Yearly Archives: 2016

US troops join in Somali raid

US troops took part in a helicopter-borne special forces raid against Shabaab insurgents in Somalia, a US official said on Wednesday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the operation overnight on Tuesday to Wednesday as a “US partnered raid” with US troops accompanying Somali forces. The raid …

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UN defends Sahara trip

Morocco has accused UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of “abandoning neutrality, objectivity and impartiality” during a recent visit to Western Saharan refugee camps in southern Algeria. Morocco’s Foreign Ministry has criticized Ban’s trip in a statement, condemning the use of the term “occupation” in describing the territorial status of the Western …

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Tunisia: three terrorists killed and a soldier near Ben Guerdane after new clashes

Three terrorists and a soldier were killed Wednesday in new clashes in Ben Guerdane (East), target Monday of jihadist attacks unprecedented making 55 dead. “Two terrorists were killed (….) By police and military units”, said initially the Ministries of Defence and Tunisian Interior said in a statement on 9 March. …

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Special forces stage helicopter raid on Somalia's Shabaab

Mogadishu – Special forces operatives in two helicopters staged an overnight raid on Somalia’s Shabaab insurgents, government officials and the al-Qaeda-linked gunmen said on Wednesday. The raid, reportedly by foreign troops, targeted the Shabaab-controlled town of Awdhegele, some 50km west of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.

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African leaders end Burundi peace talks

Bujumbura – Five African heads of state met with Burundi’s president in Bujumbura on Friday at the end of a two-day visit to push for talks to end the country’s political crisis. The delegation’s visit came just days after a trip by UN chief Ban Ki-moon as international efforts to …

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Tunisia arrests 17 jihadists

Tunisia arrested 17 suspects on Tuesday in a manhunt for jihadists near the Libyan border after a deadly raid it described as an unprecedented assault by the Islamic State group (ISIS). Analysts said Monday’s co-ordinated attacks showed jihadists are keen to spread their influence from Libya to Tunisia and to …

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Mali court rejects treason charge against Keita

Mali’s High Court on Monday rejected an attempt by a civil society collective to have President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita face a charge of high treason. A group of associations filed the complaint against Keita last week to the court, which is competent to judge the country’s leaders if accused by …

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Huge weapons haul seized heading for Somalia

Nairobi – Almost 2 000 assault rifles plus grenade launchers and heavy machine guns were seized by an Australian warship, the navy said on Monday, part of international efforts to police the seas off Somalia. Sailors from Australia’s HMAS Darwin boarded the fishing boat that was “headed towards the Somalia …

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