Poor crops harvest due to below-average rains coupled with conflict and displacement have worsen an already dire food shortage situation in the East African this year, a UN food agency report said. It said the situation could be worsened by El Niño, which usually brings heavy rains towards the end of the year. - U.N. Food and Agriculture organisation said food insecurity across Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, Ethiopia, Ethiopia have worsened among the rain dependant people with prices of maize, a major staple food in the region, showing a declining trend since the beginning of the year, but remain higher than they were two years ago. “Nearly 20 million people currently depend on food assist…

Nearly 200 students in Kenya are feared to have contracted A/H1N1 flu as the epidemic rip through major secondary schools in that country, health officials said. More than 182 Students in five secondary schools in the country have been quarantined after they were found to have contracted the disease. - More cases send to Kenya Medical Research Institute, KEMRI for further analysis. Dr Shahnaaz Shariff, The Director of Public Health however says the situation does not call for any alarm, as the illness remains mild among the victims. “They are relatively mild illness and some of them are influenza,” he stated. The new Swine flu cases were first reported on Tuesday in a Na…

- Two huge blasts have ripped through an African Union troops’ base in the Somali capital Mogadishu, witnesses said on Thursday. According to eyewitnesses, two white explosive-laden Land Cruiser exploded inside a Ugandan troops base in Mogadishu’s international airport where a high level AU and Somali officials’ meeting was taking place. Reports say three Somali soldiers were killed and six peacekeepers injured in the explosion which Somali militant group of Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility. The blasts come after Al-Shabaab vowed to revenge the killing of top Al-Qaeda operative and senior Al-Shabaab officials by US Special Forces aerial raid in Somali southern po…

At least 16 African migrants have drowned and 49 others are missing and presumed dead in the Gulf of Aden in three separate incidents involving smuggling boats over the last 48 hours, the United Nations refugee agency reported on Tuesday. - The UNHCR said the first incident took place early Sunday morning off the coast of Radfan, some 150 km east of the UNHCR Mayfa'a reception centre in Yemen, where smugglers’ boat which departed on Thursday morning from the Somali town of Elayo, west of Bossasso, capsized due to engine failure. “The passengers reported that the vessel, carrying 142 people, capsized as the smuggling crew jumped over board after being unable to fix an engi…

A top Al-Qaeda operative has been killed in a US air strike in Somalia's south western port town, sources said. US forces flew helicopters into the country and attacked a car they say was carrying Kenyan-born Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan. He is alleged to have been behind attacks on a hotel and an Israeli airliner in Kenya in 2002. - The 28-year old Kenya-born Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan who is in FBI’s most wanted terrorist list, was in the company of his colleagues when his convoy come under attack from four US helicopters near Somali port town of Barawe, some 155 miles (250 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Mogadishu, Somali sources said. No official confirmation from the US govern…

Oscar award winning actress Angelina Jolie - a UN High Commissioner for Refugees Goodwill Ambassador - has visited UN-managed Dadaab Refugee Camps, the world's largest refugee settlement, located in the northeastern Kenya. - Accompanied by UNHCR officials, Jolie described the situation in the camps as "one of the most dire" refugee settlements she had ever visited. She met with new arrivals mostly women and their children who fled the worsening conflict in their war-torn homeland, Somalia. "If this is the better solution, what must it be like in Somalia?" she asked while having chat with the new comers. Located some 90 kilometres from the border with Somalia, D…

A Kenyan court has on Friday handed a 15-year jail sentence to an American man accused of defiling three minors. The man Jon Cardon Wagner, the founder of Kenya's famous Java coffee house chain of restaurants, was found guilty of defiling the under-age girls at his Nairobi's Lavington home between June 5 and 7, last year. - Nairobi Senior Principal Magistrate Teresia Ngugi said the accused paid two women, who were also sentenced ten years each, $500 to bring the 13-year-old and two 14-year-olds girls to his luxurious house The two ladies were found guilty of ‘exposing the children to prostitution’. Wagner was put on his defence in March after the court ruled tha…

Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Wednesday launched a 400 million dollars (Sh7.6 billion) appeal to save the country's largest forest, the Mau Forest Complex. - In conference with foreign envoys, representatives of international donors , the private sector and civil society which was held in UN headquarters in Nairobi, Raila said the Mau issue was no longer ‘a Kenya problem’ but an international concern, urging international community to play a role in saving the forest. “I wish to appeal to every Kenyan and development partner to support the government's efforts to rehabilitate the Mau,” he told the conference. According to a UN Environmen…

- Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has on Wednesday launched a 400 million dollars (Sh7.6 billion) appeal to save the country’s largest forest, the Mau Forest Complex. In conference with foreign envoys, representatives of international donors , the private sector and civil society which was held in UN headquarters in Nairobi, Raila said the Mau issue was no longer ‘a Kenya problem’ but an international concern, urging international community to play a role in saving the forest. “I wish to appeal to every Kenyan and development partner to support the government's efforts to rehabilitate the Mau,” he told the conference. According to a UN Enviro…

A Sudanese female journalist convicted of wearing indecent trouser in the public has been spared of the country's customary 40 lashes punishment or a month in jail and instead fined 500 pounds ($200). - Lubna Hussein, a former UN media officer was arrested in July along with 12 other women at a restaurant in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum for breaking the decency laws by wearing trousers in public. Ten of the arrested women received ten lashes each after admitting guilt for fear of repercussion from the conservative society. In what many believe to be the government’ attempt to cut short the controversy, Sudanese Union of Journalists paid the fine without the knowledge of Hu…

The United Nations has reported that the number of Somalis who are internally displaced by escalating conflict in the war-torn Somalia has now reached 1.55 million. - “The main reason for the increase of the overall number of displaced (from 1.3 million in the first quarter of 2009) is the renewed violence in Mogadishu that displaced over a quarter of a million people since May 7th,” the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement. On May 7, Somali insurgent groups joined forces and launched a deadly offensive against the UN-backed transition government in Mogadishu. It said that large portion of the displaced include women and children, “who are vic…

At least three people including a child were reportedly injured while some thousands of families were rendered homeless on Saturday after a fierce fire gutted down a tiny island in the far north coast of Kenya. - The Kenya Red Cross said the fire which started midday Saturday destroyed at least 410 houses. Almost all the houses of the tiny Faza Island on Kenya’s Lamu Archipelago were beyond recognition, leaving thousands of families to brave the cool breeze near the island’s tiny beach. “Faza Island has got a total of 540 homes and about 80 percent of these homes were affected, thereby displacing 2,500 people…The houses in the island are grass thatched, and the pre…

International agency Oxfam on Thursday said the world has abandoned thousands of Somalis fleeing from conflict, in overcrowded and badly managed camps in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya. - In a statement issued in Nairobi, the agency said Somalia’s next generation is terribly diminishing out of what it termed as world neglect. “Somalis flee one of the world's most brutal conflicts and a desperate drought, only to end up in unimaginable conditions in camps that are barely fit for humans,” said Robbert Van den Berg, Oxfam International's spokesman for the Horn of Africa. “Hundreds of thousands of children are affected, and the world is abandoning the next ge…

At least 10 Somali migrants have drowned and six others are missing in the Gulf of Aden in two separate incidents involving smuggling boats sailing from Somalia to Yemen, the United Nations refugee agency reported. - UNHCR said the first accident took place on early Saturday night when a smuggler’s boat, which departed on Friday from the Somali village of Marera, east of the northern port of Bosasso carrying 44 Somalis captized off the coast of Yemen’s Hadramout region, some 500 km east of Aden, forcing smugglers to push the passengers off board in deep waters. “As smugglers began force people off board in deep sea off the coast of Yemen, the boat lost balance when the f…

At least 40 people were killed and over 60 others injured in an inter-tribal clashes in the troubled southern Sudan region, military and elders said. - Attackers believed to be members of Lou Nuer ethnic group have reportedly carried out Friday dawn attacks on a village in Jonglei state, leading to heavy clashes between them and the local Dinka ethnic group, elders said. Small police officers in the area came to rescue of the locals but were overpowered, prompting soldiers of Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) from nearby base to intervene, according to Major General Kuol Diem Kuol, of the southern Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA). Most of the dead are women, child…

Hundreds of heavily armed Ethiopian troops crossed the border into central Somalia to help Somali forces seize central Somali town of Beledweyne, some 206 miles (332 km) north of the Somali capital Mogadishu, residents said. - Residents said the troops entered the strategic town on Friday night and led Somali government forces to recapture the west wing of town, which has been the stronghold of the Somali militant group Al-Shabaab. No fighting has been reported and tension remains high as the militant fighters accumulate in the outskirts of the town. Somali officials in the area have denied the report of Ethiopian troops’ presence in the central town, which strategically connects…

At least six, five Ukrainian crew and a Congolese clandestine passenger have been killed after a small Antonov 12 cargo plane went down south of the Republic of Congo's capital, Brazzaville, the country's Transport minister said. - Congo’s Transport Minister Emile Ouosso said the Russian cargo plane crashed into a cemetery in Nganga Lingolo, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Brazzaville shortly after taking off from the southern city of Pointe Noire. "The accident has killed six people, five members of the Ukrainian crew and a Congolese clandestine passenger," Ouosso told reporters. He added that investigations are underway to establish the cause of the …

An Italian ship on Wednesday survived pirates attack in the Gulf of Aden as foreign naval force seize suspicious skiff with five people on board. - A statement from European Union’s anti-piracy mission Operation Atlanta said one of its warship and helicopter, in cooperation with a South Korean navy helicopter responded to a distress call from Italian Vessel MV Southern Cross, which came under attack from suspected pirates. “HNOMS Fridtjof Nansen and the helicopter of the South Korean warship Daejoyoung from CTF 151 responded directly to the situation. While the Fridtjof Nansen and the helicopter were approaching, the skiff with five people on board broke off the attack after …

- Somali militant group of Al-Shabaab have released one of two French security advisers kidnapped in Somali capital Mogadishu last month, officials said on Wednesday. Somali officials said the French national was released on Tuesday night under mysterious circumstances with conflicting reports suggesting that he killed three of his captors and escaped or a ransom payment was made to secure his release. “One of two hostages kidnapped in Mogadishu last month is now in the hands of the government,” said Somalia's Information Minister Dahir Mohamud Gele who addressed reporters in Mogadishu. Eric Chevallier , a spokesman for French foreign ministry however refuted report…

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is appealing for more than US$230 million to provide emergency food assistance to over 3.8 million Kenyans faced with famine. "Red lights are flashing across the country," according to Burkard Oberle, World Food Programme Kenya Country Director. - “People are already going hungry, malnutrition is preying on more and more young children, cattle are dying – we face a huge challenge and are urging the international community to provide us with the resources we need to get the job done.” Oberle said Kenyans are witnessing worst of food crisis in a decade, adding that the agency cannot embark on its plans without funds. …

Somalia faces its worse humanitarian crisis in 18 years amid an escalating violence that threatens to push the Horn of African country into chaos and lead to further deteriorations in the food security and nutrition status of the people, the Kenya-based Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit, said in a report. - The report confirmed that humanitarian crisis is widespread and severe with half of the population - an estimated 3.76 million people - in need of humanitarian assistance in the war-torn nation. "This signals a serious deterioration in the emergency food security and nutrition situation from earlier this year", said Cindy Holleman, the Chief Technical Advisor of the S…

At least 19 passengers killed and dozen others injured in a grisly road accident that involved a passenger bus and two oil tankers in western Kenya, police and eyewitnesses said. Rift Valley Provincial Traffic Commandant Vitalis Otieno said initial findings show that the bus driver was over speeding. - The accident happened on Sunday night at a small town near Nakuru, some 160 kilometres west of the capital Nairobi, where the bus veered off the busy Nakuru-Nairobi road and rammed into two tankers. Eyewitnesses say at least 16 passengers, including the bus driver and conductor died on the spot while three others passed on their way to the hospital. Road carnages in the East African nat…

Somali opposition leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys has said on Sunday that the war against the fragile transition government and African Union forces in the capital Mogadishu is still on even in the holy month of Ramadan. - Aweys said fighting in Ramadan - the holiest month in the Islamic calendar - is 'something good' for the fighters who want to rule the Horn of African nation in accordance to strict interpretation of Islamic law. “The fight against the foreign invaders and their local supporters will continue any month in the Islamic calendar, It’s even better for warriors in Ramadan,” he told reporters in Mogadishu. He refuted claims that his group, Hizb…

At least 12 students - all of them girls - are reportedly killed and over 20 others severely burned after fire razed their school dormitory in Tanzania's central region of Iringa, police and local media reported. The accident happened in Idodi Secondary School about 460 km southwest of Dar es Salaam. - Evarist Mangala, the Iringa regional police commissioner said the fire was reportedly started after a bedding caught fire from a candle used by one of the girls to study, razing a dormitory to the ground, killing at least 12 students and wounding more than 20 others with one in critical condition. The school has a total of 461 students. The charred bodies of the victims are expected t…

- Heavy fighting erupted between Somali militant fighters and government forces on Saturday-- the first day of the Holy month of Ramadhan-- at a checkpoint outside Somali capital Mogadishu, predicting more violence to come in the holy month. Witnesses say heavily armed militant fighters carried out a pre-dawn attack on government-manned Ex- Control Afgoye, a key checkpoint that connects the capital to southern Shabelle region, leading to heavy gunfire that killed five people and injured dozens others. Somalia’s state defence minister Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Siad claims that government forces repelled rebels’ attack, killing ‘many of them’. Heavy fighting has als…

- Nigeria has once again pledged to contribute peacekeeping troops to African Union forces in Somalia as part of internationally backed efforts to stabilize the war-torn nation. Nigerian Minister for Foreign Affairs Chief Ojo Maduekwe said his country has a strong history of peacekeeping in the continent, pointing out that that Somalia problem is an international problem, which requires cooperation of the international community. He however noted that logistical and Somali political issues must first be settled, stressing also the need for home support and parliamentary approval for the troops’ deployment. Maduekwe made the remarks after meeting with his Kenyan counterpart Mos…

- Rebel forces and Somali government troops backed African Union peacekeepers battled out on Friday for the second day as the fighting rages on in different parts of the Somalia’s war-torn capital Mogadishu. Witnesses say rebel fighters carried out pre-dawn attacks on AU and government troops’ bases in the capital, leading to heavy shelling and gunfire that claimed more than 24 people and injure scores others. Mortar shells slammed into residential and business areas, inflicting heavy casualties on civilians. A health worker with Mogadishu’s main Medina Hospital said the hospital has received more than 60 wounded people since Thursday night, adding that more civili…

At least 55 people, most of them combatants killed while over 60 others injured in heavy clashes between Somali government forces and rebel fighters in different parts of the country. Paramedics say most of the wounded are civilians whose houses have been the target of mortar shells and stray bullets. - In the capital Mogadishu, heavy gun battle between government soldiers and militant fighters in the capital’s northern districts of Hodan Hawlwadag and Wardhigley have claimed more than 15 people while dozens others wounded, according to residents. In central Somalia, heavy gun battle in Bulabarde town, about 130 miles (210 kilometres) north of the capital, have killed more than 40 c…

- A non-governmental organization that monitors piracy activities along the Somali waters is appealing to Somali pirates to release all the foreign crews and vessels before the start of Holy Ramadan. In a statement, ECOTERRA Intl. said the activities are against the teaching of Quran, urging Somali pirates, who are Muslims to cease from the activities. “Somali Piracy is Haram, strictly forbidden by the Holy Qur’an and must be punished under Shari’a law. Attacks on innocent merchant ships outside the 200nm zone of the Somali waters can never ever even be justified as self-defence,” stated Dr. Abdulkadir S. Elmi, the spokesman of the Somali office of the internati…

Ethiopian military forces on Thursday crossed the border into Somali central town of Beledweyne, some 206 miles (332 km) north of the Somali capital Mogadishu, witnesses said. The heavily armed troops with armored vehicles got into the town early in the day and set up bases in the centre of the town. - Pro-government forces from Union of Islamic Courts currently control the town, which connects the capital to central towns and it is not clear whether or not the Ethiopian troops are back under the invitation of the local administration, AfricaNews reporter said. The forces reported return comes as Islamist militants and pro-government forces continue to battle for the control of central an…

- Heavily armed Somali forces on Thursday carried out attack on central Somali town of Bulabarde in Hiiraan region, some 200 kilometres (120 miles) north of Mogadishu, but met with stiff resistance from Somalia’s militant group Al-Shabaab, which has the control of the town under its hands. Residents said the government forces made military advance from the regional capital Beledweyne, some 206 miles (332 km) north of the capital Mogadishu, where they have been stationed since last month. Al-Shabaab fighters repelled the forces’ bid to capture the town, leading to heavy fighting that lasted for several hours, according to a resident, adding that Somali forces later retreated…

Heavily armed Somali forces seized control of the southern border town of Luq, the capital of Gedo region on Wednesday after making military advancement in the region, officials and residents said. - According to some of the town’s residents, militant fighters allied to Hizbul Islam who controlled the area, vacated the town early after getting reports of planned attack by the government forces who were stationed just few kilometres from the town. “We entered the town from different directions without any resistance. The people are telling us that rebels fled the town early before we even made advance,” said Mohamed Osman Wali, the commander of Somali forces. He said h…