![[Senegal] Inhabitant of Medina Gounass, one of the worst affected areas of the flooded suburbs of the Senegalese capital. When heavy rain started flooding homes in Dakar’s shanty towns in August, the government launched an emergency rescue plan across t](https://assets.thenewhumanitarian.org/s3fs-public/styles/responsive_large_2x/public/images/20059212.jpg.webp?itok=5KlBEoed "Un mois après les pluies torrentielles, les rues des quartiers de Dakar restent inondées")
Share & more
A group of about 300 mothers in the northern province of Cabinda, protesting against the forced conscription of their sons into the Angolan army, were last week violently dispersed by
the paramilitary Rapid Intervention Police.
"The police arrested four women thought to be leaders and violently dispersed the demonstrators," a resident in Cabinda told IRIN on Friday.
"The next day the women went to the streets again to demand the freedom of their colleagues and a response to their demands. Again, the police whipped the demonstrators and dispersed them violently." According to the source, the arrested women were then released by the local authorities to prevent any further disturbances.
The 21 April demonstration by the Cabinda mothers is believed to be the first public protest against the compulsory military draft for all able-bodied men born in 1978, declared recently by the hard-pressed Angolan government in the renewed war against the UNITA rebel movement.
Oil-rich Cabinda is home to the separatist rebel group FLEC, which is calling for the province's independence from Angola. "People don't identify themselves with the Angolan conflict and refuse to join the army," the resident said.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
