THE AFRICAN

Bamako - Islamic militants stormed an army camp in northern Mali early on Saturday, killing at least 14 soldiers in the worst attack on security forces in the West African country in more than a year, the army said. Army spokesperson Colonel Diarran Kone confirmed the attack in the Timbuktu region and said the bodies of 17 assailants remained at the scene. The base was again under the control of the Malian military, he said. Mali recently marked the five-year anniversary of a French military mission to oust Islamic extremists from power in the major towns of the north. That operation, however, merely dispersed the jihadists into the surrounding desert. In the years since they have launched frequent attacks on the Malian military as well as UN peacekeeping forces trying to stabilize the country. Last January, at least 54 people died in the eastern city of Gao in the bombing of a camp that housed hundreds of former fighters from armed groups. The former fighters, who were sign...

A Nigerien court jailed nine soldiers for between five and 15 years on Friday for an attempted coup against President Mahamadou Issoufou two years ago, a court document showed. In December 2015, the government said it had foiled a coup and arrested people planning to use aerial firepower to seize control of Niger, a largely desert West African nation, a major uranium producer and Western ally against Saharan jihadists. In the judgment read out by Judge Ibrahim Daoudika, the suspected ringleader, General Salou Souleymane, got 15 years, as did two others. Six co-conspirators received sentences ranging from five to 10 years, and another three accused were acquitted. Issoufou was elected in 2011, one year after a coup. He was re-elected in February 2016 with 92.5 percent of the vote, after the opposition coalition boycotted the polls. “This is not what we expected, but the court is sovereign and it judged that they conspired against the state,” lawyer Nabara Ycouba told a news con...

A group of European tourists have been robbed and sexually assaulted while driving through the Casamance region of southern Senegal, officials say. Armed men stopped the car as it was in the town of Diouloulou and assaulted three of the four tourists. Earlier this month, 14 people were killed in Casamance, which has been hit by a 35-year separatist rebellion. But security had improved in recent years and tourists had started to return to the picturesque region. Tourism is one of Senegal's biggest foreign-exchange earners and  violent attacks on tourists are not common . The four Europeans were being driven through Casamance near the border with The Gambia when they were stopped at an improvised road block. They were then attacked by three men, at least one of whom was armed, according to local reports. They also made off with 4,400 euro ($5,480; £3,850) and 315,000 CFA francs ($595; £420). One of the tourists is currently undergoing medical examinations following t...

In his first speech in six years, the president of the  Democratic Republic of Congo  has confirmed his country will hold elections. Joseph Kabila  said polling will go ahead, even though voting has already been postponed twice. He also denied accusations that his security forces are cracking down on protesters who are calling for him to step down. Al Jazeera's Catherine Soi reports from Nairobi, Kenya. Source: Aljazeera 

At least 30 refugees and migrants have drowned off the coast of Aden, Yemen , after their boat capsized, the United Nations  has reported. The UN's migration and refugee agencies said on Friday that the boat, overcrowded with at least 152 Somalis and Ethiopians, had departed from the Al Buraiqa coast in Aden on January 23.  The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UNHCR said the vessel was believed to have been operated by "unscrupulous smugglers" who were trying to bring refugees and migrants to Djibouti "while trying to extort more money from them". In a statement, the UN said the boat had capsized "amid reports of gunfire being used against the passengers". Of all passengers on board, 101 were Ethiopian, and 51 were Somali.  "As we have been saying for almost five years now, the preservation of human life is our utmost priority everywhere," IOM Director William Lacy Swing said. "Yemen is no exception; w...

Tear gas was fired at the protesters in the capital, Kinshasa (Reuters)  At least five people have been killed in widespread protests in the Democratic Republic of Congo, United Nations sources say. Protesters are demanding that President Joseph Kabila - whose expected term of office expired more than a year ago - should step down. Police have used teargas to disperse protesters in the capital, where UN peacekeepers have been deployed. Similar demonstrations three weeks ago led to a number of deaths. A spokesman for the UN mission to the country said 33 people were injured in Sunday's clashes and that dozens had been arrested. Jean-Baptise Sondji, a former minister, told AFP a 16-year-old girl had died in the protests. "An armoured car passed in front of the church. They began firing live bullets... a girl who was at the left side door of the church was hit," he said. The widespread marches had been called for by the country's Catholic Church, whi...

At least five people have been killed in northern Ethiopia after security forces fired on a crowd at a religious festival who were reportedly shouting anti-government slogans. Many more were injured in the incident in the town of Waldiya. Angry protesters have blocked roads and businesses are closed. There have been nearly three years of opposition demonstrations in Ethiopia. On Wednesday, hundreds of activists were released from jail. The deaths happened during the second day of Epiphany celebrations commemorating the baptism of Jesus. Dozens of people are reportedly receiving hospital treatment after the shooting. Anti-government demonstrators in Ethiopia have been calling for political and economic reforms and an end to state corruption and human rights abuses. Among the suspects released from detention by the government on Wednesday was prominent opposition leader Merera Gudina, who spent more than a year in detention. At the beginning of January, Prime Minst...

Social Media users claimed that sexual assault is common at the  kenyatta National Hospital (photo credit: GETTY IMAGES ) Kenya's health minister has ordered an investigation into claims new mothers were sexually assaulted at a flagship hospital in the capital Nairobi. Social media posts alleged that male staff members targeted the women when they went to feed their babies. The Kenyatta National Hospital said the reports were "untrue" and denied any assaults took place. Its CEO, Lily Koros, has asked anyone with evidence to pass it to the hospital or the police. A post about the assaults first appeared on a Kenyan Facebook page called Buyer Beware, prompting more users to allege that sexual assault was common at the hospital. One poster said that she knew of a woman who had given birth to twins via Caesarean and was attacked on her way to see them. The woman scared the attackers away by screaming, she said. Health Minister Cleopa Mailu said he wanted a...

Ghana's Aviation Minister Cecelia Dapaah has warned British Airways (BA) it could face sanctions, after reports of bed bugs on some of the airline's flights into the country. A British newspaper reported this week  that a BA flight to Accra was grounded at London's Heathrow Airport for four hours, after the insects were found crawling on the seats. British Airways, which has a monopoly on direct flights between the UK and Ghana, has issued a statement saying such incidents were extremely rare, and a specialist team had taken immediate steps to resolve the issue. It told the BBC that Ghana remained an important destination for the company 

Emmerson Mnangagwa indicated he wants to resolve disputes with the West and open Zimbabwe up to foreign investment Zimbabwe   will hold elections in four or five months,   the new president announced on Thursday,  a sign the country ruled for decades by autocratic leader   Robert Mugabe   is on the path towards true democracy . However, the announcement came as the main opposition party accused President  Emmerson Mnangagwa 's government of secretly deploying thousands of soldiers in rural areas to help sway the election in his favour. The elections will be the first not involving Mugabe since Zimbabwe's independence from Britain in 1980. Voting  for the presidency, parliament, and local government will be peaceful, Mnangagwa said. "Zimbabwe is going for elections in four to five months' time and we have to preach peace, peace and peace because we know it is good for us and we have no doubt that we will have peaceful elections," Mnang...

Kidnappers have abducted two Americans and two Canadians in the northern Nigerian state of Kaduna, killing two police officers, a police spokesman said on Wednesday. Kidnappings are rife in Nigeria, where domestic security is weak, though they overwhelmingly target other Nigerians. However, abductions of foreigners are not uncommon. The foreigners were ambushed by unknown gunmen on their way from the town of Kafanchan in Kaduna state to the capital Abuja, Mukhtar Aliyu, a spokesman for the Kaduna state police, said by telephone. Kafanchan is about 3-1/2 hours’ drive northeast of Abuja. “The two police escorts attached to them engaged the kidnappers in a fierce gun battle, which resulted in the unfortunate death of the two police officers,” Aliyu said. The United States embassy in Nigeria declined to comment. Global Affairs Canada is aware of the reports of the kidnapping of two Canadian citizens and consular officials in Nigeria are in contact with local authorities to gat...

Albuquerque — Authorities in the US state of New Mexico say key Zimbabwean opposition leader Roy Bennett has been killed in a helicopter crash. State Police Lieutenant Elizabeth Armijo confirmed Bennett's death on Thursday, a day after a helicopter carrying him and five others went down in a mountainous rural area of northern New Mexico. Obert Gutu, spokesman for the MDC-T opposition party, said the loss of Bennett, a white man who spoke fluent Shona and drew the wrath of former President Robert Mugabe, was tragic. Gutu says Bennett's wife, Heather, also died. The crash killed five and injured a sixth person aboard. The helicopter went down about 6 p.m. Wednesday near the Colorado state line. Armijo said no additional information was immediately available about the circumstances of the crash.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is in the last days of her reign as Africa’s first democratically elected female president. She has, however, set a political battle for her days out of office. According to her spokesman Jerolinmek Piah, Sirleaf regarded the Unity Party (UP) decision to expel her as illegal and that she will return to the party to seek redress after she hands over power on January 22. Sirleaf will pass on the presidential baton to former world footballer of the year, George Weah, who beat Sirleaf’s deputy, Joseph Nyuma Boakai, in a poll run-off in December 2017. The duo entered the run-off after the October 8 polls failed to register an outright winner. The 79-year-old was on January 14 thrown out of the UP on whose ticket she won two mandates in 2006 and 2011. The executive committee accused Sirleaf of not backing the vice-president leading to the loss of power. Sirleaf after the first round refuted allegations by her party that she had interfered with the electoral p...

Huge crowds welcomed Mr merera home Jailed Ethiopian opposition leader Merera Gudina has been freed after more than a year in detention. The leader of the Oromo Federalist Congress was released on Wednesday morning and allowed to go home, where he was welcomed by thousands of people. He has been in prison since December 2016 and was facing charges, including association with terrorist groups. The Ethiopian government announced on Monday that it would drop charges against more than 500 suspects. Human rights groups have long accused Ethiopia of refusing to allow opposition groups to operate freely. The government has denied holding any political prisoners but says the releases will foster national debate and "widen the political sphere". Those being freed will first undergo two days of "rehabilitation training", the government says. At the beginning of January, Prime Minster Hailemariam Desalegn announced the government would close Maekelawi - a de...

ALHASSAN SILLAH A traditional healer gave women medicines to make them look pregnant Police in Guinea say they have arrested a healer for conning hundreds of women into believing they were pregnant. N'na Fanta Camara gave women who had been unable to conceive a mixture of leaves, herbs and other medicines that caused them to bloat and look pregnant. For her services, patients paid $33 (£24), in a country where the average monthly wage is around $48 (£35). Police believe Ms Camara made thousands of dollars a month, though she says she was only trying to help. On Tuesday, more than 200 women protested outside the police station in the Guinean capital of Conakry where Ms Camara was held. Over 700 women aged 17 to 45 are believed to have been affected by Ms Camara's pregnancy "cure". The high numbers reflect Guinea, and the rest of Africa's, dependence on traditional healers. In 2006, the World Health Organization said  that 80% of Africans used tra...

The African group of ambassadors to the  United Nations  has demanded an apology from  Donald Trump , after the US president reportedly aimed a racist remark at some Caribbean nations and Africa.  Trump  criticised  immigration to his country from El Salvador, Haiti and the African continent, by calling the group "shithole countries" at a meeting with Congress members at the White House on Thursday, according to US media. "The African Union mission to the UN is extremely appalled at, and strongly condemns the outrageous, racist and xenophobic remarks attributed to the US president as widely reported by the media," Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, Ghana's ambassador to the UN, said on Friday.  The group has demanded a retraction and apology from Trump. According to US media reports, citing people with knowledge of the conversation, Trump asked during a  conversation about immigration: "Why are we having all these people from shithole countries...