Libya pro-government forces backed by US air strikes said on Sunday they would soon launch a final assault to retake the coastal city of Sirte from the Islamic State jihadist group. “The countdown of the final stage of the military operations against Daesh has started,” forces loyal to the Tripoli-based …

A United Nations peacekeeper was killed and four others were injured on Sunday when their vehicle struck an explosive device in northeast Mali, the UN said. The incident occurred 11km south of Aguelhoc-Anefis in the Kidal region, the UN force in Mali, Minusma, said in a statement. The vehicle was …

US Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Kenya this month for talks with President Uhuru Kenyatta over regional security. Presidential spokesperson Manoah Esipisu said on Sunday Kerry would hold discussions with Kenyatta and Foreign Affairs Minister Amina Mohammed on the upheaval in South Sudan and security in violence-plagued Somalia.