Goma, DR Congo | AFP | Tribal militia forces have kidnapped two Roman Catholic priests in the troubled North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, officials said Monday. Kidnappings are frequent in this eastern part of the DRC, related to communal conflict between the Nande and Hunde tribes …
Read More »Germany confirms two nationals killed in Egypt attack
Berlin, Germany | AFP | Berlin on Saturday said two women who were killed after being stabbed in an Egyptian beach resort were German nationals, confirming earlier reports. “We can now sadly confirm that two German tourists died in the attack at Hurghada,” a foreign ministry statement said. Friday’s attack …
Read More »Burundi human rights activist detained:
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Burundi’s National Intelligence Service (SNR) has picked up a human rights activist and is holding him over an alleged breach of state security, a police source said Friday. Germain Rukuki, who has long worked for civil associations, was arrested by agents of the feared SNR …
Read More »Politics not pasture drives violence in Kenya’s heart
Kamwenje, Kenya | AFP | Footsteps came first, then unfamiliar voices, the smell of cow dung and the kicking in of the front door. Suddenly awake, John Mbogo wrapped his 11-year-old daughter Tabitha in his arms and rolled under the bed. His wife, Anne, crawled next to them, eyes wide. Torchlight …
Read More »Five Kenyan forces killed in mission to free official
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Suspected Shabaab militants briefly kidnapped a Kenyan government official on Thursday and five security personnel were killed in an operation to rescue her, security sources said. Armed men seized Miriam El Maawy, who heads the public works department of Kenya’s infrastructure ministry, around 4:00 pm …
Read More »Zambia ratifies 90-day state of emergency
Lusaka, Zambia | AFP |Zambia’s parliament on Tuesday approved a 90-day state of emergency decreed by President Edgar Lungu, a move that critics see as an effort to tighten his grip on power. Opposition lawmakers boycotted the vote by leaving the chamber, leaving only the 85 members of the president’s …
Read More »Togo purges its violent past with voodoo ceremonies
Lome, Togo | AFP | The voodoo follower stood bare-chested with beads around his neck in the centre of the public square in Bè, a working class district of Togo’s capital, Lome. A dozen priests surrounded him as he made incantations, threw soil and water, and gave an offering to …
Read More »Eight DR Congo soldiers get stiff jail terms for Kasai killings
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | A military court in DR Congo on Thursday handed stiff jail terms, including life imprisonment, to eight soldiers for killing civilians in the violence-wracked central Kasai region following mounting pressure from the UN. In less than a year, brutal violence in four central Kasai provinces …
Read More »Three officers die in fierce Shabaab raid on Kenyan police camp
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Three policemen were killed Wednesday in seven hours of fighting with suspected Shabaab militants who attacked their post in southeastern Kenya, police said. Regional police chief Akello Odhiambo said the attackers raided the Pandanguo Police Camp in the coastal Lamu region. “They razed a police camp …
Read More »Helicopter launches grenade attacks on Venezuela Supreme Court: Maduro
Caracas, Venezuela | AFP | Venezuela’s army has been put on alert after four grenades were hurled at the Supreme Court from a helicopter, President Nicolas Maduro said Tuesday, in a potentially dramatic escalation of the violence gripping the oil-rich South American country. The helicopter assault comes a day after …
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