Bamako woke to explosions as JNIM and Tuareg rebels attacked nationwide, killing Mali’s defence minister. Why now? Explosions rocked Mali’s capital on April 25 as rebels carried out coordinated attacks across the country. Mali’s defence minister was killed along with his wife and children when an attacker struck their home. With Bamako under siege and … Read more
More than 40 people were killed in an attack by an Islamic State affiliate in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN and the military said. Most of them were worshippers taking part in a night vigil at a church in the town of Komanda when they were attacked by Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) fighters. … Read more
A spokesperson for DRC’s President Felix Tshisekedi told the Reuters news agency that they had received an invitation from Angola for the talks. The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels will hold talks next week, mediator Angola has announced. A statement from President Joao Lourenco’s office on Wednesday … Read more
Rwanda-backed rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have tightened their grip on Bukavu, the second major city to fall under M23 control in the country’s east since late last month. M23 rebels captured the city of 1.3 million people on Sunday after it was abandoned by Congolese forces. The capital of the … Read more
At least 773 people have been killed in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) largest city of Goma and its vicinity in a week, amid fighting with Rwanda-backed M23 rebels who captured the city in a serious escalation of a decade-long conflict, authorities said. “These figures remain provisional because the rebels asked the population … Read more
A rebel militia backed by Rwanda on Monday announced the capture of the city of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a major victory for the group and one of the most significant escalations in the conflict between the two countries in years. The militia, known as M23, briefly occupied Goma once before, in … Read more
Residents in Goma, the largest city in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), were fleeing on Monday after the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group claimed to have captured the regional hub from Congolese forces as fighting escalated despite calls from the United Nations Security Council for the rebels to withdraw. Gunshots rang … Read more
Every fall, when farmers across the rolling, red dirt hills of Idlib Province in northern Syria harvest their olive crops, they routinely find at least one representative of the local tax authority stationed at any oil press. The tax collector takes at least 5 percent of the oil, and farmers grouse that there are no … Read more
Syrian rebels shocked the country with a lightning offensive on its biggest city and the surrounding region starting last week, upending a 13-year-old civil war that had been dormant for several years. By seizing that city, Aleppo, occupying large stretches of the countryside and advancing on the western city of Hama, the rebels have been … Read more
Police say 31 Maoist rebels killed in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh after a nine-hour firefight. At least 31 suspected Maoist rebels have been killed during a clash with Indian security forces, state police said. The confrontation took place on Friday after counterinsurgency forces, acting on intelligence, surrounded approximately 50 suspected rebels in the … Read more