Africa News

Dozens of armed factions have battled for control of oil-rich Libya since the 2011 fall of longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi. This week, four days of intense fighting saw pro-unity government armed forces expand their control in the capital Tripoli, where dozens of militias operate. Further east, troops commanded by military …

The United States on Wednesday urged coalition partners to step up efforts to defeat Islamic State militants as top officials from 68 nations gathered to assess the fight to retake Iraq’s second largest city and advance on the extremists’ self-declared Syrian capital. “I recognise there are many pressing challenges in …

Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry welcomed the invitation by his US counterpart Rex Tillerson—during a phone call on Saturday—to participate in a ministerial conference titled “Coalition Against ISIS.” The conference will take place in Washington on 22 March.

As part of the efforts to achieve a political concord in Libya, the Chief of Staff of the armed forces, Mahmoud Hegazy, met on Sunday with UN special envoy to Libya Martin Kobler, who is currently visiting Egypt, the army spokesperson said in a statement on Facebook. The meeting discussed …

Senior army chiefs from the 5+5 Defense Initiative have agreed on the necessity to further enhance cooperation and better share experiences mainly on how to combat terrorism, the French Defense Ministry said on Monday. The 5+5 Defense Initiative includes five Maghreb countries: Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Libya and Mauritania, and five …

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned Thursday that the humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) continues to deteriorate, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here. With the upsurge in violence and the spread of hot spots since September 2016, more than 100,000 newly …

A United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) air operation dispersed heavily armed militiamen in the remote Central African Republic town of Bambari town on Sunday. According to a statement on Monday by MINUSCA, about 40 fighters from the Popular Front for the Renaissance of …

Four terrorist bunkers were destroyed Sunday by an Army detachment while seven members of terrorist supporting groups were arrested in Boumerdes and Sid Bel Abbes, the ministry of National Defence said in a statement. In a counterterrorism operation “a detachment of the People’s National Army destroyed four terrorist bunkers in …

The security situation in Mali “remains worrying” despite recent troop deployments and some progress on the country’s peace accord, the head of the UN’s peacekeeping force said on Saturday in Bamako. “The overall security situation remains worrying. We are all too frequently attacked by armed groups,” Herve Ladsous said at …

Egyptian and Palestinian leaders are holding talks in Cairo in what Egyptian media reports are branding a “reconciliation” meeting. Relations between Egypt and President Mahmoud Abbas’ administration have been tense over a range of issues, including Cairo’s contacts with factions in the Gaza Strip that did not involve Abbas’ Palestinian …