Africa News

Mali’s justice ministry announced on Thursday it had opened an investigation into the deaths of 17 soldiers killed in an attack on their base, as Malians observed the first of three days of mourning. The government declared a state of emergency after two groups – one jihadist, the other ethnic …

The UN refugee agency reports that 26 000 people have fled South Sudan to Uganda this month. Andreas Needham, spokesperson for the UN refugee agency, said on Friday that thousands of South Sudanese have left their country since fighting erupted on July 7 between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir …

Libya’s government has summoned the French ambassador amid concern over the French military presence in the country. Three French officers were killed last week in eastern Libya, and the French government acknowledged that special forces are operating there as part of Western efforts to support the unity government.

The UN’s special envoy on Libya on Tuesday called on all the country’s armed groups to unite against ISIS. “The fight against Daesh, which is the number one enemy, must be a Libyan fight and a united fight,” said Martin Kobler, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS, after meeting French …

President Francois Hollande said on Wednesday three French soldiers were killed in a helicopter accident in Libya during an intelligence-gathering mission in the North African state. They are the first confirmed Western military casualties since it became known this year that special forces were operating on the ground in Libya. …

China delivered a stealth corvette to the Algerian Navy last week, marking a new high in the nation’s export of military ships. The C28A-class guided missile corvette was commissioned by the Algerian Navy on July 12 at a port of Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Group in Shanghai, becoming the third of its …

Algeria has strongly condemned the terrorist attack that targeted a military camp in Nampala, Mali, on Tuesday, the spokesman of the ministry of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday. “We strongly condemn the terrorist attack perpetrated Tuesday against a military camp in Nampala, Mali,” Abdelaziz Benali Cherif said.

South Sudan has topped the peace and security agenda at the recent African Union summit, with leaders looking for a “quick solution” to the recent outbreak of violence there. AU peace and security commissioner Smail Chergui told journalists, following the end of the AU summit on Monday, that heads of …

Libyan rival politicians are meeting in Tunisia to search for a way to break the deadlock in the country’s crisis, including changes to the UN-brokered road map for its political future. Libya is split between rival governments and parliaments based in the western and eastern regions, each backed by different …

More than 5 000 people have fled crisis-hit South Sudan into neighbouring Uganda since the latest outbreak of violence began on July 7, the UN said on Tuesday, voicing fears that more could follow. An estimated 90% of those who have crossed the border in recent days were women and …