Bangui, Central African Republic | AFP | Catholic bishops in the Central African Republic have appealed to armed groups controlling swathes of the chronically unstable country to stop looting and lay down their arms. Mired in poverty but rich in minerals, the former French colony has been battered by a conflict …
Read More »Abducted Chibok girls say ‘we won’t return’: Boko Haram video
Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Islamist militants Boko Haram on Monday released a new video purporting to show at least 14 of the Chibok schoolgirls whose mass kidnapping nearly four years ago became a symbol of NIgeria’s brutal conflict. But despite a concerted global campaign for their release, and talks between …
Read More »ADF rebels launch new offensive in DRC, repelled
Three DR Congo soldiers killed fighting Ugandan rebels Beni, DR Congo | AFP | Three Democratic Republic of Congo soldiers died on Monday while repelling an attack in the eastern Beni region by ADF Ugandan Islamist rebels, who are suspected of murdering 14 UN peacekeepers last month. The army had …
Read More »Senegal arrests 22 over Casamance loggers massacre
Ziguinchor, Senegal | AFP | Senegalese police said Sunday they have arrested 22 people suspected of involvement in a January 6 massacre of 14 young men in the troubled region of Casamance. The arrests were the first in connection with the killings in a region separated from the rest of Senegal …
Read More »DR Congo Catholics call for new anti-Kabila rally
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Catholics in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday called for a fresh rally against “the dictatorship” as they step up pressure on President Joseph Kabila. The call for a demonstration on January 21 came less than two weeks after New Year’s Eve protests …
Read More »DRC army launches new operation against Ugandan rebels
Beni, DR Congo | AFP | The Congolese army on Saturday announced a new operation against armed groups, notably the ADF Ugandan Islamist rebels suspected of murdering 14 UN peacekeepers last month. Army vehicles transported some 300 troops to the operation’s headquarters near Beni in the restive eastern province of …
Read More »Tunisia president to meet unions, employers after unrest
Tunis, Tunisia | AFP | Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi was to hold talks Saturday with political parties, unions and employers to discuss means to overcome unrest triggered by austerity measures. The North African country has been shaken by a wave of protests over poverty and unemployment during which hundreds have …
Read More »Gambia ‘suspends political events’ over clashes
Banjul, Gambia | AFP | The Gambia has suspended permission for rallies and other public political events after clashes allegedly between supporters of President Adama Barrow and those of the former regime of Yahya Jammeh. Gambian police said in a statement issued late Thursday that permits for political parties to …
Read More »Catholic church pounds out anger at Kabila at mass for dead protestors
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Supported by throngs of worshippers and with western ambassadors in attendance, Catholic leaders in DR Congo hammered home a message of anger toward President Joseph Kabila on Friday at a mass to mourn victims of a crackdown. Police fired a couple of warning shots …
Read More »Cameroon separatists held ‘illegally’ in Nigeria: lawyer
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | A human-rights lawyer representing English-speaking Cameroonian separatists said Thursday the group had been arrested by Nigeria’s secret service and were being held “illegally”, calling on the government to probe their disappearance. Femi Falana said Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, the president of the anglophone separatist movement in …
Read More »