Africa

Kenya’s interior minister on Thursday admitted that intelligence was ignored and the security response botched regarding the Islamist massacre of nearly 150 people at Garissa university in April. “There was lack of coordination on the side of the officers, there was intelligence that this place was going to be attacked,” …

The Nigerian army has freed at least 160 girls and women from the hands of Boko Haram, as it continued its advance on the Sambisa natural reserve, the last major stronghold of the terrorist group, an official said on Thursday.

At least 19 people were killed and another 22 were wounded in clashes between the army and Tuareg separatists, who since Wednesday have been trying to gain control of the city of Lere in the northwest of the country, a defence ministry statement said on Thursday.

The Cairo Criminal Court will issue its verdict on former President Hosni Mubarak and his two sons over embezzlement charges on May 9, it announced at the trial’s second session on Wednesday. In May 2014, a Cairo court sentenced Mubarak to three years in prison for seizing over 125 million …

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday met with European Union High Representative Federica Mogherini to discuss a number of conflict zones and security threats to Europe with a focus on Libya and the ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has phoned on Tuesday Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s President Joseph Kabila on bilateral relations. Presidential Spokesman Alaa Youssef said the President posted his African counterpart on the Egyptian side’s interest in increasing investments in the DRC.

The Security Council today extended for another year the mandate of the United Nations mission tasked with monitoring the ceasefire in Western Sahara, known by the acronym MINURSO. In today’s resolution, the 15-member Council extended MINURSO until 30 April 2016. The Mission has been in effect since 1991.

The Niger government said on Tuesday it had lost 46 soldiers and 28 civilians in a Boko Haram attack on a Lake Chad island at the weekend, the country’s heaviest losses yet since it joined a regional offensive against the militants. Interior Minister Hassoumi Massaoudou said “156 terrorists” were also …

Northern Tuareg rebels shot at United Nations peacekeepers in Mali outside the town of Timbuktu on Tuesday amid growing tensions that threaten a fragile peace process, the country’s UN mission said. “They fired at us and they then called us to tell us that they thought we were [Malian government …

The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday recent attacks on the UN mission in Mali highlighted the urgent need for a political settlement with rebels in the country’s north. Seven UN peacekeepers were wounded Thursday in the most recent attack about 100km southwest of the northern city of Kidal.