Tag Archives: unrest

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso | AFP | A mayor in northern Burkina Faso has been shot dead by “unidentified armed individuals” in a zone bordering Mali repeatedly targeted by jihadists, security sources told AFP on Monday. Hamidou Koundaba, the mayor of the Koutougou department in Soum province, was “coldly killed” when …

Bamako, Mali | AFP | A peacekeeper from Niger was shot dead by militants in northern Mali on Friday, the UN’s mission to the country said, the latest in a spate of deadly attacks on “Blue Helmets” in the conflict-torn country. “Today at 7:00 pm (1900 GMT) two unidentified gunmen opened …

Kano, Nigeria | AFP | At least 1,200 of the more than 100,000 people displaced by Boko Haram violence in Nigeria’s northeastern town of Bama have returned, officials and returnees said Thursday. Bama, a major trading hub on the road to Cameroon and home to 270,000 people, was captured in …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The UN’s high commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grandi, on Wednesday launched a key visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) ahead of efforts to drum up nearly $1.7 billion (1.38 billion euros) in aid for the troubled country. Grandi will meet with senior officials, …

Douala, Cameroon | AFP | Twelve European tourists have been freed after being taken hostage in western Cameroon, where anglophone militants are campaigning for an independent state, the government said on Wednesday. The group of seven Swiss and five Italians “were taken hostage by a band of armed terrorists” in …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The Democratic Republic of Congo wants the UN mission to leave the country in 2020, Foreign Minister Leonard She Okitundu said Tuesday, following a UN Security Council vote last week extending the peacekeepers’ mandate for another year. “We have let the Security Council know that …

Bamako, Mali | AFP | Amnesty International on Tuesday called on authorities in Mali to investigate extrajudicial killings following the discovery last week of a mass grave containing six bodies. The rights group said it had collected evidence that “the six bodies found in a mass grave on 25 March had …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Ethiopia’s new prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, apologised to people harmed in recent political unrest and reached out both to the political opposition and longtime rival Eritrea at his swearing-in on Monday. Abiy is the first ethnic Oromo to be selected by the ruling Ethiopian …

Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Boko Haram fighters attacked a military base and two surrounding villages near the flashpoint Nigerian city of Maiduguri overnight, killing at least 18 people and wounding 84, officials said Monday. It was one of the most brazen attacks in recent months and was a precursor …

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 …