Africa

South Sudan’s security officials have arrested and severely beaten 16 members of the rebels’ publicity team, days before the expected arrival of rebel leader Riek Machar, a spokesperson for the rebels said on Tuesday. The arrests of the rebel workers was “irresponsible,” said William Ezekiel, a spokesperson for the rebels’ …

Italy’s foreign minister arrived in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, on Tuesday in a show of support for a UN-backed unity government that Western nations hope can unite the oil-rich country and lead the fight against a powerful Islamic State affiliate. Paolo Gentiloni is the first European official to visit Libya …

Germany will send up to 650 soldiers to Mali, Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday, to provide some relief to France in its global fight against the Islamic State jihadists. Von der Leyen made the announcement hours before German Chancellor Angela Merkel travels to Paris to meet President …

The lead vehicle of a convoy struck a land mine laid by extremists in northern Mali, killing three French soldiers in the deadliest single incident for the former colonizer’s forces in three years, officials said on Wednesday. About 60 vehicles were approaching the far northern town of Tessalit when the …

Every day lost in the implementation of Mali’s peace agreement is a day gained for extremist and terrorist groups that have bet heavily on the failure of the process, the UN peacekeeping chief said here Tuesday. Herve Ladsous, the UN under-secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, stressed that the Malian government and …

Algeria and France have expressed Sunday in Algiers as part of the 3rd session of the Algerian-French High Level Intergovernmental Committee (CIHN), their willingness to counter the various threats, including terrorism in the Sahel-Saharan region. The two parties, concerned over the geopolitical and security situation in the Sahel-Saharan region, “have …

US Special Envoy for Libya, Jonathan Winer, underlined, Monday in Algiers, the convergence of views between his country and Algeria regarding the resolution of the crisis in Libya, stressing the willingness of the two countries to help Libya achieve reconciliation and national unity. Consultations between Algeria and the United States …

Gunmen have killed six people in a drive-by shooting, including two Turkish hospital workers, in the latest violence to hit Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, authorities said on Thursday. “Six civilians, two of them Turkish nationals, have been killed, and six more were wounded,” said Abdifatah Omar Halane, spokesperson for the Mogadishu …

Libya’s new Tripoli-based government must get down to “practical work” to ensure a peaceful handover of power from the country’s many factions, the UN envoy told the Security Council on Thursday. Martin Kobler told a closed-door session of the council that he was “cautiously optimistic” about prospects for the new …

French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault says France is considering reopening its embassy in Libya. Ayrault said on France Info radio that he would travel to Libya “as soon as the conditions are met.”