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Congo army seeks insight into Islamist militants from women held captive

Congo army seeks insight into Islamist militants from women held captive

At a military intelligence centre in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, 22-year-old Mariam recounted how she lived alongside Islamist insurgents for two years after she was taken by the militants and force-marched to their camp in the rainforest. The group originated as an uprising in Uganda and some members fled across the border into the vast jungles of eastern Congo in the 1990s. Since then they have pledged allegiance to Islamic State and maintained their insurgency, attacking civilian and military targets in both Congo and Uganda. Both countries launched a joint military operation in December 2021, and Uganda deployed over 1,500 troops…
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French, US hostages released after years of captivity in West Africa

French, US hostages released after years of captivity in West Africa

BOUREIMA BALIMA and HUMEYRA PAMUK FRENCH journalist Olivier Dubois was hugged by emotional reporters at a briefing in Niger announcing the release of him and U.S. aid worker Jeffery Woodke who had been held hostage in West Africa for years by Islamist militants. Dubois was kidnapped in Mali in 2021, while Woodke was kidnapped in neighbouring Niger in 2016. Dubois had appeared in a video last August urging authorities to do everything they could to free him from his captors. Some journalists embraced him upon arrival at the briefing at the airport in the capital Niamey, moved by the sight…
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French journalist Dubois freed in Mali – Liberation

French journalist Dubois freed in Mali – Liberation

FRENCH journalist Olivier Dubois, who has been held hostage in Mali for nearly two years, has been freed, the newspaper Liberation director told Reuters. Dubois, who disappeared in Mali's northern city of Gao in April 2021, appeared in a video in early May 2022, appealing to authorities to do everything they could to free him from Islamist militants holding him. "We are deeply relieved and happy about this outcome," Liberation director Dov Alfon said. Dubois worked for Liberation and Le Point magazine. France's foreign ministry did not immediately confirm the news of his release. French civilians have long been favoured…
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We killed 35 in the DRC – Islamic State

We killed 35 in the DRC – Islamic State

ISLAMIC State claimed responsibility for an attack that targeted the village of Mukondi, around 30 km (20 miles) south of the city of Beni in North Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the group's Amaq agency reported on Friday. Islamist militants killed at least 35 people in an overnight attack on the village in retaliation for a military crackdown on rebel activity, an army spokesperson said on Thursday. Thomson Reuters Foundation
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Islamist militants kill at least 35 in east Congo village, army says

Islamist militants kill at least 35 in east Congo village, army says

ERIKAS MWISI ISLAMIST militants killed at least 35 people in an overnight attack on a village in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in retaliation for a military crackdown on rebel activity, an army spokesperson said. The assailants were members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), Anthony Mualushayi said, referring to a Ugandan armed group based in eastern Congo that has pledged allegiance to Islamic State and conducts frequent raids on villages. The attack targeted the village of Mukondi, around 30 km (20 miles) south of the city of Beni in North Kivu province, an area plagued with rebel activity…
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Suicide bomber breaches high security in Pakistan mosque, kills 59

Suicide bomber breaches high security in Pakistan mosque, kills 59

JIBRAN AHMAD and ASIF SHAHZAD A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a crowded mosque in a highly fortified security compound in Pakistan, killing 59 people, including 27 police officials, the latest attack by resurgent Islamist militants targeting police. The attacker appeared to have passed through several barricades manned by security forces to get into the "Red Zone" compound that houses police and counter-terrorism offices in the volatile northwestern city of Peshawar, police said. "It was a suicide bombing," Peshawar Police Chief Ijaz Khan told Reuters. Many of the 170 wounded people were in critical condition, he said. The death…
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Militants kidnap 50 women in Burkina Faso

Militants kidnap 50 women in Burkina Faso

THIAM NDIAGA ISLAMIST militants kidnapped around 50 women searching for food in Burkina Faso's northern province of Soum, a hotbed of jihadist activity, on January 12 and 13, the government said. The mass kidnapping is a first in the insurgency that spread to Burkina Faso from neighbouring Mali in 2015 despite costly international military efforts to contain it. While Westerners and locals are occasionally captured, women had not previously been abducted in such numbers. Mass kidnappings have been carried out in Nigeria by the separate Boko Haram insurgency there. Armed men seized the women as they were picking wild fruit…
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Three U.N. peacekeepers killed, three injured in Mali attack

Three U.N. peacekeepers killed, three injured in Mali attack

THREE United Nations peacekeepers were killed and three others seriously injured when their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in northern Mali, a U.N. spokesperson said. Islamist militants, some with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State, have been waging an insurgency in northern Mali for the last decade. The peacekeepers were on a mine search and detection patrol in the northern commune of Tessalit, in the Kidal region, when they were hit, spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters. "We send our deepest condolences to the families of the peacekeepers, to our colleagues in the mission and we wish a speedy…
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Militants attack Mali’s main military base, situation ‘under control’

Militants attack Mali’s main military base, situation ‘under control’

FADIMATA KONTAO ISLAMIST militants struck Mali's main military base, just outside the capital Bamako, in a complex attack involving car bombs, but the armed forces said they had repelled the assault and had the situation under control. Militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State have repeatedly raided bases across Mali during a decade-long insurgency concentrated in the north and centre but never so close to Bamako in the south. Heavy gunfire rang out for about an hour early on Friday at the Kati camp, about 15 km (10 miles) northwest of Bamako. A convoy carrying the leader of Mali's…
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Togo villagers flee to urban centres after militant attacks

Togo villagers flee to urban centres after militant attacks

CIVILIANS in a part of northern Togo attacked by suspected Islamist militants last week have been fleeing their homes en masse to seek refuge in nearby cities, a local mayor said. More than 25 people were killed in the attacks on four villages in the Kpendjal district, near the border with Burkina Faso, two local activists told Reuters. The government said a number of people were killed but did not say how many. "People are leaving their villages en masse," Arzoume Sambiani, the mayor of a part of Kpendjal, said in a statement on Monday. He urged civilians to return…
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