At least 10 people died in attacks in Mali on Monday, as the prime minister cancelled a visit to a central town after a vehicle sent to protect his team hit a landmine. A bus travelling in the restive north was blown up by a mine on Monday, killing at …
Read More »AU force begins troop withdrawal from Somalia
The African Union says it has begun its withdrawal from Somalia and will cut 1 000 troops by the end of this year as security responsibilities start to shift to the local military. The continental body said on Tuesday that the move comes at a critical time, less than a …
Read More »French envoys meet Mali govt over raid deaths
France has sent high-level representatives to talk to the Malian government after a French anti-terror raid killed Malian troops held by the jihadists. Defence Minister Tiena Coulibaly met on October 31 with the French ambassador and the commander of France’s military force in Mali, according to a ministry communique received …
Read More »UN Chief calls on Security Concil to support Sahel Anti-Terror Force
Stressing the urgent need to help Mali and other countries the Sahel address cross-border terrorism and organized crime, Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday invited the United Nations Security Council to “be ambitious” in deciding how the UN supports the region’s newly-established joint force.
Read More »Libyan factions split over army leadership
Libyan factions involved in UN-brokered peace talks are still far apart on the issue of the leadership of a future national army, the head of one of two rival parliaments said on Monday. Abdulrahman Swehli said delegations from both the Tripoli State Council that he leads and from a parliament …
Read More »UN could increase peacekeepers in CAR
The Security Council is deciding whether to increase the number of United Nations peacekeepers in the Central African Republic (CAR), one of the recommendations put forward by Secretary-General António Guterres for strengthening the operation, which was discussed at today’s meeting in New York.
Read More »Niger to let US forces arm drones in counter-terrorism fight
Niger will allow US forces stationed in the country to arm the drones being used to track jihadists, having previously allowed their use only for surveillance, the government said on Saturday. The decision comes a month after jihadists ambushed a joint US-Niger patrol in a volatile area near the border …
Read More »Sisi, Macron discuss co-operation in Paris
French President Emmanuel Macron met Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah Al Sisi on Tuesday during a three-day visit to France focusing on economic co-operation and the fight against extremism. Macron on Tuesday declined to publicly comment on the rights record of his Egyptian counterpart Sisi, saying he was in not in …
Read More »UN chief urges dialogue in CAR
Militia groups in Central African Republic (CAR) should lay down their arms and join the political process, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said late Thursday. “Central African religious communities — Christians, Muslims and others — have always lived together,” he told a news conference in the capital Bangui, according to …
Read More »US carries out first airstrikes against ISIS in Somalia
he US military for the first time has conducted two airstrikes against Islamic State group fighters in Somalia, where the group is a growing presence in a country long threatened by the al-Qaeda-linked extremist group al-Shabaab. A US official said the strikes were carried out in northeastern Somalia, with the …
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