Africa Briefs

Mass hunger fears in MozambiqueTens of thousands of people are being deprived of humanitarian aid in northern Mozambique as extremist militants intensify an Islamist insurgency, the UN agency World Food Programme has said.Jihadists have been waging a violent campaign in the gas-rich Cabo Delgado province since 2017, launching sporadic attacks on towns and villages in a bid to establish a caliphate.The insurgency has claimed more than 1 500 lives and displaced at least 250 000 - a tenth of the total provincial population.Lola Castro, the WFP’s regional director for Southern Africa, said that of those 250 000 internally displaced, "we are accessing 180 000" - leaving 70 000 people without aid.Cabo Delgado's insurgency has increasingly hampered humanitarian assistance in the area in recent months, forcing the International Committee for the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders to suspend operations in the town of Macomia in June. – Nampa/AFPNigerian doctors strike over pay, PPEsNigerian doctors in state-run hospitals began an indefinite strike on Monday over pay, overcrowded facilities and a lack of personal protective equipment, union leaders said.The industrial action by the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), which represents some 40% of doctors, is the latest in a string of stoppages by medics to hit Africa's most populous nation as it struggles to curb the spread of the coronavirus.There are over 40 000 resident doctors in Nigeria's state-run hospitals.Doctors have long complained of a lack of beds and drugs in hospitals and inadequate protective kits. Sokomba said other demands include life insurance coverage, a pay rise and payment of unsettled wages."We have arrears of 2014, 2015, 2016, salary shortfalls that were supposed to have been paid over six years ago, still pending," he said. – Nampa/AFPBurkina Faso’s gold mines raidedJihadists have made US$140 million from attacks on gold mines in Burkina Faso since 2016, according to a report commissioned by the government.The sector made up 11.4% of economic output in 2018. It accounts for 9 200 direct jobs and 26 100 indirect jobs, while the gold panning sub-sector employs 1.5 million people.But the industry has also become a welcome source of funding for jihadists and other armed movements in areas lacking in central authority, according to the report's author Ollo Kambou of the Burkina Economic and Social Observatory (OES).The report estimated the total cost of the attacks in terms of damage to property and wider effects to be 600 billion CFA francs (US$1.1 billion) since 2016, roughly one third of the state's entire revenue.A spiral of jihadist violence began five years ago in parallel with a gold rush. – Nampa/AFPMorocco locks down CasablancaMorocco imposed a lockdown on Casablanca and shut its schools Monday, the day pupils were due to return to classes, in a bid to stop the spread of Covid-19.The new measures, which include restrictions on movement and a night-time curfew, would be in place for two weeks in the commercial capital, the authorities said a statement issued late Sunday."We risk being overwhelmed by the virus," said health minister Khalid Ait Taleb.Morocco has seen a spike in coronavirus cases in recent weeks. It recorded 2 234 new infections on Sunday, a record for a single day, with 42% of them in Casablanca, home to 3.3 million people.Authorities decided on Monday to close educational institutions including primary, middle and high schools as well as universities. – Nampa/AFPSudan declares state of emergencySudan on Saturday declared a three-month national state of emergency after record-breaking torrential floods that cost 99 lives.Floods caused by more than a month of heavy rains have killed 99 people, injured 46 and left 100 000 damaged properties in their wake, one of the worst natural disasters in decades, according to state news agency SUNA.North Darfur in the country's west and Sennar state in the south were among the hardest hit areas.Heavy rains usually fall in Sudan from June to October, and the country faces severe flooding every year."The Blue Nile has reached an all-time high since records began more than a century ago," said the irrigation and water ministry last week. – Nampa/AFP

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