At least 15 Catholic worshippers were killed in an attack during a service in northern Burkina Faso
Abuja, Nigeria AP At least 15 Catholic worshippers were killed in a Burkina Faso village on Sunday when gunmen attacked a community as they gathered for prayers in the country’s conflict-hit northern region, church officials said. The violence in the village of Essakane was a “terrorist attack” that left 12 of the Catholic faithful dead […]
Measles: Children most at risk as cases soar from Ethiopia to Yemen
LIN TAYLOR, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports…
Junta-led Sahel states confirm plan to form tri-state confederation – ministry
Reuters Junta-led Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger plan to proceed with the establishment of a confederation, the Malian foreign ministry said on Thursday, as the three countries deepen ties via an alliance that threatens broader West African integration. The neighbours in the impoverished Sahel region announced in January they would quit the Economic Community of […]
Three West African junta-led states quit ECOWAS regional block
Niamey, Niger/Bamako, Mali Reuters Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, three West African states led by the military, said on Sunday they are immediately leaving the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional economic bloc that has been urging them to return to democratic rule. The decision by the three, announced in a simultaneous […]
Essay: Scramble for the Sahel – why France, Russia, China and the United States are interested in the region
In an article first published on The Conversation, OLAYINKA AJALA, a senior lecturer in politics and international relations at Leeds Beckett University in the UK, looks at why the “scramble” for the Sahel region in Africa is likely to remain intense in the coming year…
Militants kill at least 40 in north Burkina Faso attack on Sunday – UN
Dakar, SenegalReuters Islamist jihadist militants killed at least 40 civilians during an attack in northern Burkina Faso over the weekend, the United Nations’ Human Rights Office said. The latest reported assault in an area rife with jihadist activity took place on Sunday in the town of Djibo, where many displaced people have sought refuge. Fighters […]
Unable to go to church: Burkina Faso’s Christians living under threat of attacks
TONNY ONYULO reports on attacks from Islamist extremist groups have left thousands of Christians living in fear and skipping church services for fear of being murdered or kidnapped…
At least 70 killed in attack on northern Burkina Faso village on 5th November – prosecutor
Dakar, SenegalReuters At least 70 civilians have been killed, mainly elderly people and children, in an attack on a village in northern Burkina Faso earlier this month, a prosecutor said in a statement on Monday. Unidentified assailants attacked the village of Zaongo in Burkina Faso’s northern Centre-North region on 5th November, killing residents and setting property on fire. A judicial […]
Burkina Faso junta’s conscription of critics rattles civil society and unions
Reuters Burkina Faso’s military junta is abusing an emergency law to conscript perceived dissidents and critics to join a deadly fight against militants linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State, warned lawyers, journalists and watchdog Human Rights Watch this week. In a series of statements, civil society groups and unions for journalists and lawyers accused the […]
In Burkina Faso, a million children out of school due to insecurity – UNICEF
Dakar, SenegalReuters More than one million children and 31,000 teachers have been unable to return to their classrooms in Burkina Faso due to violence and insecurity as the West African nation starts another academic year on Monday, UNICEF said. Schoolchildren who fled from attacks of armed militants in Sahel region attend a class in Dori, […]