NRA HEROES :Capt. Shaban Kashanku. ( RIP) R0/00020

Shaban was in original cohort that trained in Mozambique in 1976 and was in the FRONASA group that fought Amin in 1979. He was in the 27 armed men that attacked Kabamba on 6 Feb 1981.

He died in the early days of the Bush war

NRA HEROES: GEN CALEB AKANDWANAHO AKA SALIM SALEH R0/00016

The younger brother of President Yoweri Museveni was born two years before Uganda attained independence, in 1960. Saleh went to Kako SS for his secondary education. However, this was cut short after he visited his elder brother Museveni in Tanzania.

"I was 16 years and when I went to Tanzania, I joined other colleagues to train in Mozambique," he says. By 1979, Saleh had already trained as a commando in Mozambique and fought in the war that uprooted dictator Idi Amin Dada in 1979.

Saleh was part of a core group of ‘hardened' fighters trained at Montepuez, like late Maj. Gen. Fred Rwigyema, who was as daring as a devil. Others included Gen. Ivan Koreta, the late Chefe Ali and Ayeli Pipino.

When the war broke out, Saleh stayed in Tanzania as a liaison officer between the Tanzanian and FRONASA forces, but later joined the war effort and commanded a company up to West Nile.

Later, the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) was created from among the various fighting forces after the removal of Amin.

"We assembled in Mubende and since I had been a commander with good military and leadership skills, I was appointed army instructor. I did that for three months.

An opportunity for training in Munduli, Tanzania came, but I lost out because only people with O'level and higher qualifications were considered," he recalls. However, he got a chance to train in Jinja as a non-commissioned officer.

Although he is reluctant to talk about his daring escapades, one of his courageous acts in 1980 was rescuing Museveni, who had been arrested by government soldiers at a roadblock as he drove towards Kireka. In her book, My Journey, Janet Museveni narrates: "Saleh, Rwigyema and the others jumped out of the car with their weapons cocked and ready to fire.

They out-numbered the soldiers manning the roadblock." Museveni and his family jumped into the car and sped off.

Saleh was, in February 1981, posted to the 14th Battalion in Moroto and so he was not among the group that attacked Kabamba at the launch of the National Resistance Army bush war. Nevertheless, he joined his colleagues.

One morning, he was arrested and charged with murder in the civilian court in Moroto. For four months he remained on remand until one day, the magistrate freed him, citing no case to answer.

On return to the barracks, a new commander called Tibamuleka told him he had been posted to Moyo.

Instead of going to Moyo where he had been posted, he was picked up by then 2nd Lt. (now Lt. Gen.) Katumba Wamala and driven to a ‘safe house' in Mbuya where combatants going to the bush used to converge. The group then journeyed through Buwambo to a link point near Matugga.

This was in July 1981, five months after the start of the war. "It was like a reunion since I found many of my former comrades there," he says.

Saleh soon became one of the toasts of the revolution, leading fighters into many successful battles of the guerrilla war. He was appointed commander of the Mobile Force and specifically the decoy that was an element of the Mobile Force. In February 1983, he almost met his Waterloo at Bukalabi.

Saleh recalls, contrary to some reports, that the attack on UNLA soldiers in Bukalabi near Semuto was forced on the chairman (Museveni) by his commanders and was not well-planned. At the time, the NRA had secured a big swath of territory. The attack on Bukalabi was pushed for territorial gain.

"We commanders did not think that we could lose territory and yet the Museveni's view was that we should have withdrawn," he says.

Apparently, the last intelligence before the attack was wrong and Saleh's unit entered the first enemy defenses without realising it. Saleh rallied his men to fight on, until he realised that many had been shot, some dead. Pondering his next move, he was shot three times in the arms

He ordered the rest of the fighters to withdraw from battle. By that time, he had taken several bullets: his jacket had 18 bullet holes.

Saleh recalls: "That was bad. It was painful because it was the first time we left our dead in the battle field."

To war survivors in Luweero, Saleh's survival in Bukalabi was out of the ordinary. "He used his hands to stop the bullets. One of his hands produced a spear-like symbol whenever he opened it towards the UNLA soldiers," one resident said. Others claimed that Saleh turned into a cat and escaped.

He might have lost that battle, but to the adoring NRA supporters, he remained a hero. "True, my jacket had 18 bullet holes. Only three or four got into my body. It was God's plan, He wanted me alive," he says today.

But Saleh had a reputation as a super human being because of his almost suicidal antics on the battle field. Some described him as a man possessed in battle; that he had a ‘big insect' in his head that scratched him to carry out suicidal missions.

Some claim that during battle, he could disappear only to be seen standing on an anthill or even up on a tree, smoking away as he monitored the progress.

"His adage was ‘death before dishonour'," says retired Capt. Godfrey Kangave, who was part of Saleh's mobile unit.

In February 1984, Saleh led another big assault on Masindi barracks where he grabbed over 700 assorted weapons and months later. During an attack on Kabamba, his unit seized an assortment of over 600 weapons

Saleh was sometimes mischievous. In the third NRA attack on Kabamba barracks, for example, he engaged a UNLA soldier guarding the armoury in cheeky talk — including a promise of promotion to the rank of major if he stopped his resistance!

"He walked with and carried this feeling and picture of invincibility, which with time, he transferred to his fighters. In many battles like at Kembogo, he made us feel invincible against better armed government soldiers," Kangave said.

On his part, Saleh says: "In all battles, I was just lucky, with very good training, very good commanders in charge and very good fighters."

The Kembogo battle turned out to be the last nail in the coffin of the UNLA; a culmination of several weeks of a cat-and-mouse game between the NRA' s Mobile Brigade and the UNLA's Special Brigade. Saleh humiliated the UNLA force commanded by John Ogole.

"Ogole believed that if you finally defeated Saleh's mobile brigade, then the NRA would be no more," recounted Maj. Gen. Pecos Kuteesa, who commanded the 1st battalion of the mobile brigade. However, Saleh triumphed.

Saleh was again in charge when NRA battled UNLA soldiers in Masaka, brazenly driving into the town ahead of his fighters who were following him on foot. Normally, the commander comes in last, but that was not for Saleh.

For the final prize — the capture of Kampala — Saleh says: "I was privileged to have drawn the plan for the attack on Kampala and it was fully accepted by the CHC."

When the war ended, Saleh later served as army commander & retired, although he often has periodic recalls in the army. In the 1990s, he initiated the failed peace talks with the LRA and was part of the team that revived dialogue with the rebels in mid-2000

During retirement, he also went back to school and completed his A' level. In 2003, he was in the pioneer class at the prestigious Uganda Senior Command and Staff College, Kimaka(See this)

What did president Tshisekede write about the killing of the UN experts

Somali minister of transport and aviation says that lovak aviation flights will resume this coming week

The Ministry of Transport and Aviation said Thursday it had reached an agreement with aviation companies to resume local flights next week.

Transport Minister Mohamed Omar said in a meeting with representatives from airlines local flights will resume next week but did not specify the date.

The Minister noted all passengers will be screened before entering the airport and after to ensure adherence to health standards in containing the deadly COVID-19 disease.

Somalia grounded local and international flights in mid-April and reaffirmed a similar order later in the month to curb the import and spread of COVID-19.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Somalia has since risen to over 2000 with close to 80 deaths.

Are You in this list???Police transfers

Facebook to label ads by foreign state-backed news organisations on the platform but suprisingly has left out those from USA

The social media giant, which has long sought to quell fears about foreign interference in US elections, has also decided to label ads by foreign state-backed news organisations on the platform – while it consistently refuses to fact-check potentially misleading domestic advertising.

Facebook has introduced a picky new policy warning users that some, but not all, media outlets are sponsored by their governments.

The pages of these outlets now have a label saying “(country name) state-controlled media”.

Such disclaimers have already been put on Russia’s Sputnik and RT, China’s Xinhua and People’s Daily, Iran’s Press TV, as well as some media from North Korea, the Philippines, Morocco, Tunisia, and Thailand.

Facebook’s cybersecurity policy chief Nathaniel Gleicher announced on Thursday that the platform will start labelling ads from these publishers later in the summer.

Facebook said it targeted the outlets based on recommendations from dozens of unnamed media experts. According to Gleicher, in assessing whether an outlet warrants a label Facebook took into account financial control, ownership structure, governance and accountability mechanisms, independence and diversity of sources, and editorial control exerted by a government.

“We also consider country-specific factors, including press freedom and we consult open-source research conducted by academics and leading experts,” Gleicher said.

The company has made an exception for Western organisations like the US government-funded Voice of America and RFE/RL, or the BBC, whose board is largely appointed by the Queen. Gleicher explained that Facebook concluded these publishers enjoy editorial independence.

“A US company long in bed with the US establishment, telling the entire rest of the world what it can and cannot say, is the definition of a technological dictatorship and censorship,” a spokeswoman for Russia Today said in a statement.

“Labelling foreign editorially independent news outlets as anything but is, on top of fostering prejudice and xenophobia, a prime example of the very ‘fake news’ that Facebook is supposedly trying to combat.”

Facebook’s latest attempt to enforce transparency comes amid a series of controversial moves by the company. Facebook previously refused, unlike Google, to

fact-check political ads that contain potentially misleading claims. This week, it came under strong criticism (and prompted protests and resignations within the company) after deciding to not moderate a post by Donald Trump about George Floyd protests that has been labelled as "glorifying violence" on Twitter.

USA claims china as using covid19 to increase its miltary activities in soith china sea

The commander of the United States Forces Japan and the Fifth Air Force at Yokota Air Base has issued a warning, alleging that Beijing’s increased maritime activity in the South China Sea will continue following the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic.

“Through the course of the COVID crisis we saw a surge of maritime activity,” US Air Force Lt. Gen. Kevin Schneider claimed to Reuters in a Friday phone call.

The senior US Air Force official added that the increased naval activity of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), and other Chinese sea-based forces, has been within the South China Sea and East China Sea, where there is a current territorial dispute between Beijing and Tokyo.

“I don’t see troughs, I see plateaus,” said Schneider, speaking on the future of this increased activity.

He asserted that vessels in the South China Sea have been harassed by China’s ships in recent months.

In recent weeks, the US has increased its own presence in the region and patrolled the South China Sea with two supersonic B-1B Lancer bombers based out of Guam. At the time, it was also reported that the PLAN was preparing for dual-aircraft carrier drills in both the East and South China Seas for August.

The US military’s recent comments come amid Washington’s accusations that Beijing failed to contain the novel coronavirus within the bounds of Wuhan, China.

China has also declared a fishing ban in parts of the South China Sea which runs from May 1 to August 16. The ban includes areas in the sea that are also claimed by Vietnam and the Philippines, though China has not arrested any fishermen from those countries for violating such restrictions in the past,according to AFP.

China praises Russian SU-57

Earlier in May, the new Russian next-generation Su-57 fighter jets, capable of destroying all types of air, ground or naval surface targets, passed all tests and fulfilled all set requirements.

A Chinese expert from the Sohu media outlet praised the new Russian cutting edge Su-57 fighter, noting that Russia has made a "breakthrough", since Su-57 is the first fifth-generation plane with the abilities of a sixth-generation aircraft.

The expert outlined the possibility of an unmanned piloting mode and artificial-intelligence combat capabilities. Technology implemented in the Su-57 can allow it to have extreme overload, only limited by the amount of physical abuse tolerable by the pilot.

"Another five-generation aircraft made a breakthrough, as the Russian Su-57 was tested for the first time. Unmanned driving mode allowed Russia's fifth-generation aircraft to use the technology of the sixth-generation aircraft, and then the Russian military ordered immediate production", the expert's article said.

The trials of the Su-57 jets were conducted earlier in May , resulting in the fighters fulfilling all requirements.

The planes, capable of destroying all types of surface targets, were ordered by Russian Ministry of Defence in 2019.

North kivu's SMB may face justice for "illegal mining title"

The Co-op of the Operators Operators operators of Masisi (COOPERAMMA S. A) lodged a complaint with the General of Goma against the the mining company (SMB) on Thursday, June 04, 2020.SMB is blamed for having obtained "illegal and irregular" mining titles to work in the of mining square in of territory in North Kivu.

" We have had labor conflicts for almost 25 years, and today the opinion must remember that the time is right for justice to address the problem and solve it in a short time. We encourage SMB to have obtained mining titles in an illegal way and in our complaint we also talk about the use of fake documents", said Vincent Zilimwabagabo, president of the COOPERAMMA.

The COOPERAMMA seeks from Congolese justice, the cancellation of SMB titles, which will lead to its fall and transfer of the mining mining square. In 2018, the Congolese Minister of Mines had judged the SMB titles of "legal and regular" while believing that it is the COOPERAMMA that should move out of the mining square of Rubaya in Masisi.

Today is the first time that the has attacked SMB titles after several other complaints to denounce human rights violations in the mine. SMB, for its part, denounces mining fraud attempted by the, accusations rejected by the latter.

The two companies that exploit coltan in North Kivu were bound by a MOU which ended in October 2019., which allowed the peaceful exploitation of ore in the of mining square, but since its expiration, several mining operators craft have been killed, others tortured in their opposition, as well as several mining fraud orchestrated.

DRC army claims to have taken control of all the strongholds of the ADF and promises to end the killing

The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) claims to have taken control of all the strongholds of the Ugandan rebels of the Alliance of Armed Forces Alliance (ADF).

According to Operations Commander Good I who told the press on Thursday, June 2020, 3, the recent killing of these rebels aims to push FARDC to abandon their former bases already conquered.

" We control all the strongholds of the ADF rebels, they have become moving rats but we are pursuing them and that's why they want revenge on the population. They know we're tracking them and they want to take us backso that they come to pick up the citzens fields where there's food. That's what the FARDC refused ", said General Jacques Nduru.

And he continued: " We promise that FARDC will continue operations in order to prevent these rebels. We are taking strategies for the killing to end ".

He has also reported that operations of the Congolese National Police will be strengthened (PNC) in the areas of Beni, so that the people are protected.