US officials say President Biden has approved the redeployment of US troops in Somalia, reversing a decision by his predecessor Donald Trump. The deployment was requested by the Pentagon to support the fight against militant group al-Shabab. President Trump withdrew about 700 US troops from Somalia in 2020. The move to re-establish a military presence […]
Dozens of people were killed after armed men raided a gold mine in Djugu in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern Ituri province on Sunday. The AFP news agency quotes a local official as saying that 29 bodies had been retrieved from the artisanal mine. Among the dead was a four-month-old baby, it said. In […]
By Emmanuel Igunza BBC News, Nairobi A Muslim cleric in Kenya has asked a court not to free him from jail despite being acquitted of terrorism charges. Guyo Gorsa Buru said he feared he could be abducted and killed by state agents once released as is alleged has happened to other terror suspects. He was […]
By Joice Etutu BBC News, Nairobi Islamist militant group al-Shabab says it has carried out what may prove to be one of its most deadly attacks on the African Union mission in Somalia, however the two sides provide very different death tolls. The al-Qaeda affiliate says it killed 170 AU soldiers, mostly from Burundi, and […]
Russian mercenaries have been accused of summarily executing, torturing and beating civilians in the Central African Republic (CAR). Witnesses told Human Rights Watch (HRW) that in one incident last July, Russian-speaking fighters shot dead at least 12 unarmed men at a roadblock. Most victims were put in a shallow hole by the road near Bossangoa, […]
The Central African Republic (CAR) has approved Bitcoin as legal tender – just the second country to do so. CAR is one of the world’s poorest countries, but is rich in diamonds, gold and uranium. It has been wracked by conflict for decades and is a close Russian ally, with mercenaries from the […]
By Ishaq Khalid BBC News, Abuja Nigeria’s president has said the country is in “shock and trauma” following the deaths of at least 100 people from an explosion at an illegal oil refinery. President Muhammadu Buhari described the incident in Imo state, southern Nigeria, as a “catastrophe and a national disaster”. Many victims […]
The UN has expressed concern that Malian authorities have denied its human rights investigators access to a village where hundreds of people were killed. “We are extremely concerned that Malian authorities have still not granted UN human rights investigators access”, a statement by the UN Human Rights Office said. It says “time is of essence to […]
By Pumza Fihlani BBC News, KwaZulu-Natal Rescue operations are continuing in South Africa in an effort to save the lives of dozens of people who are missing following the floods in KwaZulu-Natal province. With more rain on its way, emergency teams face further peril as they search for survivors. “My house was here, […]
At least 45 people in South Africa have been killed in floods caused by days of heavy rain, the authorities say. It happened in the coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal, where many people are still missing and emergency services are searching for survivors. Some in the city of Durban are standing on rooftops awaiting rescue, but local […]
