France is to send a contingent of counterterror forces to help the army in Niger after militants ambushed a military patrol killing 16, the defence ministry said. The decision, announced late on Saturday, was taken following a request from President Mahamadou Issoufou after Wednesday’s attack near the border with Mali.

The United Nations says its forces used attack helicopters to subdue rebels in Central African Republic. UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Monday that about 40 heavily armed rebels were just a few kilometers away from the town of Bambari.

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi has affirmed that stability in Libya and Tunisia are intertwined urging for intensive go-between efforts to reconcile the warring parties in the troubled nation. Tunisian Presidency said, in a statement released on Thursday, that the president made the affirmation during a meeting with the head …