In news from Africa, the UN Security Council has imposed sanctions on Eritrea following accusations of Eritrea supplying funds and arms to militants in Somalia. Eritrea becomes the first new country to be subjected to UN sanctions since they were imposed on Iran in 2006. Somalia’s UN ambassador Elmi Ahmed Duale praised the UN vote.

Elmi Ahmed Duale: “One, Eritrea has been giving refuge and safe haven to known terrorists, rebels, spoilers and violators of human rights whose purpose all along was to destabilize Somalia. These same groups have committed crimes against humanity and crimes against the Somali people. Eritrea — two, Eritrea has been providing, financing and facilitating the flow of arms and resources to the extremists and terrorist elements in Somalia.”

Eritrea’s UN ambassador Araya Desta accused the United States of pushing the sanctions.

Araya Desta: “The Security Council has decided to impose sanctions on Eritrea on fabricated lies mainly concocted by the Ethiopian regime and the US state, the US administration. As I said before, Eritreans haven’t done anything. All these sanctions have no relevance. They were totally irrelevant with no concrete evidences.”