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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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Ahead of Mali withdraw, France prepares future Sahel strategy

Ahead of Mali withdraw, France prepares future Sahel strategy

JOHN IRISH FRENCH officials head to Niger to redefine the country's strategy to fight Islamist militants in the Sahel as thousands of troops complete a withdrawal from Mali and concerns mount over the growing threat to coastal West African states. Coups in Mali, Chad and Burkina Faso have weakened France's alliances in its former colonies, emboldened jihadists who control large swathes of desert and scrubland, and opened the door to greater Russian influence. Concerns have grown that the exit of 2,400 French troops from Mali - the epicentre of violence in the Sahel region and strongholds of both al Qaeda…
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Main Paris attacks suspect apologises to victims

Main Paris attacks suspect apologises to victims

SALAH ABDESLAM, believed to be the sole surviving member of the group of Islamist militants that killed 130 people in a night of gun and bomb attacks in Paris in 2015, apologised to the victims during his trial on Friday, French media reported. Investigators believe Abdeslam was part of the squad that assaulted six restaurants and bars, the Bataclan concert hall and the national soccer stadium. Among the 20 defendants, he is the only one directly accused of murder, attempted murder and hostage taking. He has denied the charges and is standing trial before a panel of judges. "I want…
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Suspected Islamists kill 21 civilians in eastern Congo

Suspected Islamists kill 21 civilians in eastern Congo

SUSPECTED Islamist militants killed at least 21 civilians in an overnight attack on a village in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a local human rights group and a witness said. Fighters believed to be from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) attacked the village of Masambo on Sunday night, said Ricardo Rupande, president of the group, the Ruenzori Sector Civil Society. The village is about 40 km (25 miles) east of the city of Beni in the Ruenzori district. The ADF is a Ugandan militia that has been active in eastern Congo since the 1990s. It has been blamed for thousands…
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Chad plans to double army size to deal with security challenges

Chad plans to double army size to deal with security challenges

CHAD’S transitional government said on Friday that it plans to drastically increase the size of its army to deal with security challenges, including threats from Islamist militants and armed rebels. Defence Minister General Daoud Yaya Brahim told parliament that the army has begun the process of increasing the total number of troops to 60,000 by the end of 2022, from 35,000 currently. "We have already started the process with the recruitment and training of soldiers and non-commissioned officers. The objective is to build elite unites capable of adapting to the asymmetric warfare our Sahel countries are facing," Brahim said. Chad,…
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Puntland sends troops to fight al Shabaab

Puntland sends troops to fight al Shabaab

SOMALIA’S semi-autonomous region of Puntland has sent forces to the neighbouring region of Galmudug to help the military there push al Shabaab Islamist militants out of a strategic town they captured last month. Al Shabaab fighters last month attacked a military base in the Galmudug town of Amara and took control of it after battling with government special force units, known as Danab and Darawish. Amara is a strategic town that lies on the route to the coastal town of Harardheere, another al Shabaab stronghold. The governor of Puntland's Mudug region, Abdilatif Muse Nuru San Yare, told Reuters they had…
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EXCLUSIVE: Sex-for-food aid claimed by women in Burkina Faso

EXCLUSIVE: Sex-for-food aid claimed by women in Burkina Faso

SAM MEDNICK THE women were able to escape deadly attacks by Islamist militants that have triggered one of the world’s fastest-growing displacement crises. But their ordeal, they said, didn’t end there: In places of supposed refuge, local men demanded sex from them in exchange for humanitarian assistance. Eight displaced women living in Burkina Faso’s northern town of Kaya told The New Humanitarian they were approached for sex by local men – some of the community leaders – who said they were registering people in need of food aid. Most incidents took place over the past 15 months, the women said…
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Four soldiers killed in Mali

Four soldiers killed in Mali

FOUR soldiers were killed when their patrol was ambushed by suspected militants in central Mali yesterday, the army said in a statement The region is where Mali is battling Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The army said in a statement that the patrol was ambushed near the town of Lere on Sunday morning. "The provisional toll is at four soldiers killed," it said. The attack comes as France, which has deployed over 5,000 counter-terrorism soldiers in Mali to help combat militants, said on Friday that it has…
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