Africa

Egypt’s military said Tuesday its air force had carried out a desert raid, killing “a large number of terrorist elements” responsible for the deaths of 16 policemen earlier this month. The policemen were killed in an October 20 shootout with militants on the road between Cairo and the Bahariya oasis …

A joint anti-jihadist force linking countries in the Sahel began operations on Wednesday, the French military mission in the region, which is providing support, told AFP. “The deployment of Malian, Nigerien and Burkinabe troops in the G5 Sahel force began this morning,” said a colonel for France’s Barkhane mission, speaking …

he President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, on Monday said the European Union (EU) will help Tunisia deal with multiple challenges it faces. Tajani made the remarks when addressing the deputies of Tunisian parliament. The European Parliament chief is on a two-day official visit to Tunisia, starting from Monday.

he United States will pledge $60m to support the new G5 Sahel regional counter-terrorism force, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Monday, ahead of UN talks on the operation. “This is a fight we must win, and these funds will play a key role in achieving that mission,” he …

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi was meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday as part of a three-day visit to France focusing on economic cooperation and the fight against extremism. Macron and al-Sisi were expected to make a joint statement at the presidential Elysee palace. French authorities see Egypt as …

Egyptian security forces killed 13 militants in a shootout on Friday in the country’s western desert, the Interior Ministry said in a statement, a week after a deadly shootout between policemen and militants southwest of the capital Cairo. The ministry said the exchange of fire took place in a raid …

The UN Security Council on Tuesday urged Libyans, divided with rival governments and beset by violence, to work together ahead of hoped-for elections. Separately, the European Union is seeking to reopen its embassy in Libya pending security conditions, officials said on Tuesday, offering further political support for the Tripoli government …

A group of 19 officers and non-commissioned officers of the Libyan coast guard authority are to begin a training course in Tunisia on Saturday, Colonel Tareq Shanbur, the director of security operations on Libya’s coasts and president of the coordination system of Italian-Libyan operations to fight illegal immigration, has said.

President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi has extended the state of emergency in Egypt for another three months. The president’s decision – a re-declaration of the state of emergency – was published in the official gazette on Thursday and was due to go into effect on Friday. The new declaration must be approved …

Six Egyptian soldiers were killed in a “terrorist” attack in restive North Sinai, where jihadists are active, the army’s spokesperson said on Friday. “Terrorist elements attacked a security post in El-Arish with hand grenades and firearms,” Tamer el-Rifai wrote on his Facebook page.