Rebels in Central African Republic attacked the capital early on Wednesday, but were repelled by President Faustin-Archange Touadera’s security forces and United Nations peacekeepers, authorities said, in an escalation of an election conflict.

Suspected al-Shabaab militants have bombed a telecommunications mast in Banisa Sub-County, Mandera County three days after they attacked a bus and a private vehicle in the same area. Local residents who spoke to the Nation said the militants used explosives to destroy the mast at Darkale center on Tuesday night.

With their husbands having been dealt a blowing defeat by the US-led International Coalition and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), dozens of ISIS wives now face the challenges of living in Syrian refugee camps.