Tag Archives: North Africa

Crackdown intensifies on pro-democracy Hirak movement by authorities. Several hundred protesters were arrested in Algeria as authorities ramp up efforts to quell a years-long protest movement that has demanded root-and-branch political reform. Said Salhi, head of the Algerian League for Human Rights, said about 800 people were detained in Algiers …

More than 80 migrants swam to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from neighboring Morocco on Monday, Spanish police said. The migrants, including some minors, set off in the early hours of Monday from beaches a few kilometers south of Ceuta and were detained when they entered the Spanish territory, a …

The number of migrants landing on Italy’s shores has more than doubled in the last year as an economic crisis in Tunisia fuels migration in boats across the Mediterranean, Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese said on Saturday. More than 21,000 people reached Italy between August 2019 and the end of July, …

Tunisia prime minister-designate Hichem Mechichi said on Monday he will form a technocrat government without political parties, due to the disagreement between parties in the North Africa country. Mechichi’s decision will likely put him in confrontation with the moderate Islamist Ennahda Party, the largest party in Parliament, which announced its …

Sudan has declared a state of emergency in part of the conflict-ridden western region of Darfur after violence and unrest in two towns, state news agency SUNA said. The African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (Unamid) said it had sent a team to Kutum town in North Darfur state following …

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Thursday said France will return the remains of 24 resistance fighters who were killed during its colonisation of the North African country. “Within a few hours Algerian military planes will fly in from France and land at the Houari Boumediene international airport with the remains …

France will not tolerate Turkey’s military intervention in Libya, President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday, accusing Ankara of playing “a dangerous game”. Turkey has intervened decisively in recent weeks in Libya, providing air support, weapons, and allied fighters from Syria to help the government based in Tripoli repel a year-long …

The Libyan government on Sunday dubbed the Egyptian president’s military intervention threat as a “declaration of war.” “The statements of the Egyptian President [Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi], which are harassing Libya’s sovereignty and meddling in its internal affairs, and supporting putschists, militias, and mercenaries in Libya are unacceptable,” the government’s press office …

The death toll from the sinking of a boat carrying migrants off the Tunisian coast has risen to 54 as more bodies were recovered during the search operations. The boat, heading for Italy’s coast on Saturday, sank off the Tunisian city of Sfax. Tunisian search teams recovered the bodies of …

The spokesman of the UN-backed Libyan government’s forces, Mohamed Gonono, on Thursday announced taking over the entire capital Tripoli and expelling the rival eastern-based army. “Our brave forces have taken control of all of Tripoli, after regaining control of southern Tripoli from the militias of Haftar (eastern-based army commander),” Gonono …

Eleven police and two army soldiers were attacked with bricks at a migrant repatriation centre in Turin over the weekend in just the latest case of violence at the centre. The migrants in the centre tore bricks off the walls of a structure and climbed onto the roof of a …

Four refugees have died and up to 16 more are missing after trying to cross into Europe from North Africa on a small raft, Spain’s coastguard says. Rescuers saved 58 people from the raft, which was found drifting around 37 miles off the coast of Morocco on Tuesday night. Three …

Conservative political outsider Kais Saied has won Tunisia’s presidential election with 72.71 percent of votes, the North African country’s electoral commission said Monday. Saied garnered 2.7 million votes against one million received by his rival business tycoon Nabil Karoui in Sunday’s runoff, the commission said. Karoui conceded defeat earlier on …

More than 1,100 people have been arrested in Egypt since the weekend when a series of massive protests erupted in several cities to demand the resignation of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, human rights monitors say. Gamal Eid, head of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information, said on Wednesday that …

Algeria’s interim leader has announced December 12 as the date for the presidential election. The move is in line with the army chief’s demand to fill the vacancy left when longtime leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika was pushed from the office more than five months ago. During an address to the North …

About 40 people are feared dead or missing after the latest wreck of a boat carrying migrants bound for Europe off the coast of Libya, while about 60 people may have been rescued, the U.N. refugee agency said on Tuesday. “Terrible news coming in of potentially large loss of life …

A missile hit the car park of Libya’s only functioning airport in Tripoli on Saturday, forcing flights to be grounded for almost three hours before operations resumed, the airport and a witness said. The airport said on its website that Mitiga airport “was exposed to a missile, coinciding with the …

Tunisia’s electoral commission said on Wednesday it had approved 26 candidates including two women for next month’s presidential election and had rejected 71 other applicants. The Sept. 15 vote follows the death at age 92 last month of Beji Caid Essebsi, the first president to be democratically elected in Tunisia …