#SouthAfrica. The governemnt has decided to close the South African embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria, effective from 30 June this year.

Attack on hospital run by Doctors Without Borders leaves at least 4 dead in South Sudan.

JUBA, South Sudan — Doctors Without Borders said Saturday that its facility in a remote part of South Sudan was targeted in an aerial bombardment that resulted in some casualties.

The hospital is located in a northern town known as Old Fangak, some 475 kilometres (295 miles) outside of Juba, the capital.

The medical charity, known by its French initials, MSF, released a statement on X condemning the attack on its hospital, said to be the only source of medical care for 40,000 residents, including many people displaced by flooding.

It called the attack “a clear violation of international law.”

Fangak County Commissioner, Biel Butros Biel, told The Associated Press that at least four people were killed in the aerial attack, including a nine-month-old child. He added that at least 25 people were wounded, though an assessment of the damage was ongoing.

It was not immediately clear why the facility was targeted, apparently by government troops. A spokesman for South Sudan’s military could not be reached for comment.

A spokesperson for MSF said their hospital in Old Fangak was hit by airstrikes shortly after 4 a.m. on Saturday. They spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the press.

The attack caused significant damage to the hospital’s pharmacy, destroying all medical supplies. There was no definitive word on casualties.

Additional strikes occurred hours later near the Old Fangak market, causing widespread panic and displacement of civilians, according to several eyewitnesses.

Old Fangak is one of several major towns in Fangak county, an ethnically Nuer part of the country that has been historically associated with the opposition party loyal to Riek Machar, South Sudan’s first vice president, who is now under house arrest for alleged subversion.

The town has been ravaged since 2019 by flooding that has left few options for people to escape the fighting. One eyewitness, Thomas Mot, said that some left by boat, while others fled on foot into flood waters.

The attack on the hospital is the latest escalation in a government-led assault on opposition groups across the country.

Since March, government troops backed by soldiers from Uganda have conducted dozens of airstrikes targeting areas in neighboring Upper Nile State.

#Uganda's military chief, the son of President Yoweri #Museveni, says he is holding an opposition activist in his basement and has threatened violence against him, after the man's party said he was abducted by armed men last week.

During today’s meeting in #Doha, we discussed the critical importance of upholding ceasefire commitments, addressing root causes of the conflict, and responding to the urgent humanitarian situation in eastern #DRC.

Southern African #troops have started evacuating the eastern Democratic Republic of #Congo where they had been stranded since a January offensive by the #M23 armed group.

Death toll rises to 26 in Nigerian artisanal mining site attack.

#LAGOS — The death toll from a raid by gunmen on an artisanal gold mining site in northwestern Nigeria has risen to 26, Amnesty International told AFP on Saturday.

The additional victims were villagers who tried to escape during the attack, said Amnesty’s Nigeria’s country director, Isa Sanusi.

Mining union official Yahaya Adamu Gobirawa told AFP that bandits using “heavy guns” had attacked the site in Gobirawar Chali village, in Zamfara State’s Maru local government area on Thursday.

Police did not confirm the attack, saying they were still investigating.

Zamfara is one of several states in northwestern and central Nigeria terrorised by criminal gangs, called bandits by local people.

They raid villages, kill and abduct residents across the country’s rural hinterlands, where government presence, infrastructure, and security are thin.

Gobirawa described the attack as “unprovoked”. The assailants had first raided the site on Tuesday “but were repelled”, he added.

On Thursday, “they returned in much larger numbers and overwhelmed the miners and the vigilantes”, he said.

“The bandits were better armed because they were using heavy guns.”

Last year, the Zamfara state government set up the 5,200-strong Zamfara Community Guards in a bid to keep communities safe.

#Rwanda was not allowed to mention FDLR but to Leave DRC unconditionally.

President Cyril #Ramaphosa said that during his closed discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, his counterpart affirmed his readiness to pursue an unconditional ceasefire amid the ongoing conflict with #Russia.

Men posing as women offering ‘relaxing massage’ arrested for robbing client Ksh.280K during session.#Kenya

President Ruto urges new CSs and PSs to focus on service delivery, avoid distractions