Lubumbashi, DR Congo | AFP | DR Congo’s disbanded M23 rebel movement has called on the government to agree a new demobilisation scheme following deadly clashes near a camp housing former rebels dissatisfied with their conditions. M23 leader Bertrand Bisimwa said in a statement that the deaths of several people …
Read More »UPDF: “Gulu situation back to normal”
Gunfire rocked Gulu Sunday night for close to an hour, and when calm returned, the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) spokesman Paddy Ankunda announced the “situation back to normal.” Initial reports indicated an attack on an army barracks, while another talked of an army rebellion. Ankunda @defenceuganda, brought an end …
Read More »Uganda pulls troops out of C. Africa, “LRA no longer a threat”
Kampala, Uganda | AFP | Uganda is set to pull its troops out of the restive Central African Republic, deeming the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) to be “no longer a threat”, an army spokesman said. “Uganda has met its goal in the fighting against LRA,” army spokesman Paddy Ankunda …
Read More »UN mulls Mali mission as body count mounts
Bamako, Mali | AFP | As the United Nations looks to extend its most deadly active mission for peacekeepers for another year, those working closely with its venture in Mali say poor local collaboration and funding gaps are costing lives. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has asked the Security Council to …
Read More »Chadian troops ‘pour into Niger after Boko Haram attack’
Niamey, Niger | AFP | The first of an expected 2,000 troops from regional military powerhouse Chad began arriving in neighbouring Niger Wednesday, where Boko Haram insurgents inflicted heavy losses in the town of Bosso last week, a local security source said. Chad is a leading member of a multi-national …
Read More »LRA rebels kidnap dozens of civilians in DR Congo: UN
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Nearly 100 people have been kidnapped in northeast DR Congo during an attack blamed on Uganda’s rebel Lord’s Resistance Army, the United Nations said Wednesday. Lieutenant-Colonel Martin Amouzou Codjo, spokesman for the UN’s MONUSCO peace mission in DR Congo, said the suspected LRA members …
Read More »Mkapa flies to Brussels in fresh bid to end Burundi strife
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | A former Tanzanian president mediating talks to end Burundi’s deadly crisis will meet the opposition this weekend in a bid to end the deadlock, diplomatic and opposition sources said Tuesday. Benjamin Mkapa is to hold talks in Brussels with members of CNARED, which groups almost …
Read More »South Sudan rebel general returns to Juba ahead of Machar
Juba, South Sudan | AFP | South Sudan’s top rebel military commander Simon Gatwech Dual returned to Juba Monday in a key step forward in a floundering peace process, calling for an end to war. “We are one South Sudan,” rebel chief of staff Dual shouted, waving a walking stick …
Read More »ICC opens ‘preliminary examination’ into Burundi crisis
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | The chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court said Monday she was opening a preliminary probe into violence in Burundi, which has been engulfed in a deep political crisis for a year. ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said she had been following events closely since …
Read More »RUTO: ICC to rule on bid to throw out case
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP Deputy Kenyan President William Ruto was to learn later Tuesday if war crimes judges will throw out a case against him for his role in post-election bloodshed which left some 1,300 people dead. The judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) were to file a …
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