Gunmen kill 30 travellers in Nigeria's unstable southeast, says Amnesty
Gunmen shot dead at least 30 travellers in an attack in Nigeria's southeastern Imo state, Amnesty International said on Friday, raising fresh concerns about violence in a region rife with insecurity.
More than 20 vehicles and trucks were set ablaze by the attackers, who were suspected to be members of the banned separatist Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Amnesty said in a post on X.
Imo police spokesperson Henry Okoye confirmed the attack occurred in Thursday's early hours, but declined comment on the number of fatalities. One of the assailants was killed by the police, Okoye told Reuters on Friday.
A police statement said the gunmen, operating in three groups, barricaded the highway at about 4am GMT and shot sporadically before setting vehicles ablaze.
"A full-scale search and cordon operation is currently under way, with security operatives combing nearby forests and surrounding areas where the suspects are believed to be hiding," the police said in the statement.
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Daily Maverick
a day ago
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Former pupil kills 10 people and himself in shooting at Austrian school
Former pupil attacked secondary school in Graz He killed nine, then himself, interior minister says Graz Hospital later confirms death of 10th victim Austria to hold three days of mourning By Francois Murphy, Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich and Leonhard Foeger Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said six of those killed at the school were female and three were male, without giving any details of their ages. Graz Hospital later confirmed the death of a 10th person. Karner said another dozen people had been injured but gave no further details about the victims. Austrian media said most were pupils. Police said they believed the 21-year-old Austrian shooter, who was found dead in a bathroom, had been operating alone when he entered the school with two guns and opened fire. His motive remained unclear. Director General of Public Security Franz Ruf told state broadcaster ORF that victims were found outside and inside the school on various floors, adding the gunman had been armed with both a shotgun and a pistol, both found at the scene. Chancellor Christian Stocker called the shooting a 'dark day in the history of our country'. 'There are no words for the pain and grief that we all – all of Austria – are feeling right now.' Stocker travelled to Graz where, at a press conference alongside officials including Karner, he announced three days of national mourning. A minute's silence was set for 10 a.m. (0800 GMT) on Wednesday. Ruf also told ORF the suspect had left behind a farewell letter, both in analogue and digital form, in which he said goodbye to his parents but gave no indication of a motive, which was still being investigated. More than 300 police were called in after shots were heard around 10 a.m. at the school, for pupils of 15 and above. Ambulances also arrived within minutes as the premises were cordoned off. The Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper said in an unconfirmed report that the suspect had opened fire on pupils in two classrooms, one of which had once been his own. It said he had been a victim of bullying. Julia Ebner, an extremism expert at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue think-tank, said the incident appeared to be the worst school shooting in Austria's post-war history. Foreign leaders including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed shock. Austria has one of the most heavily armed civilian populations in Europe, with an estimated 30 firearms per 100 people, according to the Small Arms Survey, an independent research project. Four people were killed and 22 injured when a convicted jihadist went on a shooting spree in the centre of Vienna in 2020. In November 1997, a 36-year-old mechanic shot dead six people in the town of Mauterndorf before killing himself.
IOL News
a day ago
- IOL News
Nighttime curfew in LA as Trump vows to 'liberate' city
A nighttime curfew was in force in Los Angeles on Tuesday as local officials sought to get a handle on protests that Donald Trump claimed were an invasion by a "foreign enemy." Image: SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images A nighttime curfew was in force in Los Angeles from Tuesday as local officials sought to get a handle on protests that Donald Trump claimed were an invasion by a "foreign enemy." Looting and vandalism has scarred the heart of America's second biggest city as largely peaceful protests over immigration arrests turned ugly after dark. "I have declared a local emergency and issued a curfew for downtown Los Angeles to stop the vandalism, to stop the looting," Mayor Karen Bass told reporters. One square mile (2.5 square kilometers) of the city's more-than-500 square mile area will be off-limits until 6am (1300 GMT) for everyone apart from residents, journalists and emergency services, she added. One protester told AFP the arrest of migrants in a city with large foreign-born and Latino populations was the root of the unrest. "I think that obviously they're doing it for safety," she said of the curfew. "But I don't think that part of the problem is the peaceful protests. It's whatever else is happening on the other side that is inciting violence." Small-scale and largely peaceful protests -- marred by eye-catching acts of violence -- began Friday in Los Angeles as anger swelled over ramped up arrests by immigration authorities. At their largest, a few thousand people have taken to the streets, but smaller mobs have used the cover of darkness to set fires, daub graffiti and smash windows. Overnight Monday 23 businesses were looted, police said, adding that more than 500 people had been arrested over recent days. Protests have also sprung up in cities around the country, including New York, Atlanta, Chicago and San Francisco. Video Player is loading. 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Next Stay Close ✕ Provide protection Trump has ordered 4,000 National Guard to Los Angeles, along with 700 active-duty Marines, in what he has claimed is a necessary escalation to take back control -- despite the insistence of local law enforcement that they could handle matters. A military spokeswoman said the soldiers were expected to be on the streets later Tuesday or some time on Wednesday. Their mission will be to guard federal facilities and to accompany "federal officers in immigration enforcement operations in order to provide protection." Demonstrators told AFP the soldiers "should be respected" because they hadn't chosen to be in LA, but Lisa Orman blasted it as "ridiculous." "I was here for the Dodger parade," she said referring to the LA team's World Series victory. "It was 100 times bigger. So the idea that the Marines here, it's a big show. The president wants a big show." The Pentagon said the deployment would cost US taxpayers $134 million. Photographs issued by the Marine Corps showed men in combat fatigues using riot shields to practice crowd control techniques at the Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach. Behaving like a tyrant Two dozen miles (40 kilometers) north, the sprawling city of Los Angeles spent the day much as it usually does: tourists thronged Hollywood Boulevard, tens of thousands of children went to school and commuter traffic choked the streets. But at a military base in North Carolina, Trump was painting a much darker picture. "What you're witnessing in California is a full-blown assault on peace, on public order and national sovereignty," he told troops at Fort Bragg. "This anarchy will not stand. We will not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy." California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who has clashed with the president before, said Trump's shock militarization of the city was the behavior of "a tyrant, not a president." "Sending trained warfighters onto the streets is unprecedented and threatens the very core of our democracy," he said. In a live-streamed address, Newsom called Trump a "president who wants to be bound by no law or constitution, perpetuating a unified assault on American tradition. "California may be first, but it clearly will not end here." In a filing to the US District Court in Northern California, Newsom asked for an injunction preventing the use of troops for policing.
eNCA
3 days ago
- eNCA
Malaysia bus crash kills at least 15, mostly students
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