Breaking: Australian doctor freed by al-Qaeda after seven years in captivity
Sydney, AustraliaReuters An Australian doctor held captive by al-Qaeda-linked extremists for more than seven years in West Africa has been released, the Australian Government said on Friday. Dr Kenneth Elliott, 88, is safe and well, and had been reunited with his wife, Jocelyn, and their children, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said. The couple were […]
Forty dead in attack on army and volunteers in north Burkina Faso
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso Reuters Unidentified assailants killed 40 people and wounded 33 others in an attack on the army and volunteer defence forces in northern Burkina Faso, the government said in a statement on Sunday. The attack took place on Saturday in the village of Aorema near the town of Ouahigouya in the North Region, […]
Hope for jobs drives recruitment by militant groups in Africa – report
Johannesburg, South AfricaReuters Hope of employment more than religious belief is driving people to join fast-growing extremist groups in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a report by the UN Development Programme based on interviews with hundreds of former fighters. While worldwide deaths from terrorism have declined in the last five years, deaths in sub-Saharan Africa have […]
Dozens killed as jihadist groups clash in eastern Mali
Bamako, Mali Reuters Dozens of civilians have been killed and hundreds displaced over several days of heavy fighting between rival Islamist groups in Mali’s restive east, local government officials said on Thursday. Jihadists linked to Islamic State have been clashing with local al-Qaeda affiliates over territory in the regions of Gao and Menaka, where insurgents […]
Somali troops overpower militants to end hotel siege
Mogadishu, SomaliaReuters Somali security forces stormed a hotel in the capital on Monday to end a near day-long siege by al-Shabaab militants who killed nine people at the building near the President’s residence in the capital, police said. Gunfire crackled from inside the hotel as the special forces fought the militants more than 12 hours […]
Somalia’s President warns death toll could rise after car bombs kill 100 in Mogadishu
Mogadishu, SomaliaReuters The two car bombs that exploded at Somalia’s education ministry next to a busy market intersection killed at least 100 people and wounded 300, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said on Sunday, warning the death toll could rise. Saturday’s attack was the deadliest since a truck bomb exploded at the same intersection in October, […]
Essay: Ukraine war – what are ‘dirty bombs’ and why is Russia suddenly talking about them?
In an article first published on The Conversation, CHRISTOPH BLUTH, professor of international relations and security at the University of Bradford in the UK, explains what a “dirty bomb” is…
Essay: Another terrorist attack reminds us of the Taliban’s failure to protect Afghan citizens
ELLIS HEASLEY, of UK-based religious freedom advocacy CSW, says it is “increasingly apparent that more needs to be done to hold the Taliban to account and to ensure that the lives of Hazaras and other Afghan citizens are protected”…
Eleven soldiers dead, 50 civilians missing after Burkina Faso convoy attack
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso Reuters Eleven soldiers have been found dead and about 50 civilians are missing after an attack by Islamist militants on a 150-vehicle convoy taking supplies to a town in northern Burkina Faso on Monday, the government said on Tuesday. Twenty-eight people were wounded in the attack, including 20 soldiers, said the statement […]
More than 700 children have died in Somalia nutrition centres, UN says
Geneva, Switzerland/Mogadishu, Somalia Reuters Hundreds of children have died in nutrition centres across Somalia, the UN children’s agency UNICEF said on Tuesday, a day after the global body warned that parts of the country will be hit by famine in coming months. An official in one Somali region described famished people walking long distances with […]