Washington – US President Barack Obama has asked key advisors to draw up options for ratcheting up the fight against the Islamic State group, including opening a new front in Libya. Eighteen months after a US-led coalition began airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, multiple administration sources said on …

Addis Ababa – UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned African leaders on Saturday of the need for action in troubled Burundi at a summit hoping to end armed crises across the continent. African Union leaders face an unprecedented vote on deploying a 5 000-strong peacekeeping force despite Burundi’s vehement opposition, …

London – British, French and US military personnel have travelled to Libya to identify potential targets for airstrikes against Islamic States (ISIS) forces, the Sunday Times reported. Six British air force officers joined intelligence officers, diplomats and US and French military personnel on a reconnaissance mission near the coastal city …

Cairo – Two Egyptian policemen and two soldiers were killed on Sunday in two bombing attacks in the country’s restive Sinai Peninsula, where ISIS jihadists have regularly attacked security forces. In one attack at dawn, a remotely-detonated bomb hit a police vehicle as security forces were carrying out a search …

Paris – France provides one billion euros to Tunisia over the next five years as part of an economic support program, the French presidency said Friday. “A major aspect of this plan is to help poor regions and youth, with emphasis on employment,” said the office of French President Francois …

In Libya, negotiations are continuing around the composition of the future government. Following the rejection of its first proposal by a large majority by the Parliament of Tobruk, on Monday, the Libyan Prime Minister, Fayez el-Sarraj has ten days to submit a new cabinet to MPs. “At the request of …

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has dissolved the long-standing military spy directorate known as the DRS, creating a new agency under the control of the presidency in another step to ease the military out of politics, security sources said. Bouteflika, rarely been seen in public since he suffered a stroke in …

Mogadishu – Residents say Kenyan forces have pulled out of a town in southwestern Somalia where Islamic extremists killed Kenyan peacekeepers recently. Ahmed Hassan, who lives in El-Ade, said the town is “no man’s land now” after Kenyan troops started withdrawing early on Tuesday and heading toward the Kenyan border.

Nairobi – The bodies of Kenyan soldiers killed when Al-Qaeda-linked militants overran their base in Somalia were flown home late on Monday draped in the national flag as a rescue operation was underway for survivors. Defence Minister Raychelle Omamo called the dead “VIPs, the fallen heroes” as four coffins arrived …

Juba – South Sudan’s president and a rebel leader both merit sanctions because their troops have targeted civilians and broken international law, a UN panel of experts says in a new report obtained by The Associated Press. The report also calls for an arms embargo on the oil-rich but economically …