Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | Heavily-armed Al-Shabaab militants attacked an African Union military camp outside Mogadishu on Sunday, killing four Ugandan peacekeepers, their army said. Local sources said a massive blast was heard in the Bulomarer district, around 150 kilometres (93 miles) south of Mogadishu, and fighting broke out after …
Read More »Death toll in Nigerian herding village attack rises to 36
Kano, Nigeria | AFP | The death toll from an attack by suspected cattle rustlers on a herding village in northern Nigeria’s Zamfara state has risen to 36, the local traditional ruler said on Friday. Motorcycle-riding gunmen stormed the village of Bawon-Danji on Wednesday, opening fire on herders and forcing …
Read More »Uganda rebel, 10 civilians killed in DR Congo’s restive east
Beni, DR Congo | AFP | Ten civilians and a Ugandan militant died when Congolese troops clashed with rebels in the flashpoint town of Beni in Democratic Republic of Congo’s troubled east, an army spokesman said Wednesday. The violence took place on Tuesday evening when rebels attacked military positions around …
Read More »Rapes, ethnic attacks rising in DR Congo’s lawless east
Goma, DR Congo | AFP | Sexual and ethnic violence are alarmingly on the rise in Democratic Republic of Congo’s lawless east, spawning a humanitarian catastrophe with millions forced to flee their homes. At least 13.1 million Congolese need humanitarian aid, including 7.7 million who are severely food insecure, the …
Read More »Five more killed in Nigeria communal violence: police
Makurdi, Nigeria | AFP | Five people have been killed in fresh clashes between farmers and nomadic herders in Benue state in central Nigeria, the epicentre of a wave of deadly violence this year over grazing land, police said Monday. “Just yesterday we had a case where two persons were …
Read More »Troubled region of Kasai provides key test for DR Congo
Tshikapa, DR Congo | AFP | Of the many headaches facing the UN mission in DR Congo as its mandate comes up for renewal, few are greater than the ethnic bloodshed and brewing humanitarian crisis in the Kasai region. The sprawling diamond-rich region exploded into violence in September 2016 after …
Read More »Five killed by Boko Haram in Niger attack
Niamey, Niger | AFP | At least five civilians were killed and several others wounded in an attack by suspected Boko Haram militants in southeast Niger, near the border with Nigeria, according to local sources. “The BH (Boko Haram) came to the market place early Friday evening, they shot the …
Read More »Nigerian girls reunited with families after Boko Haram kidnapping
Dapchi, Nigeria | AFP | The schoolgirls kidnapped by the Boko Haram jihadist group in Dapchi, northeastern Nigeria, were reunited with their families on Sunday after spending nearly five weeks in captivity. The 105 girls, covered head to toe in burkas, arrived aboard five buses in the town of Dapchi, in …
Read More »Chad soldier, 20 Boko Haram fighters killed in clash: army source
N’Djamena, Chad | AFP | A Chadian soldier and 20 Boko Haram members were killed in a clash in the restive Lake Chad region near Nigeria, a Chadian military officer told AFP Saturday. The incident occurred on Friday on an islet named Tchoukou Hadje, the officer said, adding that five …
Read More »Nigeria’s Buhari meets with Dapchi girls
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari received the released Dapchi girls on Friday in a meeting clouded by the absence of a Christian student still held by Boko Haram for refusing to convert to Islam. “We entered into negotiation solely to make sure that no single girl …
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