Africa

Islamic militants attacked an army checkpoint in northern Sinai near the border with Gaza early on Wednesday, killing an officer, officials said. The attack came as Egypt’s Islamic State affiliate, which is based in the restive peninsula, claimed responsibility for two attacks the previous day.

About 15 soldiers from Chad and Niger died in fighting to take control of two towns in northern Nigeria from Boko Haram, the first gains against the militants in a joint offensive launched at the weekend, military sources said on Monday. About 30 Nigerien and Chadian soldiers were wounded in …

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius begins a two day visit to Morocco on Monday. He is to meet Moroccan leaders and discuss bi-lateral issues, trade and terrorism. According to the French foreign ministry, Fabius hopes to stress the issue of cooperation.

Algeria is “reasonably optimistic” about the outcome of the inter-Libyan dialogue which will be held Tuesday in Algiers, said Foreign Affairs Minister Ramtane Lamamra. “We are reasonably optimistic, and work to ensure that the dialogue between the Libyan brothers results in the settlement of the crisis in Libya,” said Lamamra …

The Cairo Court of Appeals set on Monday the first retrial session for former President Hosni Mubarak and his sons over embezzlement charges, due to be held on April 4. Egypt’s Court of Cassation ordered on January 13 a retrial for Mubarak over embezzlement charges for which he has been …

Arab Foreign Ministers on Monday started their 143rd session at the headquarters of the Arab League in Cairo to discuss draft resolutions prepared by the permanent delegates on several issues, mainly the protection of Arab national security. First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah is …

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius held talks here Monday with his Malian counterpart Abdulaye Diop to discuss the latest terror attacks in Mali over the weekend and ways to counter radical operations in northern Mali, official sources said. At least eight people died in two attacks Saturday and Sunday in …

Peace talks between South Sudan’s government and rebels will extend beyond a Thursday deadline set by mediators to allow them to finalise details on power sharing, mediators from the regional East African group IGAD said. The group had allowed to the end of Thursday to iron out any issues that …

Boko Haram gunmen killed 68 people, including many children, in a massacre in the northeast Nigeria village of Njaba, two witnesses and two vigilantes said today. Heavily armed militants stormed the village in Borno state on Tuesday “from all directions”, said Falmata Bisika, 62, who escaped to the state capital …

United Nations-brokered peace talks aimed at resolving the political turmoil in Libya have started in Morocco, hours after the airport in the Libyan capital Tripoli was bombed. Warplanes from Libya’s UN-recognised parliament in Tobruk carried out the air strikes on the airport in Tripoli, which is currently governed by a …