TIG Post

Tag: assassination

  • Kenya’s Opposition leader Raila Odinga alleges threat on his life

    Kenya’s Opposition leader Raila Odinga alleges threat on his life

    The leader of the Kenyan opposition, Raila Odinga, has alleged a deadly threat on his life on Friday March 31 2023, during the anti-government protests in Nairobi.

    Odinga claimed that as he was travelling around the city, organizing protests, his car was shot at several times.

    He displayed to reporters bullet-related dents on his armored truck.

    “There is no mistaking, for that the intention was basically to kill,” Odinga said. The politician accused the government of being behind the incident.

    “I don’t think any police officer could aim to come to shoot and assassinate politicians without being commanded from the very top,” Odinga said.

    Two escort cars also had their rear windscreens shattered. Inside the vehicles, the strong smell of tear gas was still present. Odinga said he had instructed his lawyers to proceed to court over the incident.

    The 78-year-old long-time candidate for president is one of the leading figures behind anti-government demonstrations. He insisted the protests will only stop after the government lowers the cost of basic food items and allows access to the 2022 election results from the electoral commission’s main computers.

    The opposition is blaming President William Ruto for the rising cost of living and alleges he illegally manipulated his election in last year’s polls, although the Supreme Court has upheld the validity of the election results.

    President Ruto, who on Thursday arrived back in the country from a four-day trip in Belgium and Germany, has remained adamant that the ongoing protests are illegal.

    Police have been using force to disperse protesters and so far four people are reported to have died since the protests started last week. The protests have sparked counter violence against opposition targets.

    The independent Policing Oversight Authority is investigating four incidents of police shooting and killing protesters as well allegations that police failed to respond to a report on the damaging of private property. The authority has urged police to abide by the law while protecting life and property.

    Civil society groups that include Amnesty Kenya and the Kenya Human Rights Commission have expressed concerns over the abuse of human rights by the police during the protests and urged police to uphold their service to humanity.

  • Mexican mayor assassinated in town hall massacre

    Officials report that at least 17 other people, including the mayor of a tiny town in western Mexico, have been killed by gunmen.

    According to police, armed individuals attacked the San Miguel Totolapan town hall on Wednesday around 14:00 (19:00 GMT). Photos posted online to demonstrate how bullet-riddled it is.

    Mayor Conrado Mendoza Almeda’s left-wing PRD party condemned his “cowardly” assassination and demanded justice.

    The attack has been blamed on the Los Tequileros criminal gang, which is linked to a powerful drug cartel.

    Police officers and council workers were also killed in the massacre, with graphic images of bloodied bodies lying on the ground circulating on social media.

    Mr Mendoza Almeda’s father, the former mayor Juan Mendoza Acosta, was also killed – in his home – before the attack moved to the town hall.

    A highway in the state of Guerrero, where San Miguel Totolapan lies, was reportedly briefly blocked by large vehicles to prevent security forces from getting into the city.

    Bullet-ridden San Miguel Totolapan town hall, Mexico. Photo: 5 October 2022
    IMAGE SOURCE,EPA Image caption, The town hall was riddled with bullets during the violent attack

    Even by the violent standards of Guerrero state, this was a shocking attack, reports the BBC’s Mexico correspondent, Will Grant.

    San Miguel Totolapan lies in the heart of a region known as Tierra Caliente, a violent part of drug cartel-controlled western Mexico.

    Various groups battle for control of the lucrative drug routes north along the Pacific corridor, our correspondent adds.

    In a preliminary report seen by local media, Guerrero’s attorney general said that as well as the 18 people who were killed, three others were wounded.

    Following the attack, the defence ministry said it was deploying army and navy units to the area to find the gunmen.

    Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado Pineda tweeted to say she deeply regretted the deaths.

    Shortly before the attack, alleged members of Los Tequileros released a video on social networks announcing its return to the region, where they had been fighting a rival drug gang.

    The criminal group devastated Guerrero between 2015 and 2017 – and was known for threatening mayors of the region – until its leader, Raybel Jacobo de Almonte was assassinated.

    De Almonte was known as El Tequilero – the Tequila Drinker – and his gang took their name from him.

  • Gun jams during bid to kill Argentina vice-president

    Argentina’s Vice-President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has narrowly avoided assassination after a gunman’s weapon jammed as he aimed at her.

    Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was greeting supporters outside her home when a man emerged from the crowd and pointed a handgun in her face.

    President Alberto Fernandez said the gun was loaded with five bullets but failed to fire when triggered.

    Ms Fernández de Kirchner is involved in a corruption trial and was returning from court. She denies the charges.

    Police said the gunman, who local media identified as a 35-year-old Brazilian man, has been taken into custody. They are attempting to establish a motive for the attack.

    Addressing the nation late on Thursday night, Mr Fernandez said: “Cristina remains alive because, for a reason not yet technically confirmed, the gun, which contained five bullets, did not fire.”

    He went on to condemn the attacker and said the attempt on Ms de Kirchner’s life was one of the “most serious” incidents since the country returned to democracy in 1983.

    “We can disagree, we can have deep disagreements, but hate speech cannot take place because it breeds violence and there is no chance of violence coexisting with democracy,” Mr Fernandez said.

    He also declared a national holiday on Friday to allow Argentines time to “express themselves in defence of life, democracy and in solidarity with our vice president”.

    Footage shared on local media showed the man aiming a gun inches away from her head and appearing to attempt a shot. She then lowers her head but no shots were fired.

    Sources; BBCsports