Displaying items by tag: peace efforts
Yemen: explosion rocks peace efforts
As Yemen prepares to move forward with a power-sharing government, two explosions at Aden airport were designed to annihilate the new government officials disembarking from their plane. Saudi Arabia had brokered a peace deal between Houthi rebels (controlling much of northern Yemen) and the Yemeni government. The explosions also threatened the UN effort for a nationwide cease-fire to prevent the coronavirus spreading. It did not injure any of the new cabinet, but killed 26 people and injured 50 more; the death toll is expected to climb as more victims succumb to their injuries. The government had just forged an alliance with southern separatists. This latest attack threatens a very tenuous situation plagued by years of war and hunger. An explosion was also heard at the presidential palace where cabinet members, the prime minister, and the Saudi ambassador had been taken for safety. Pray for officials to apprehend all those responsible, and for a successful resolution of the conflict between the Hadi government and Houthi rebels.
Nigeria: massacres shatter peace efforts
Christian leaders in the central Plateau State argue that there is a religious dimension to Fulani attacks on villages; unless politicians acknowledge this, they cannot properly address the conflict. On 28 August in Jos, a Christian peace summit for the northern regions was ending. 100 miles away, at the same time, Fulani militants set ablaze Rev Adamu Wurim Gyang and his three children. They were burnt beyond recognition. His wife Jummai was left to die in a pool of blood. 95 houses were torched, 225 crops awaiting harvest were destroyed, at least 14 were killed, and many wounded. CSW said that after the perpetrators had gone the military arrived, killing a woman who tried to stop them detaining local youths who wanted them to go after the Fulani militia instead. A video verified by World Watch Monitor shows people holding up her body, and Rev Ezekiel Dachomo appealing for assistance from the US, UK, and the UN, saying, ‘An Islamic agenda is taking over the nation’.