Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Forty-five people died in an attack by armed bandits in northern Nigeria, civilian militia members said on Sunday, amid growing levels of rural violence often involving cattle theft, robbery and kidnappings for ransom. “The 45 bodies were found scattered in the bush. The bandits pursued …
Read More »Six killed in Boko Haram attack on Lake Chad island
N’Djamena, Chad | AFP | Six people were killed, including four government officials and a soldier, in an attack by Boko Haram jihadists on a Chadian army checkpoint on an island in Lake Chad, a military source told AFP Sunday. The overnight killings, which cost the life of a civilian …
Read More »Dozens of casualties in blast at Afghan voter registration centre: officials
Khost, Afghanistan | AFP | A blast at a voter registration centre in Afghanistan’s restive east on Sunday killed or wounded at least 30 people, officials said, capping a bloody week in the war-torn country. The bomb had been placed in a tent being used to register voters on the …
Read More »THIS WEEK: More than 30 arrested in USAFI mosque raid
More than 30 arrested in USAFI mosque raid Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Usafi mosque in Kisenyi on April 28, a total of 36 people suspected of involving in acts of terrorism and radicalism were arrested. The operation by the police together with other security agencies was done after an …
Read More »Rohingya will be safe in areas ‘designated’ for them: Myanmar army chief
Yangon, Myanmar | AFP | Rohingya refugees who return to Myanmar will be safe as long as they stay in the model villages built for them, the country’s army chief has said, renewing fears they will be kept in settlements indefinitely. Some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled Buddhist-majority Myanmar to Bangladesh …
Read More »‘Dirty war’ ravages Cameroon’s anglophone region
Buea, Cameroon | AFP | They call it a “dirty war” — a silent conflict in Cameroon’s anglophone region marked by near-daily attacks by separatists and a brutal army backlash that shows no sign of abating. Over the past eight months, scores of police, soldiers and civilians have died in …
Read More »Four killed in suspected Shabaab attack in northern Kenya
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Four people were killed in the northern Kenyan town of Mandera, which borders Somalia, police said Friday, in an attack blamed on Islamist group Al-Shabaab. The four men, all non-Muslims who were not from the area, were attacked at a remote quarry on Thursday night, …
Read More »Fear and exodus on front line of jihadist fight in Burkina Faso
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso | AFP | On the edge of the forbidding Sahara in the dusty northern market town of Djibo, Burkina Faso’s battle against jihadism is at its most acute. This impoverished corner of West Africa has always seemed distant from the central government in Ouagadougou. Today, though, that …
Read More »13 killed as cattle rustlers attack Nigerian village
Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Thirteen people were killed in prolonged clashes between cattle thieves and local civilian militia in northern Nigeria’s Zamfara state, police said on Thursday. The militia and cattle thieves fought a gun battle Tuesday through Wednesday in the remote village of Fankashi in the Maru district …
Read More »C.African president lashes religious exploitation after bloodshed
Bangui, Central African Republic | AFP | The president of the Central African Republic on Wednesday accused militias of exploiting religious tensions a day after at least 24 people in the capital died in attacks that targeted a church and a mosque. Around 170 people were also wounded, sparking fears that …
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