Tag Archives: Africa

Assailants also destroyed equipment belonging to Chinese and Mauritanian construction companies. Gunmen have abducted three Chinese nationals and two Mauritanians from a construction site in southwestern Mali, according to the country’s armed forces. The assailants stormed the site 55km (34 miles) from the town of Kwala on Saturday, and made …

At least 13 people have died after a petrol tanker overturned and caught fire in western Kenya on Sunday night. The crash reportedly happened as the driver tried to avoid a head-on collision with another lorry on the busy road between Kisumu and Busia. People rushed to the scene with …

Gunmen abducted at least 60 people in northwestern Nigeria after riding motorbikes into five villages and firing sporadically into the air, a police officer and several residents said on Saturday. Nigeria is battling an increase in armed robberies and kidnappings for ransom, mainly in northwestern areas, where thinly stretched security …

Ghana has destroyed 4,500 chickens and restricted the movement of poultry after nearly 6,000 birds were found to have died of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu, the country’s veterinary services director said on Saturday. The birds originated from seven farms in Ghana’s Greater Accra, Central, and Volta regions, and …

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says the weeklong looting and deadly unrest that has rocked the country were “planned.” Ramaphosa made the comment on Friday, as he arrived in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province, known as the epicenter of the unrest, which spreads in South Africa in the wake of the jailing …

Three more Ethiopian regions are sending soldiers to reinforce the national army in its fight against forces from the northern region of Tigray, regional officials said, widening a conflict that has so far largely affected the north. Officials from Oromiya, Sidama, and the Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples’ Region said …

Gunmen shot dead a Nigerian army general as he was traveling by car on a major road from the capital, Abuja, the army said on Friday, in the first such fatal gun attack on a senior serving military officer. Armed robberies and kidnappings for ransom, particularly in the northwest, have …

Rebels in Ethiopia’s Tigray say they have overtaken more territory, despite a unilateral ceasefire by the government forces. Getachew Reda, a spokesperson for the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), said the group had gained control over Korem, a town 170 kilometres south of the region’s capital, Mekelle, on Monday, …

Deployment of troops comes after six people killed in days of protests in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. The South African military said it was deploying soldiers in two provinces, including its economic hub of Johannesburg, to help police cope with looting and arson attacks on businesses. The move comes as the …

Chief of Kajuru, Alhaji Alhassan Adamu, and 10 family members have been kidnapped. Police have deployed rescue operations in Kaduna state. Gunmen kidnapped an emir and 10 members of his family in northwest Nigeria’s Kaduna state early on Sunday, police said. Police and members of Nigeria’s army are currently engaged …

Newly appointed Algerian Prime Minister Ayman Benabderrahmane is infected with COVID-19, Algerian state TV said on Saturday. The prime minister, who had just formed his new government on Wednesday, will quarantine for seven days, but will continue performing his duties virtually, state TV said. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune ordered his government …

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s Prosperity Party won the most seats in Ethiopia’s parliamentary election, the election board said on Saturday, a victory that assures him another term in office. Abiy’s party won 410 of 436 parliamentary seats, election board deputy chairperson Woubshet Ayele told a news conference in the capital …

South African police said on Saturday that 27 people had been arrested over violent protests linked to former president Jacob Zuma’s imprisonment. Protests raged this week in parts of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), Zuma’s home province after the former president handed himself over to police to serve a 15-month jail term for …

Militants killed at least 45 people in an attack on the town of Faru in northwest Nigeria, residents and a hospital worker said on Friday. Such violence has increasingly become a part of everyday life in the region, with the Nigerian government and security forces showing little ability to stem …

Rwanda said on Friday it had started deploying a 1,000-strong force to Mozambique to help the country combat an escalating Islamic State-linked insurgency that threatens its stability. Last month, the 16-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) approved the deployment of a joint force to help Mozambique respond to the conflict …

Ten years after becoming the world’s youngest nation, war-torn South Sudan mired in instability and faced a deteriorating humanitarian crisis. Friday marks 10 years since South Sudan gained independence to become the world’s youngest nation – yet few citizens are rejoicing. Over the past 10 years, the oil-rich country has …

Nigerian police confirmed on Monday 27 persons earlier kidnapped by gunmen from a secondary school in the country’s northwestern state of Kaduna had regained their freedom. A group of unidentified gunmen stormed the Bethel Baptist High School in Damishi town, Chikun local government area, in the early hours of Monday, …

Aid agencies have distributed a strawberry-flavored tablet for children living with HIV in six African countries, the first generic pediatric version of a key anti-retroviral, global health agency UNITAID said on Sunday. UNITAID and Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) funding procured 100,000 packs of the dolutegravir formulation across Nigeria, Malawi, …

Around 150 children are missing after armed men attacked a school in northwest Nigeria’s Kaduna state, a parent and an administrator told Reuters on Monday. Police said gunmen shooting wildly raided the Bethel Baptist High School in southern Kaduna state overnight. “They … overpowered the school’s security guards and made …

Acting UN aid chief Ramesh Rajasingham says the humanitarian situation in conflict-hit northern Ethiopian region has ‘worsened dramatically in recent weeks. More than 400,000 people in Ethiopia’s Tigray are now suffering famine and 1.8 million others are on the brink, a top United Nations official has said, painting a devastating …