In the worst incident, Taliban militants stormed an army post in the western province of Farah, killing 22 soldiers.

A suicide attack in the capital Kabul left at least three security officers dead.

There has been a surge in militant attacks in recent months and the army is often targeted.

Some analysts see it as a response to a new, more aggressive strategy announced by US President Donald Trump last year, which committed the US army to an open-ended conflict, with the focus on “killing terrorists”.

Early on Saturday, Taliban forces mounted an overnight attack on a base in Farah.

Weapons were seized and the Afghan military said the Taliban had incurred a “lot of casualties”.

In Kabul, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives in an area dotted with key diplomatic buildings.

“I was driving nearby when I heard a big explosion, the windows of my car were smashed. I saw several wounded people on the street near me,” a witness told Afghan channel Tolonews TV.

Jihadist group Islamic State said it carried out the attack, Reuters reported.

There were further suicide attacks in Helmand province in the south, leaving two army members dead, and others, including women and children, injured.

The Taliban control large swathes of Afghanistan – but IS militants hold sway in a much smaller number of districts.

However, both groups have demonstrated their ability to hit targets across the country.

They have often come into conflict with each other, too.

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Source: BBC

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Explosions have also been reported in the capital, Harare, but the cause is unclear.

Earlier, the country’s ambassador in South Africa denied talk of a coup.

Zimbabwe’s ruling party accused the country’s army chief of “treasonable conduct” after he warned of a possible military intervention in politics.

General Constantino Chiwenga had challenged President Robert Mugabe after he sacked the vice-president.

Gen Chiwenga said the army was prepared to act to end purges within Mr Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party.

Tensions were raised further on Tuesday when armoured vehicles were seen taking up positions on roads outside Harare, although their purpose was unclear.

Some staff at ZBC were manhandled when soldiers took over their offices in Harare, sources told Reuters.

Workers were told that they “should not worry”, a source added, and that soldiers were only there to protect the site.

The Zimbabwean ambassador to South Africa, Isaac Moyo, had told Reuters that the government was “intact” and dismissed any talk of a possible coup as “just social media claims”.

The US State Department has urged all parties in Zimbabwe to resolve disputes “calmly and peacefully” and said it was “closely monitoring” the situation.
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By: BBC

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According to him, military personnel are only deployed to big mining companies upon request but this has not happened under the current circumstance.

His comment comes on the back claims by the Lands and Natural Resources Minister, John Peter Amewu that the Ghana Armed Force High command deployed some of its personnel to protect galamsey operators in parts of the Ashanti Region.

[contextly_sidebar id=”cxZnjVKvdEULqxoppT6J9IfS3kD3hPDf”]Mr. Amewu made the claims on Monday during his tour of some galamsey sites in the region.

But speaking to Citi News in an interview, the Deputy Defence Minister said the military men the Lands Minister saw were acting on their own accord.

“When the news came up the Chief of Defence staff has been with me and we have spoken at length on this issue. All the commanders at various places – Chief of Air staff, Chief of Army staff and even Chief of Naval staff were skeptical. Everybody doubts where that information is coming from. It is never true that armed forces are providing security for galamseyers.,” he stated.

He said it’s possible that those Mr. Amewu saw were rather impersonating the military.

“If they are legal miners, there is no problem[but] if they were illegal miners and had come to see the Armed Forces [for protection], no. Armed Forces can never and would never do that. I cannot say that he [Amewu] didn’t meet soldiers there. People are impersonating the military…people are wearing anything similar to the outfit of the military…don’t forget that some of the illegal miners are holding arms.”

“All galamsey activities wherever its being taken place they have hidden weapons there. The police and the military are on them looking for those weapons. So it’s not strange that these people are using arms, left alone uniforms in operating, posing as soldiers,” he added.

Russian galamseyers sought protection from Kumbour

The Member of Parliament for the Manso Adubia constituency, Yaw Frimpong had also claimed that some foreigners who were arrested for mining beyond their allotted concession at Tontokrom in the Amansie West District of the Ashanti Region sought protection from the former Minister of Defence, Ben Kumbour.

“I have made enquiries from the former Minister of Defence , Benjamin Kumbour and he said they applied for protection. I did not agree with him initially but later I felt that maybe the government takes some taxes from them so they would want to protect them,” he said on the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday.

We’ll investigate soldiers protecting ‘galamseyers’ – Nitiwul 

Meanwhile the Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul has instructed the Chief of Defence Staff, Major General Obed Akwa to immediately begin investigations into allegations of some military men protecting illegal gold mining concessions especially in the Ashanti Region.

He said his outfit will ensure that any military personnel caught  engaged in the illegal act will be duly dealt with.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

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He alleged the said military command has without authorization, deployed personnel to protect galamsey operators in parts of the Ashanti region where his team is touring.

[contextly_sidebar id=”aZZVzozFO8RFsVEnOvlXGnXCBFeX666k”]In an interview with Citi News, John Peter Amewu called for an immediate probe into the matter.

“The law enforcement agency, especially the Military are protecting an illegality and I think that it is time the truth be told. Most of the sites we visited today were heavily manned by the military command and I was wondering under what circumstances [were they undertaking this exercise] because my outfit had under no circumstance signed any contract with the military to protect those illegality.

“We tried  finding out from the Minerals Commission and the Minerals Commission has established beyond all reasonable doubt that they have never under any occasion established any contract with those military and so whoever authorised those military to be protecting the Russian and Ukranian sites, I think it is time, those people answer very important questions. I don’t think the military will be doing those protections because they are military and of course they will be paid handsome reward for those activities they are undertaking…Until the law enforcement agencies begin to take this action seriously I don’t think there is anyway we will achieve our objective.”

Small-scale mining company shut down; Russian, Ukrainian operators arrested

Meanwhile the Minister has ordered the foreign-operated Geo Professional Services to shut down with immediate effect, following a tour of some mining sites.

The Minister has also ordered the arrest of the foreigners involved, including two Russians and two Ukrainians.

The mining firm was found to be using licenses of three local mining companies to mine at Tontokrom in the Amansie West District of the Ashanti Region.

The company is to reclaim all disturbed lands and provide evidence to the Inspectorate Division of the Minerals Commission of the restoration.

The company was issued with the “stop work order” by the Inspection Directorate of the Minerals Commission on May 18 but disregarded directives and continued mining.

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By:  Kojo Agyeman/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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He says this is in line with current arrangements within the mission to reduce the number of soldiers there, due to the success of the international Community in persuading long time leader Yahya Jammeh to leave that country.

“In line with the downsizing, Ghana’s troop contribution will be cut to 50 men and the highest officer will remain with the 50 men,” Mr. Nitiwul said while reporting on the progress of the mission in Parliament on Wednesday.

Ghana contributed 208 soldiers to the ECOWAS mission with a mandate to keep the peace in the Gambia in the midst of the country’s post election impasse.

Mr. Nitiwul further stated that, the Ghanaian soldiers had discharged themselves creditably, adding that Ghanaians in Gambia were safe.

“I can report to this House that our troops have taken advantage of their presence in The Gambia to visit and secure all the Ghanaian people or people of Ghanaian descent.The Ghanaian community in The Gambia are well secured and safe. Ghana’s deployment has been successful because of government’s prompt decision and approval of the financial support that the troops needed. It is envisaged that 158 men  will be arriving on the 20th and 21st, leaving 50 men in The Gambia.”

Mr Jammeh was defeated in the December’s election by Adama Barrow, but refused to step down after he lost, forcing ECOWAS to deploy troops from Ghana, Senegal and other African countries to compel him to hand over.

Mr. Jammeh later decided to step down after talks with the presidents of Guinea and Mauritania.

He subsequently left The Gambia for Guinea, paving way for the new President, Adama Barrow, who had been sworn into office in neighboring Senegal, to return to the country.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

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Although details of why the incident happened are sketchy, Mr. Adams, who was also the 2016 National Campaign Coordinator for the NDC, confirmed this on Citi Eyewitness News today, [Wednesday].

According to him, he was informed about the incident by an occupant of the house because he is attending a function in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

He explained that, before he traveled to the UAE on Sunday, some six officials claiming to be National Security personnel visited the House on Saturday in an attempt to seize the cars in his absence.

He said he managed  to stop them when he was called at a funeral grounds, but managed to confirm that the men were not ordered to carry out the act by the National Security Minister.

He said he found it strange to receive a call whiles outside the country today [Wednesday], that the same six men with others, had returned to seize his five vehicles.

“I had to travel to Dubai for the function, so I left Ghana on Sunday, only to receive a call that sixteen military persons and some police officers together with four of the six who came the last time and a DVLA officer with a machine, came to the house, got into the yard, and insisted on getting the vehicles out. The DVLA official had a system that could check the genuineness of the registration when you enter the number of the vehicle; he did so according to the Youngman who was at home then, and everything clearly indicated that these were vehicles that had been properly registered and did not even belong to the state.”

“So the advice was that they needed to go back, but it looks as if the taste for seizing vehicles was so high, so they insisted the Youngman must bring the keys for them to do a test on a particular one. He told them he won’t do that; but one of them used the rear side of his AK-47 to hit him, and so he was frightened. Once he was walking into the room to pick the keys, they followed him forcefully, and whether he was picking the keys, they picked the other keys and tried each car to find out which one fitted and drove everything away.”

Mr. Adams could however not confirm whether he personally purchased the cars by himself, except to say that he owns them since they are registered in his name.

There are unconfirmed reports that some of the previous government’s officials, may have misappropriated some state assets. Meanwhile authorities at the Ministry of Defence have denied sanctioning any soldier to carry out such an assignment.
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By: Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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In a statement signed by acting Communications Director at the presidency, it said “ECOWAS has decided as a result of the refusal of President Yahaha Jammeh to accept the verdict of the Gambian people in the elections of December 1, 2016, to deploy troops from its member states to The Gambia with immediate effect.”

“The objective of is to create an enabling environment doe the effective enforcement of the rule of law, and, in accordance with the Constitution of The Gambia, facilitate the inauguration of the President-Elect, Adama Barrow, on Thursday, January 19, 2017″ the statement concluded.

Senegal troops move to Gambia border as Jammeh crisis grows

Already, Senegalese troops have been seen moving towards the Gambian border in a show of force to pressure President Yahya Jammeh to stand down.

Senegal gave him a midnight GMT deadline to quit, and Nigeria has sent an air force unit to Senegal in support of the possible intervention.

Wednesday was meant to be his last day in office, but parliament has granted him three more months in the post.

It effectively stops successor Adama Barrow from being sworn in on Thursday. His shock victory in the December 1 election plunged The Gambia into crisis.

West African countries are seeking UN backing to intervene militarily to eject Mr Jammeh, who has ruled The Gambia since taking power in a bloodless coup in 1994.

Meanwhile, thousands of UK and Dutch tourists are being evacuated from the tiny West African state, which is popular with European holidaymakers because of its beaches.

Why is Senegal taking the lead?

Ecowas, the Economic Community of West African States, has mandated Senegal, which almost surrounds The Gambia, to spearhead military intervention, but only as a last resort and with the backing of the UN Security Council.

The Gambia’s entire armed forces is made up of only about 2,500 troops, making it difficult to see how they can defeat a regional force if it moves in, says BBC Africa Monitoring security correspondent Tomi Oladipo.

Mr Jammeh has declared a 90-day state of emergency, saying “any acts of disobedience to the laws of The Gambia, incitement of violence and acts intended to disturb public order and peace” were banned.

Security forces, he said, had been instructed to “maintain absolute peace, law and order”.

Could there be a refugee crisis?

At least 26,000 Gambians, mostly women and children, had crossed into Senegal by Monday evening amid fears that violence could erupt, the UN refugee agency said, citing Senegalese government figures.

“The flow has increased sharply since then,” regional spokeswoman Helene Caux was quoted by Reuters as saying.

About 1,600 Dutch citizens are also being flown home after similar advice from their government.

Tourism has become the fastest-growing sector of The Gambia’s economy, and the country, which has a population of about two million, was marketed to holidaymakers as “the smiling coast of West Africa”.

But many of its citizens are poor and complain of political repression.

Some, including the goalkeeper of the national women’s football team, have drowned in the Mediterranean trying to reach Europe in the hope of a better life.

Why is Mr Jammeh refusing to leave office?

The Gambia regularly held elections, which he won until last year. Mr Jammeh has said there were irregularities in the election process, including the turning away of some of his supporters from polling stations, and errors made by the electoral commission.

The commission accepted that some of the results it initially published contained errors, but said Mr Barrow had still won.

Mr Jammeh has said he will stay in office until new elections are held. Retaining power would also ensure he was not prosecuted in The Gambia for alleged abuses committed during his rule.

The US state department urged Mr Jammeh to peacefully transfer power to Mr Barrow on Thursday.

“Doing so would allow him to leave office with his head held high and to protect The Gambian people from potential chaos,” spokesman John Kirby said.
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By: citifmonline.com/ with additional files from BBC

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