Pakistan on Wednesday said it fully supports peace and stability in Afghanistan, as the two sides agreed to work closely for the security and socio-economic development of the region. “Pakistan has firm resolve to fully support Afghanistan’s efforts for peace and stability, including through facilitating an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace and reconciliation process,” said

Libya’s internationally-recognised Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni has survived a shooting attack during a demonstration against the government, according to a government source. “A convoy of the prime minister was shot at as he was leaving Tobruk air base, the parliament’s temporary headquarter,” a senior government official said on Tuesday.

A top NATO commander warned Wednesday that “continual attacks” against Ukraine were hampering Kiev’s efforts to modernise its army enough to one day join the Western military alliance. “We are well aware of the formidable challenges that Ukraine is facing,” NATO’s political affairs and security chief Thrasyvoulos Terry Stamatopoulos told the start of a defence […]

French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday met with Central African Republic (CAR) interim president Catherine Samba-Panza for talks amid ongoing tensions in the troubled African nation, an official statement said. The two leaders discussed, notably, ongoing efforts to arrive at a settlement to the civil conflict that has killed tens of thousands over the past […]

Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Mali, Chief of Minusma, Mongi Hamdi said on Monday he convicted that “reason would prevail” so that the other party of the Coordination of Movements of Azawad (CMA) can sign “without delay” the peace and reconciliation agreement, following the Algiers process.

President Barack Obama on Thursday elevated Tunisia to new allied status, promising financial and security assistance to ensure the North African country’s transition to democracy remains a success in a fragile region. Obama announced in an Oval Office meeting with newly elected Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi that he intends to designate his country as […]

Kurdish forces have driven the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group from more than a dozen Assyrian Christian villages that the jihadists had captured in northeastern Syria, a monitor said May 27. “Following a 10-day offensive, Kurdish fighters took control early this week of 14 Assyrian villages that ISIL had controlled since […]

Russia has scrapped its controversial deal with France to buy two Mistral-class warships and is now designing its own alternative to the vessels, according to a source from Russia’s state military industrial complex. The €1.2bn deal, agreed between Russia and France in 2011, was initially planned to see two Mistral-class helicopter carrier vessels delivered to […]

Jean-Louis Destans, Deputy of the Eure Department at the French National Assembly and member of the Foreign Affairs Committee at this Assembly, Tuesday, reasserted France’s commitment to carry on supporting the democratic transition process in Tunisia.

US Vice President Joseph Biden has pledged “full support” for Iraqi efforts to retake territories lost to the Islamic State, as Baghdad bristled at the Pentagon chief’s criticism of Iraqi forces over the battle against the extremist group.

The European Commission Friday announced assistance worth 34 million euro for immediate food aid for the most vulnerable people in the Sahel region including Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Niger, Chad, and Burkina Faso. “Millions of people in the Sahel are exposed to the risk of hunger and it is crucial that we keep helping to […]

President of the Republic Abdelaziz Bouteflika reaffirmed in a message sent to Yemeni President Abd Rabbou Hadi, on the occasion of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the national unity of his country, “Algeria’s support to the Yemeni people and his support to the steps aimed at laying the foundations of democracy and establishing […]

The elimination of 25 terrorists in Bouira (122-km east of Algiers) was a “daring operation” and a “quality leap” reflecting the capacity of the People’s National Army and the security forces in the eradication of terrorist groups, said Thursday in Algiers the Minister of State, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ramtane Lamamra.

A dozen suspected militants were killed late Sunday in an operation launched by security forces in North Sinai, army sources said. The suspected militants were believed to be members of Egypt’s most active militant group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, which renamed itself “Sinai Province” after pledging allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State fighters in […]

Egypt has called for the UN to authorise military intervention in Libya on Wednesday (18.05.2015), despite western powers’ preference for the use of diplomacy in the war-torn north African state. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said “there is no choice” but to create a global coalition to confront the extremists in Libya after Cairo launched air […]

Hundreds of Libyan tribal leaders met in Cairo on Monday with Egyptian authorities hoping to enlist their help in preventing Islamist violence from spilling over their shared border. Islamist militants have thrived in the chaos of Libya, a North African oil producer that now has two competing governments backed by armed factions that four years […]

A Tunisian soldier opened fire on colleagues at a military base in the capital Tunis on May 25, killing an officer and two others and wounding 15 more before being shot dead himself, Tunisian authorities said. It was not immediately clear what had triggered the shooting at the Bouchoucha base in Tunis, but it alarmed […]

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will visit South Sudan on Wednesday, followed by a visit to Eritrea, according to a foreign ministry statement. The minister will discuss with his counterparts questions of terrorism, the situation in South Sudan, and the Horn of Africa region in terms of development and stability issues.

French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian will hold talks with his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar here tomorrow to “launch negotiations” for the 36 Rafale fighter jets that India has decided to buy from France. Drian will arrive here later tonight after his visit to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

The top U.S. commander for NATO said Thursday that America needs better intelligence on the ground in Ukraine, but that it appears Russian forces have used a recent lull in fighting to reposition for another offensive. Gen. Philip Breedlove, commander of NATO forces in Europe, told the Senate Armed Services Committee, that the situation in […]

Kiev stands for peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the principles of respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan within its internationally recognized borders, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said in a message, RIA Novosti reported May 4.

Egypt will be hosting an expanded forum for Libyan tribes later this month to “unify the Libyan people,” the Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday. The ministry said in a statement that the forum aims to give Libya the “necessary boost toward political dialogue” and endorse national reconciliation.

The platform of civil society organizations in Mali, bringing together religious figures, women’s organizations and youth associations reiterated during a big meeting held recently in Bamako, the support for Peace and Reconciliation Agreement initialed on 1 March in Algiers. In the presence of a large crowd, politicians, local personalities and opinion leaders, the various speakers […]

Secretary of State John Kerry made an unannounced trip to Somalia Tuesday in a show of solidarity with a government trying to defeat al-Qaida-allied militants and end decades of war in the African country. He is the first top US diplomat ever to visit Somalia.

US Secretary of State John Kerry held talks with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday on security co-operation, after calling for unity in the face of terror attacks. Kerry’s trip to the east African nation is the first high-level visit since 2012, and comes after years of tensions surrounding Kenyatta after he was charged by […]

India and France will hold the first formal consultations this week for concluding the Rafale deal announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Paris last month. Indian and French sources said the two sides will discuss the broad contours of the way forward to finalize the “government to government” deal for 36 fighter jets […]