The UN peacekeeping operation department has expressed concerns over the MINURSO (UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara) personnel expelled by Morocco, noting that such an obstruction will affect the work of the UN mission.

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.