FULL REPORT FROM THE FRONTLINE: Intensification of fighting in Rutshuru

 Intensification of fighting in Rutshuru, the M23 have since Thursday occupied Miriki and Kimaka , two new localities located about ten kilometers from Kanyabayonga after violent fighting between the FARDC and the M23 /RDF, report several local sources. Following this situation, a new massive movement of the population fleeing  was observed in the area towards villages deemed secure. However, the rural commune of Kanyabayonga remains under the control of the FARDC, our sources added.

An attack opposing the young Wazalendo resistance fighters by the M23/RDF rebels broke out the morning of Thursday, June 27, in the village of Remeka in the territory of Masisi chiefdom of Bahunde. Local sources say 5 finalists were injured in the state exam center. Local sources say that 12 M23/RDF elements were killed and 3 young wazalendo resistance fighters. The bodies of the M23 elements were taken to the village of Kasake.

A resident of the village targeted by the M23 confides that these rebels burst into the village of Remeka to recover several cows which were stolen by a young man from the Wazalendo group 5 days ago. During the exchange of fire, civilians were injured, including finalist students taking a state exam.

“It all started with a theft of cows on Friday last week in an area occupied by the M23, they came to free these cows but they were attacked by the Wazalendo of the Mai Mai Kifuafua group who are in the village of Remeka . The position of the wazalendo installed in the village was set on fire by the M23. 12 M23 elements were killed and 3 young people wazalendo. As I speak to you, the rebels have just withdrawn from this village which has once again come under the control of wazalendo. 5 finalist students were injured, they were quickly taken to Katunda hospital but as we feared that the rebels would arrive there, the injured were evacuated to the village of Biriko,” explains a school Administrator from the center where students took exams.

Violent fighting has intensified since the morning of Friday June 28 between the Congolese army against the M23/RDF rebels around Kanyabayonga, in Lubero territory in the province of North Kivu according to local sources. Detonations of heavy and light weapons have been heard in the area since the morning. Some local sources claim that the rebels took control of the locality of Kamaka in the territory of Lubero and the village of Miriki.

Other sources indicate that m23 has made massive reinforcements both in human and other logistics and heavy attack is expected this weekend.The m23 vow to retake Kanyabayonga whic they see as a key for the easy taking of the territory of Lubero and  provision of good cemented attacks on Walikale.M23 have vowed not to back down however much casualities they have gotten from the recent front encounters.

Former Speaker of Somalia Parliament Mohamed Osman Jawaari has passed away in Mogadishu

  Former Speaker of Somalia Parliament Mohamed Osman Jawaari has passed away in Mogadishu, Friday; he was 79, sources.

Jawaari held multiple positions in Siyaad Barre’s government including serving as minister of transport, labour and social affairs. 

Before becoming a speaker, Jawaari who graduated from Somalia’s faculty of law was the chair of the constitutional experts committee which oversaw the drafting of the current constitution. 

Jawaari was elected a speaker in August 2012; and again was re-elected in January 2017. He resigned in April 2018 after pressure from the government of  Farmaajo

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Somalia’s National Security Advisor, Hussein Sheikh Ali, has unequivocally stated that the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) is not engaged in negotiations with the militant group Al-Shabaab.

 

This declaration comes in response to unverified social media reports suggesting that “secret” talks were underway with the terrorist organization.

“FGS is not in talks with al-Shabab (Al-Khawarij). The President has put forward clear conditions on this eventuality: They must sever any link with global terror groups and accept Somalia’s territorial integrity. They must be willing to pursue their political agenda peacefully,” Hussein Sheikh Ali asserted in a post on his official X account.

The President’s stance, sources say, outlines stringent prerequisites that Al-Shabaab must meet before any dialogue can be considered. These conditions are aimed at ensuring that the group renounces violence and aligns with the broader goals of national unity and peace.

The statement serves as a direct rebuttal to circulating rumors, reinforcing the government’s commitment to a transparent and uncompromising approach to national security. By setting these clear conditions, the Somali government reaffirms its position against engaging with terrorist groups without significant concessions and assurances.

The reaffirmation of this policy underscores the government’s broader strategy to combat terrorism and maintain stability within the country.

The National Security Advisor’s declaration is expected to quell speculations and reinforce the government’s firm position on countering terrorism while promoting a peaceful political process. The administration’s clear conditions for any potential talks with Al-Shabaab highlight the uncompromising nature of its strategy to ensure lasting peace and security in Somalia.

The alshabaab also reported that,If talks happen, AlShabaab intends to engage only with international partners, not the Somali government. Sources around the Al-Shabaab network suggest  Alshabaab  will soon release a statement clarifying their perspective on this matter.

M23's Corneille Nanga writes a letter to the UN security council

 

AFC/M23 - RESPONSE TO THE 2024 REPORT OF THE UNITED NATIONS GROUP OF EXPERTS

 

AFC/M23 - RESPONSE TO THE 2024 REPORT OF THE UNITED NATIONS GROUP OF EXPERTS...check the link below

https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:EU:d2e06758-a976-43d6-9848-3873c656540e

Russia's unknown and speculated space based nuclear weapon

 Putin has launched an expanded campaign to fight the West.

The main known unknown, publicly at least, is whether this is a space-based nuclear weapon in the most conventional sense of the term — nuclear warheads, atomic reactions, mushroom clouds. Or if, as many experts suspect, this is a nuclear-powered satellite carrying electronic weapons, which could cause havoc on Earth by crippling satellites that drive everything from weather forecasting and phone calls to wars and the global economy.

If it is the former — actual space nukes — that would be a violation of the United Nations’ Outer Space Treaty of 1967. One of its clauses says that countries are not allowed to “place nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit, or on celestial bodies, or station them in outer space in any other manner.”

One of the reasons this treaty was signed is the same reason that stationing nuclear weapons in orbit would be so dangerous: a country could loose a nuclear bomb from the heavens with very little warning. The sources said the Russian technology in question is designed to target American satellites, something experts say Russia — and other nuclear-armed powers — is more than capable of doing using intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, launched from the ground.

Nevertheless, actually deploying nuclear weapons in orbit “would be a new escalatory step by the Russian Federation, which has already trashed a lot of arms control treaties,” said Mariana Budjeryn, a senior research associate at the Project on Managing the Atom, part of the Harvard Kennedy School. “This would be putting a nuclear weapon in space — where there have been none before.”

Other experts, reading between the lines of the reports, believe that this weapons system would be nuclear-powered rather than nuclear-armed. There has also been speculation that this is all linked to a classified Russian satellite, named Cosmos 2575, launched last week.

2 dead ,20 injured in an M23 mortar attack on sake

 The South African National Defense Force (SANDF), confirms the mortar attack on one of our bases in Sake, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), on June 25, 2024, which caused two dead and twenty injured. Four seriously injured members were hospitalized, while the others, with minor injuries, are expected to be released soon. The families of the two members who lost their lives have been informed and all necessary procedures to bring them their mortal remains are being processed. The names of the deceased will be communicated in due course.