The German Cabinet has approved plans to send up to 650 soldiers to Mali, boosting its presence in the UN peacekeeping mission in the West African country which is beset by militant violence. It also agreed to increase the numbers of soldiers training Kurdish Peshmerga forces in northern Iraq to …

Algerian army troops killed as many as 109 militants and arrested 36 others in 2015, according to an annual report released by Defense Ministry on Sunday. “As part of the fight against terrorism, the National People’s Army eliminated 109 terrorists and arrested 36 others,” the report said, adding that 18 …

Kinshasa – At least 25 people have been killed – including seven civilians hacked to death – in an overnight attack by the Ugandan rebels in an eastern town of Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the Congolese army. Clashes broke out in Eringeti, 55 km north of the regional …

Niamey – Niger is “in the process of winning the war” against Boko Haram jihadists who have staged attacks from neighbouring Nigeria since February last year, the army chief, General Seini Garba, said on Tuesday. Boko Haram, which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group in March, has stepped up …

New York – UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is recommending that 1 700 troops be cut from the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the second drawdown in two years. Ban said in a report to the Security Council released on Tuesday that a further cut …

Kano – Boko Haram gunmen have mounted their first attacks since Nigeria’s government declared them “technically” defeated, killing seven people in a raid and suicide bombing, residents told AFP on Wednesday. The attacks happened on Tuesday in the northeastern state of Borno, near the Islamists’ Sambisa Forest hideout, where the …

Maiduguri – Boko Haram Islamic extremists struck the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri for the first time in months on Monday with rocket-propelled grenades and multiple suicide bombers, witnesses said and at least 50 people were killed and the death toll could increase. At least 30 were killed and more …

Cairo – Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan have signed an agreement finalising the two firms tasked with carrying out studies on the potential impact of Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam on the flow of the Nile, their foreign and water ministers said. Cairo and Addis Ababa had previously been locked in a …

Addis Ababa – The African Union on Wednesday threatened to sanction Burundi’s rival factions if they failed to attend peace talks next month, as it pushes the government to accept a peacekeeping force. Burundi’s government and opposition, who met in Uganda on Monday, are due to meet again in January …

Bamako – Mali has extended by three months a nationwide state of emergency initially imposed following a deadly jihadist attack on a hotel in the capital in November, officials said on Wednesday. The government on Monday submitted a bill authorising the fresh extension to March 31 “because of serious threats …