central Africa

Nearly 200 people have been killed since January in “an alarming increase in attacks” by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) militia in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN says. According to the UN refugee agency, 40,000 had been forced to flee their homes during the same …

The 77-year-old President Denis Sassou Nguesso is aiming for re-election in the first round on Sunday in Congo-Brazzaville, where members of civil society have expressed “serious reservations” about the transparency of the election. “One shot, K-O” is written on the campaign posters of the candidate of the Congolese Labor Party …

30 people have been killed in fighting between government troops and the Codeco militia in the eastern province of Ituri , the army in the Democratic Republic of Congo says. The military said 11 civilians, two soldiers and a policeman were killed. Sixteen militiamen died in an army counter-offensive. Codeco, …

In Congo, security forces have started voting in the town of Dolisie, ahead of Wednesday’s presidential election. They are a total of 12,000 soldiers and police to vote. Congolese authorities say this would free up security forces, and allow them to focus on securing polling stations on Wednesday. But most …

The March parliamentary session began on Monday in Kinshasa as the Democratic Republic of Congo has been without a government for two months. Yesterday’s start of the parliamentary session comes one month after the appointment on February 15 of the new Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde who has yet to …

Militiamen have killed more than 10 people in a village in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, BBC News reports. The report says men armed with machetes attacked the village of Bulongo in North Kivu province in the middle of the night. Witnesses say they saw 12 bodies …

US President Joe Biden is “deeply concerned” about the crisis in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, White House press secretary Jen Psaki has said. “The president is deeply concerned and highly engaged on this issue,” Ms Psaki told reporters on Thursday. She said the president also recognised the humanitarian crisis in …

The US has designated rebel groups in Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique as foreign terrorist organisations. It said the groups, Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) and Al Ansar al-Sunna, locally known as al-Shabaab in Mozambique, were affiliated to the global jihadist group Islamic State (ISIS). Their leaders have been named …

Equatorial Guinea has begun three days of national mourning after the deaths of at least 105 people following explosions at a munitions depot on Sunday. Flags in Equatorial Guinea will fly at half-mast for the next three days. 105 are dead and more than 600 people are still in hospital …

Ali Bongo, Gabon’s president is said to be “very weak”. After a stay of more than five months shared between Saudi Arabia where he spent 34 days and the rest of the time in Morocco, the Gabonese president would be once again interned for health problems. Information circulating on the …