ZAMBIA has sent 530 peacekeepers to the Central African Republic (CAR) on a United Nations (UN) stabilisation mission. Defence Minister, Richwell Siamunene said Zambia had once again continued providing troops to the UN towards the attainment of peace and security in war torn countries. Mr Siamunene said at the send off parade of the Second […]

South Sudan peace deal monitors have called on South Sudanese parties to urgently demonstrate flexibility and spirit of compromise to implement the August 2015 peace deal by forming the unity government. The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) Chairman Festus Mogae warned in a statement received in Juba on Wednesday that the peace deal aimed […]

The United Nations Security Council will receive the Special Envoy of the African Union Commission’s Chairperson for Western Sahara, Joakim Alberto Chissano, to discuss the recent developments in the occupied Sahrawi territories. The meeting, which will be held at the request of the AU Peace and Security Council, will be devoted to the examination of […]

An Egyptian court postponed on Saturday its verdict and sentence in the trial of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, who is charged with spying for Qatar. The head judge of the criminal court said the verdict was postponed to “May 7 to continue consultations,” in brief remarks aired on television.

South Sudan’s top rebel military commander Simon Gatwech Dual returned to Juba on Monday in a key step forward in a floundering peace process, calling for an end to war. “We are one South Sudan,” rebel chief of staff Dual shouted, waving a walking stick in the air as he marched off the plane after […]

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has opened a preliminary probe into atrocities in Burundi over the last year, saying violence in the African nation has reportedly left more than 430 people dead and forced 230 000 to flee their homes.

A military general in Burundi who was an adviser to the country’s vice president and two others were shot dead in the capital, a military official said on Monday. It is the latest killing in an upsurge of violence including tortures and increased disappearances that have created a climate of fear and led more than […]

Libya’s Vice President Ahmed Maetig has expressed hope that the European Union (EU) will enter into an agreement with his country similar to that between the EU and Turkey restricting the flow of migrants to Europe. Maetig made the appeal while in Rome meeting with Italy’s Interior Minister Angelino Alfano.

France has withdrawn its Sangaris forces from the Central African Republic, an official source said Tuesday, reiterating an announcement made during the swearing in ceremony of the country’s President Faustin Archange Touadera on March 30 in Bangui. Sangaris is the name given to the military operation deployed in December 2013 with an official objective of […]

The EU Council approved the establishment of a military training mission in the Central African Republic (EUTM RCA) to contribute to the country’s defence sector reform. The mission will be based in Bangui and operate for an initial period of two years. Following up an EU military advisory mission (EUMAM RCA), it will work towards […]

A German government spokesperson stated that the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, will host a meeting with the leaders of Britain, France, Italy and the American President, Barack Obama, on Monday to discuss global issues, including the Libyan affairs.

Military forces loyal to Libya’s eastern government said on Thursday they had carried out air strikes overnight against militants in Derna after Daesh militants retreated from positions close to the city. Derna has been the site of a three-way conflict between the forces loyal to the eastern government, an Islamist grouping known as the Derna […]

South Sudan’s peace deal may collapse after rebel leader Riek Machar failed to return to the capital as planned, a ceasefire monitor and observers said on Wednesday. Machar was meant to arrive on Monday, and then Tuesday, to assume the vice presidency under his rival President Salva Kiir and form a transitional government. He failed […]

Ethiopian troops were operating in South Sudan on Thursday after crossing the border to rescue some 125 Ethiopian children who were kidnapped during a bloody cattle raid, and top officials from both countries sought to co-ordinate their efforts. Peter Bashir Gbandi, acting South Sudanese foreign affairs minister, said South Sudan Chief of Staff Paul Malong […]

A new UN report says security threats from violent extremists and criminal groups in Mali are ‘alarming’ and the government must deploy more troops to the volatile north and step up efforts to reform its military and police.

A Mauritanian man suspected of planning and carrying out deadly attacks on popular tourist venues in Mali last year has been arrested in the Malian capital Bamako, security sources told AFP on Friday. Detained on Thursday in a Bamako suburb, the man is believed to have taken part in attacks in March, August and November […]

Nearly 145,000 Malian refugees have been living in neighbouring countries since the outbreak of the security crisis in Northern Mali in 2012, said the UNHCR office in Bamako. “Up to 31 March 2016, some 60,300 Malian refugees live in Niger, 50,600 in Mauritania and 33,800 in Burkina Faso,” according to figures published by the UN […]

Angry protesters on Monday forced their way into Kidal airport in northern Mali and set security installations on fire, besides ransacking the runway, the UN Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) said in a statement. “Kidal runway is crucial for supply of humanitarian aid, for support of the local populations as well as for MINUSMA operations,” the […]

Tunisia and the European Union (EU) stressed their “common engagement on special partnership and the work ahead to build a deeper cooperation, reflecting the exception of the Tunisian transition and the shared ambition to intensify co-operation relations in all fields.” In a joint declaration by Minister of Foreign Affairs Khemaies Jhinaoui and European Union High […]

Sudan’s foreign ministry on Sunday called on neighbouring Egypt to discuss two disputed border territories days after Cairo transferred two islands to Saudi Arabia. Sudan and Egypt have long disputed ownership of the Halayeb and Shalatin areas between the countries near to the Red Sea.

US Secretary of State John Kerry expressed support for Egypt during a brief stop in Cairo on Wednesday before he attends a summit of Gulf states in Saudi Arabia. Ties between Washington and Cairo have improved since the United States lifted a freeze on military aid that it had imposed on Egypt following the ouster […]

Algeria, Egypt and Italy on Sunday called for a political solution in Libya, on the eve of UN-mediated talks aimed at forming a unity government in the war-torn country. Libya plunged into chaos after a 2011 Nato-backed uprising toppled and killed veteran dictator Muammar Gaddafi, with heavily armed former rebels carving out their own fiefdoms […]

French President Francois Hollande heads to Algeria on Monday as the two nations, once bitter foes, work ever closer to resolve the political turmoil and jihadist threat in Mali and Libya. The trip will be Hollande’s second to Algiers since a 2012 visit during which he recognised France’s century of “brutal” rule over the Algerian […]

Algeria hopes to reopen its Libya embassy soon, the country’s minister of Maghreb affairs said on Wednesday as he visited Tripoli in the latest show of support for the UN-backed government. Algeria hosted several rounds of UN-brokered Libyan peace talks that helped paved the way for a December power-sharing deal under which the Government of […]

Algeria said on Sunday 14 armed militants have been killed since March and a big load of war arsenal discovered in the southeastern province of El Oued as part of a wide scale counter-terrorism operation. “After killing 14 terrorists last month in the locality of Kouinine and retrieving a large consignment of arms and ammunition, […]

Mayor of Sirte, Mukhtar Al Madani met in Tripoli officials from Libya Charity Organization led by Nehad Maitiq. The meeting focused on difficult humanitarian situation faced by the displaced families from Sirte. The mayor said they agreed on a work plan and a humanitarian support plan for the families displaced outside the city. Sirte government […]

Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya Martin Kobler announced Sunday the return of the United Nations mission to this country. Kobler said at a conference in Tripoli that “the UN mission will stay in Tripoli five days a week,” media reported.

The foreign ministers of France and Germany made an unannounced visit on Saturday to Tripoli in a show of support for the new unity government striving to bridge Libya’s deep political divisions. World powers see the Government of National Accord (GNA) as a crucial partner in tackling jihadists behind a string of deadly attacks in […]

French President Francois Hollande and his Egyptian counterpart called on Monday for the United Nations Security Council to meet over the security situation in Libya and take new measures after Egypt’s air force bombed Islamic State targets there.

French President Francois Hollande is meeting his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo on Sunday to boost military ties. The leaders are set to sign an arms deal worth more than $1bn following months of negotiations.

South Sudan’s rebel chief Riek Machar will return to the capital on Monday for the first time since war began, his spokesman said, a key step in salvaging a floundering peace agreement. Machar’s return as part of the August 2015 peace deal is seen as the best hope yet for ending more than two years […]

An Ethiopian official says that armed groups have killed more than 140 civilians near Ethiopia’s border with South Sudan. The attackers came from South Sudan and killed civilians, including women and children, Getachew Reda, Ethiopia’s communications minister, told the Associated Press on Saturday. “The Ethiopian defence force is currently chasing after the perpetrators,” said Reda, […]

Foreign Office Minister for the MENA Region Tobias Ellwood reaffirmed the United Kingdom’s “commitment to stand with Tunisia in helping defeat terrorism.” “The security that Tunisia is requiring is the security we need,” he said in a telephone interview with TAP on Wednesday. “We want to stand by Tunisia to get tourism back and help […]

The Tunisian Foreign Minister, Khamees Al-Jhinawy, stated that the international support to Libya is flawed as successive Libyan governments failed to clearly define its needs and priorities. In a high level meeting concerning the international support to the Government of National Accord (GNA), on Tuesday in Tunisia, Al-Jhinawy stated that effects of aid by countries […]

Thousands of Egyptians angered by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s decision to hand over two islands to Saudi Arabia called yesterday for the government to fall, chanting a slogan from the 2011 Arab Spring uprising. Their protests signalled that the former general, under mounting criticism now also for the struggling economy, no longer enjoys the broad […]