Friday 21 December 2012

South Sudan: UN peacekeeping mission’s helicopter shot down, killing all crew members


A United Nations helicopter has been shot down in eastern South Sudan by the nation’s armed forces, killing all four crew members onboard, the world body’s peacekeeping operation in the country reported today.

“The helicopter was not carrying any passengers,” the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) added in a news statement.

UNMISS has begun an investigation to establish the circumstances around the MI-9 helicopter’s crash, which occurred near the settlement of Likuangole, the state of Jonglei, in the country’s east, where it had been on a reconnaissance flight at around 10:00 a.m. local time.

Initial reports indicate that the aircraft crashed and burned. The Mission immediately launched a search and recovery operation, which confirmed the death of all four crew members.

In communications between UNMISS and South Sudan’s armed forces, known by the acronym SPLA, the Mission was told that the SPLA had shot at a helicopter in the Likuangole area on Friday.

“The Mission extends its heartfelt condolences to the families of the crew,” UNMISS added.

The U.N. mission in South Sudan, known as UNMISS, was created after South Sudan seceded from Sudan in July 2011, six months after a referendum agreed to under a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war that killed some 2 million people.

Friday 21 December 2012

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=43832&Cr=south+sudan&Cr1=#.UNSeaNf3TUI

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Peru's Congress marks Putis massacre


A ceremony was held on the floor of Peru's Congress Dec. 13 to commemorate the 1984 massacre of over 100 campesinos by army troops at the village Putis, in south-central Ayacucho region.

A full Congress honored the presence of Aurelio Condoray Curo, vice president of the Putis Political Violence Survivors Association, and families from the village.

That same day, a Caravan for the Reconstruction of Putis left for the village with trucks of material aid from the Ayacucho city of Huamanga.

The efforts were promoted by lawmaker María Soledad Pérez Tello, president of the Congressional Human Rights Commission.

The local municipality of Huanta is still in the process of identifying bodies that have been unearthed from more than 40 mass graves in and around Putis.

The investigation is being overseen by a Multisectoral High-Level Commission (CMAN) created to provide reparations to the victims and survivors of the war with the Shining Path guerillas.

Condoray (also rendered Condorai) said, "Despite 28 years having transpired from this lamentable episode, the families of those massacred have still not received just reparations in health and education."

Friday 21 December 2012

http://www.ww4report.com/node/11805

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30 dead in Kenyan village raid, Red Cross says


At least 30 people were killed when farmers raided a village of herders in southeastern Kenya early Friday in renewed fighting between two communities with a history of violent animosity, the Kenya Red Cross said.

Five children and five women were among the dead, the Red Cross said. Forty-five houses were set on fire during the attack, Red Cross spokeswoman Nelly Muluka said.

Anthony Kamitu, who is leading police operations to prevent attacks in the region, said that the Pokomo tribe of farmers raided a village of the semi-nomadic Orma herding community at dawn in the Tana River Delta. He said the raiders were armed with spears and AK-47 rifles.

At least 110 people were killed in clashes between the Pokomo and Orma in August and September.

The tit-for-tat cycle of killings may be related to a redrawing of political boundaries and next year's general elections, the UN Humanitarian co-ordinator for Kenya, Aeneas C. Chuma, said late August. However, on the surface the violence seems driven by competition for water, pasture and other resources, he said.

The Tana River area is about 690 kilometres from the capital, Nairobi.

The utilization of the waters of the Tana River has been at the middle of a conflict pitting the Pokomo against the Orma, according to research by the Institute of Security Studies in 2004, following clashes in the Tana River area in 2000 to 2002.

The Pokomo claim the land along the river and the Orma claim the waters of the river, said the research by Taya Weiss, titled "Guns in the Borderlands Reducing the Demand for Small Arms." At least 108 people died in the 2000-2002 clashes, according to the parliamentary record.

The longstanding conflict between the two tribes had previously resulted in relatively low casualties but the increased availability of guns has caused the casualties to escalate and more property to be destroyed, said the report.

It said a catalyst to the conflict was the collapse of three irrigation schemes at Bura, Hola, and Tana Delta, which influenced residents' lifestyles in terms of employment and sources of income.

"The collapse of these schemes forced the nomadic pastoralists to move during the wet season, while the farmers remained along the river. During the dry season the pastoralists move back to the river in search of water and pasture," it said.

The Tana River area has the characteristics of any other conflict prone area in Kenya: underdevelopment, poor infrastructure, poor communication and social amenities, and social marginalization, according to the report.

"Communities are arming themselves because of the need to defend against perceived attacks," said the report. "They feel that the government security machinery has not been able to effectively respond to violence. Isolation has led to increased demand for guns."

Friday 21 December 2012

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/12/21/kenya-village-raid-red-cross.html

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10 killed as two passenger vans hit each other in E. Pakistan


At least ten people were killed and seven others were injured when two passenger vans hit each other in Pakistan's eastern city of Gujranwala on Friday morning, reported local Urdu TV channel Samaa.

The report said that the accident took place at about 9:30 a.m. (local time) when two passenger vans carrying an estimated 50 passengers collided with each other in Aimenabad area of Gujranwala, a city located in the country's eastern province of Punjab.

The injured were shifted to the nearby hospital where two of them are in critical condition.

Reason of the accident has not yet been determined but police believes that over speeding might be the main reason behind the incident.

Pakistan is among the countries having worst record of fatal traffic accidents, mainly due to poor roads, lack of driving skills, badly maintained vehicles and violation of road safety rules.

Traffic police officials said that 90 percent of the accidents in the country take place due to human error.

Friday 21 December 2012

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/article_xinhua.asp?id=115015

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Bus accident in Laos kills 9 Vietnamese


Nine Vietnamese workers were killed and six injured in Laos on December 19 when their bus crashed into a bridge under construction and overturned.

The workers are farmers from Nam Dan district of Nghe An province who were employed by contractor Tran Ba Anh, also a resident of Nam Dan district, to work in Laos.

After completing a construction project in Attapeu province, in early morning of December 19, the worked took a coach to go to a construction site in Champasack province.

In the late afternoon of the same day, because it was dark and the driver did not know the terrain, the bus lost the way and crashed into a bridge under construction and fell into a deep abyss.

"When the bus was falling, iron rods in the bridge also fell after the car,” said Tran Ba Cong, the relative of victim Luong Van Hung, based on the testimonies of the survivor.

After receiving the news, the VCG and Pakse division of the overseas Vietnamese Association sent officials to the scene.

The fatal accident was informed to the families of the victims at night on December 19. Of the nine dead people, six are residents of Van Dien commune and three of Nam Thanh commune, Nam Dan district.

Contractor Tran Ba Anh and his two relatives were also dead in the accident. The four seriously injured people are being treated in Laos.

Mr. Tran Ba Minh, Chairman of Van Dien commune, said that he did not know the names of the victims yet but the bodies would be brought to Vietnam on December 21.

For many years the people of Nghe An have gone to Laos to do business. Previously, on February 23, a bus was overturned on the peak of Na Hin hill in Borikhamxay province, Laos, killing four people from Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces.

Friday 21 December 2012

http://www.nhandan.com.vn/cmlink/nhandan-online/homepage/society/current/bus-accident-in-laos-kills-9-vietnamese-1.382973

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/society/55149/9-vietnamese-killed-in-traffic-accident-in-laos.html

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Update: Dakota bodies arrive in Pretoria


The Air Force on Wednesday started returning the remains of the 11 Dakota plane crash victims to their families.

A C-130 cargo plane arrived at Waterkloof Air Force Base in Pretoria where a return of mortal remains ceremony was conducted.

The Dakota plane went down in poor weather in the Drakensberg two weeks ago, killing all crew and passengers on board.

Brigadier General Piet Burger said of the 11 bodies, one was left in Durban.

Another body will be taken to Bloemfontein and the remains of three others will be sent to Cape Town.

Friday 21 December 2012

http://ewn.co.za/2012/12/19/Dakota-remains-not-arrived-yet

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Update: Pregnant Woman Among 9 Bodies Found


The body of a pregnant woman, clad only in her underwear, was found sprawled on the beach at Teluk C bay.

She was one of nine victims recovered at 4pm yesterday.

The woman, in her 20s, was believed to have taken off her clothing, which had became wet and cumbrous for her to swim to safety, just like the others who were also found topless.

It is also believed that she was about six months' pregnant.

The nine bodies include five women and four men. The last body of another woman was found in the same area at 4.30am.

They were found along Teluk C bay, named for its curved shape.

All victims were believed to be Indonesians travelling back to Batam from Teluk C illegally on a boat on Monday.

No identification or travelling documents were found.

It was also learnt that they had board a fibre boat powered by three 300hp engine, which could accommodate about 20 passengers.

"Rescuers, consisting of about 20 police marine members, were helped by fishermen from the village," said Region II marine police commander Assist Comm Zainul Abidin Hassan.

Zainul said it was believed that the boat was hit by strong waves 5km from Teluk C beach.

"We were alerted by villagers who discovered their bodies on Tuesday evening."

Some of the victims' belongings found on the beach include diapers, clothes and baby dolls.

Rescuers also encountered difficulties in collecting the bodies.

A police four-wheel drive vehicle used to ferry the bodies was stuck in the beach sand, while a tractor equipped with a backhoe to tow the vehicle could not move after its tyres were also embedded in the sand.

Four of the bodies were sent to Kota Tinggi Hospital on Tuesday night, while the remaining were sent yesterday.

Friday 21 December 2012

http://www.malaysiandigest.com/component/content/article/36-local2/199842-pregnant-woman-among-9-bodies-found.html

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