentralizing the power that Juba has, it could be a good thing. But in this climate, I would be more inclined to see it as a fairly cynical move, to put government-friendly positions of authority in the more rural areas,” said Bryce.
Kiir said last year that he acted within his mandate by increasing the number of states to 28. But Miamingi argued the president does not have the constitutional power of “altering the boundaries of the state.”
He also said there are two active cases in the Supreme Court of South Sudan that are challenging Kiir’s 2015 decision.
“And the case is still active in court,” said Miamingi. “And as a result, the president cannot, even at the moment, until that case is decided, contemplate in the remotest sense, initiative to create new states.”
Ateny said that the committee is looking at whether to create one new state in Bahr el Ghazal, two in Upper Nile, and possibly one in Equatoria. He said President Kiir will then take the recommendations of the committee and make his decision.
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S.Sudan president wants to increase number of States again
Afghan officials-: IS abducts, massacres 30 civilians
Authorities in Afghanistan said Wednesday that extremists linked to Islamic State have abducted and massacred at least 30 civilians in a remote central region.
The overnight bloodshed near the capital of the mountainous Ghor province is alarming for local officials because it is the first known IS activity in the area, where the Shiite Hazara community is the predominant majority.
Loyalists of the Middle East based terrorist group are primarily concentrated in eastern Nangarhar province and in adjoining districts along the border with Pakistan.
The victims were collecting wood for winter in the mountains near the city when Daesh (IS) gunmen captured them,” provincial government spokesman, Abdul Hai Khatibi, told VOA, using the Arabic acronym for IS.
He added that the gunmen executed the abductees Tuesday night while Afghan security forces were attempting to rescue them with the help of local residents.
Independent investigation
Amnesty International demanded Afghan authorities carry out an independent investigation into the abduction and killing of nearly 30 civilians, calling it "a horrendous crime."
"There can be no justification whatsoever for targeting and killing civilians under any circumstances. The victims and their families deserve justice," the rights defender said in a statement.
A Taliban spokesman, Zabhilluah Mujahid, said that his group was not involved in the incident, saying reports linking the Taliban to the killing of civilians are "nothing but propaganda."
Afghan civilians continue to bear the brunt of the conflict and extremist attacks in the country. The United Nations has documented nearly 8,000 conflict-related civilian casualties, including more than 2,500 deaths, in the first nine months of 2016.
People carry the coffin of a victim of an overnight attack on a police academy, in Quetta, Pakistan, Oct. 25, 2016.
Pakistan attack
The execution of Afghan civilians came a day after IS claimed responsibility for a deadly suicide raid on a police training center in neighboring Pakistan.
That attack in Quetta, capital of southwestern Baluchistan province, killed least 62 young recruits and wounded more than 120 others.
Islamic State launched its extremist activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan in early 2015 after declaring the region as 'Islamic State of Khorasan" or IS-K.
The commander of the U.S.-led military coalition in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, has acknowledged that IS is “very focused” on trying to establish its Khorasan caliphate in the region. He said that former militants of the anti-state Pakistani Taliban, called Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), are also helping the group further its extremist agenda.
“We are seeing foreign fighters in particular Uzbeks, some from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, have joined them…Many of them are Pakistani Pashtun (militants) from the TTP who joined IS-K…So, it is principally a non-Afghan movement trying to establish a caliphate inside Afghanistan,” the US general told NBC earlier this week.
Nicholson said the Afghan people have completely rejected IS philosophy for being “the antithesis of Afghan culture and society,” adding the U.S. military is helping local security forces to drive the militants out of the country.
The joint operations, he added, have inflicted heavy casualties on IS militants in recent months, also killing its regional chief, Hafiz Saeed Khan, a former Pakistani militant commander.
Pakistani police officers stand guard outside a police training center which was attacked by militants in Quetta, Pakistan, Oct. 25, 2016.
Border challenges
General Nicholson, however admitted that long porous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan poses a major challenge in preventing militant movement in both directions.
Pakistani officials have confirmed the assailants involved in Monday night's attack on the Quetta police academy included Uzbek militants.
A picture of a dead militant resembled one of the men in a picture of the three suicide bombers the IS news agency published on its website.
Zimbabweans scientists unveils maize seeds resistance to heat, drought
Scientists in Zimbabwe say they have developed new heat- and drought-tolerant varieties of maize that may be ready for sale ahead of the next planting season.
The seeds from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center were developed to combat drought-induced food insecurity that has affected millions in southern Africa over the past year.
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center — better known by its Spanish acronym CIMMYT — says the new varieties could play a significant role in reducing the problem of food insecurity in Zimbabwe and other parts of Africa.
Cosmos Magorokosho is a senior scientist with CIMMYT responsible for coming up with climate-resilient maize strains.
"I call them a game-changer, because farmers will be able to get some food security if they are able to adapt these varieties," said Magorokosho. "Food security in Africa will be partly addressed through these varieties, because in Africa, maize is life. A lot of seed companies in southern Africa, east Africa [and] north Africa have shown keen interest in adopting these hybrids because they know that they will be working in their environments."
He said farmers in Algeria, South Africa, Egypt, Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania and South Africa, along with Zimbabwe, have shown interest in the new maize varieties CIMMYT developed with funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Early this year, Zimbabwe declared a national disaster after about a third of its 13 million people struggled with food shortages, caused by El Nino-induced drought.
The CIMMYT official said the effects of that drought could have been mitigated had the heat- and drought-tolerant maize varieties been on the commercial market.
Apollonia Marutsvaka from Zaka district — one of the driest regions in Zimbabwe — planted one of the new seeds from CIMMYT last season.
“There is real hunger here this year," said Marutsvaka. "I am just lucky that I replanted the demo seed [from CIMMYT] after the first crop failed. Compared to other conventional seeds, the demo seed sustained the heat and dry conditions we experienced. Despite the heat and dryness, I got something, and I will only run out of food around February.”
Marutsvaka's neighbor, Amon Makonese, 66, also managed to harvest enough to look after his family after planting the new seeds.
"It is a good seed because it is drought-resistant. The only thing is that it is not in the market. We look for it, and we do not get it when we want it. It should be put in the shops where we buy other seeds," said Makonese. "We end up buying other varieties because we do not find this variety in the shops."
That is not good news, given that Zimbabwe’s next growing season is expected to begin soon. Zimbabwe Super Seeds — one of the companies distributing the new varieties — said it is working to meet farmers' demands.
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IS Claims attack on Pakistan police training center
lslamic State has claimed responsibility for a suicide attack that targeted a police training center in southwestern Pakistan, killing at least 61 recruits and wounding more than 120 others.
The assault began just before midnight on Monday, with three assailants entering the hostel for recruits inside the complex and spraying occupants with bullets.
On Tuesday, Islamic State, via its Amaq news agency, released pictures of the three attackers, with machine guns and explosives strapped to their bodies.
Witnesses say the attackers quickly seized a number of hostages before Pakistani troops and commando units surrounded and entered the facility to confront the gunmen.
Battle to clear complex
The battle to clear the complex lasted several hours. Two attackers blew themselves up while a third was gunned down in the exchange of fire with security forces, ending the siege just before dawn on Tuesday, said a provincial official.
“They (the victims) were all unarmed trainees who are normally at that time of the night either retiring to their bed or engage with their smart phones or other phones in their private leisure time. So, they took them by surprise,” provincial government spokesman Anwar-ul Haq Kakar told VOA.
Some of the police and others inside the building escaped by jumping out windows. They told reporters the gunmen were wearing masks and started shooting as soon as they got inside.
Kakar said authorities have yet to determine the number of attackers, adding that he saw the body of one of them. A preliminary probe concluded the assailants were Uzbek militants.
Pakistani volunteers rush an injured person to a hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, Oct. 24, 2016.
Allegations of Afghan, Indian involvement
The spokesman alleged that Afghan and intelligence operatives from rival India jointly facilitated the deadly assault like some previous terrorist acts hitting his province.
“We are quite clear about this that they were being handled by Afghanistan and they were Afghan nationals as far as initial assessment is concerned,”Kakar asserted.
Authorities in Afghanistan and India have not yet commented on the allegations.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned what he called a "cowardly" attack.
Ambulances arrive to take the dead from the hospital to be buried after they were killed in an attack on the Police Training Center in Quetta, Pakistan, Oct. 25, 2016.
US condemns attack
The United States has also condemned the terrorist attack in the capital of Baluchistan province.
“We stand with the people of Pakistan and Government of Pakistan at this difficult hour, and we will continue to work with our partners in Pakistan and across the region to combat the threat of terrorism,” said State Department spokesman John Kirby in Washington.
For its part, the Afghan government accuses the Pakistani spy agency of covertly supporting the Taliban and its ally, the Haqqani Network that have staged similar attacks on its side of the border.
Pakistani police officers stand guard outside a police training center which was attacked by militants in Quetta, Pakistan, Oct. 25, 2016.
Border challenges
U.S. Commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan General John Nicholson this week again acknowledged the nearly 2,600-kilometer long frontier posed challenges to both the countries.
“It’s still a very pours border region and we do see insurgents moving both ways across the border, some from Afghanistan to Pakistan and then of course the Haqqanis and the Taliban moving from Pakistan into Afghanistan,” the general told NBC.
He said there is a need for Afghans to increase the number of border posts on their side and both the neighboring countries also need to increase their coordination procedures.
The Pakistani province, particularly Quetta, has lately seen a spike in militant attacks. A suicide blast in early August just outside a hospital in the city killed more than 70 people.
Gunmen attack Pakistan police training center,kills nearly 60, 120 wounded
Authorities in Pakistan say nearly 60 people were killed and more than 120 wounded when several heavily armed suicide bombers stormed a police training center in the southwestern city of Quetta.
A little known militant group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Al-Alami, has claimed responsibility for carrying out the bloodshed. The militant outfit is suspected to have links to the Middle East-based group known as Islamic State.
The assault began just before midnight on Monday, with assailants entering the hostel for recruits inside the complex and spraying occupants with bullets.
They quickly seized a number of hostages before Pakistani troops and commando units surrounded and entered the facility to confront the gunmen.
The battle to clear the complex lasted several hours. Two attackers blew themselves up while a third was gunned down in the exchange of fire with security forces, ending the siege just before dawn on Tuesday, said a provincial official.
“They (the victims) were all unarmed trainees who are normally at that time of the night either retiring to their bed or engage with their smart phones or other phones in their private leisure time. So, they took them by surprise,” provincial government spokesman Anwar-ul Haq Kakar told VOA.
Some of the police and others inside the building escaped by jumping out windows. They told reporters the gunmen were wearing masks and started shooting as soon as they got inside.
Kakar said authorities have yet to determine the number of attackers . He added that he saw the body of one of them and a preliminary probe concluded the assailants were Uzbek militants.
Pakistani volunteers rush an injured person to a hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, Oct. 24, 2016.
The spokesman alleged that Afghan and intelligence operatives from rival India jointly facilitated the deadly assault like some previous terrorist acts hitting his province.
“We are quite clear about this that they were being handled by Afghanistan and they were Afghan nationals as far as initial assessment is concerned,”Kakar asserted.
Pakistani troops deploy outside the Police Training Center after an attack on the center in Quetta, Pakistan.
Authorities in Afghanistan and India have not yet commented on the allegations.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned what he called a "cowardly" attack.
The United States has also condemned the terrorist attack in the capital of Baluchistan province.
“We stand with the people of Pakistan and Government of Pakistan at this difficult hour, and we will continue to work with our partners in Pakistan and across the region to combat the threat of terrorism,” said State Department spokesman John Kirby in Washington.
For its part, the Afghan government accuses the Pakistani spy agency of covertly supporting the Taliban and its ally, the Haqqani Network that have staged similar attacks on its side of the border.
U.S. Commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan General John Nicholson this week again acknowledged the nearly 2,600-kilometer long frontier posed challenges to both the countries.
“It’s still a very pours border region and we do see insurgents moving both ways across the border, some from Afghanistan to Pakistan and then of course the Haqqanis and the Taliban moving from Pakistan into Afghanistan,” the general told NBC.
He said there is a need for Afghans to increase the number of border posts on their side and both the neighboring countries also need to increase their coordination procedures.
The Pakistani province, particularly Quetta, has lately seen a spike in militant attacks. A suicide blast in early August just outside a hospital in the city killed more than 70 people.
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