West Africa

The United States’ annual counterterrorism training program for African forces began Sunday in Ivory Coast, as Islamist fighters control large areas and coups increase, Reuters reports. The training program, known as Flintlock, will bring together more than 400 soldiers from across West Africa. Central to this year’s training is coordination …

Mali’s National Assembly has unanimously approved a plan allowing the military leader to rule the country for up to five years. Mali’s interim government now has the power to lead the West African nation for the next five years and no date has yet been set for future polls. Elections …

Authorities in Nigeria have announced the seizure of 120 tonnes of imported animal hides and skins, often sold as food, in the city of Lagos, local media reported. According to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (Nafdac), they were intercepted on suspicion that were already processed …

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday rejected Malian government’s demand to withdraw French troops from the country “without delay” and warned against any threat to their security. “We have announced the re-articulation of the system and it will be applied in good order to ensure the security of the United …

Liberia’s main opposition Unity Party is now the second to withdraw from the four-party coalition that’s planning to challenge President George Weah in next year’s elections. This latest move leaves the coalition in disarray. The first party to pull out was the All Liberian Party, of millionaire Benoni Urey. The …

Liberia’s former interim president, Amos Sawyer, died Wednesday at the age of 76 in Maryland, United States, after suffering cardiac arrest, his family announced. He was one of the country’s most acclaimed politicians who became interim president in the 1990s as part of efforts to stop the bloody war launched …

French authorities have officially announced the withdrawal of French troops of Operation Barkhane from Mali, where they had been fighting jihadists since 2013. According to Élysée officials, it is downright impossible for France to continue its anti-terrorist deployment in Mali, due to the growing hostility of the military authorities in …

Gunmen have shot dead at least eight people and 51 cows at a new cattle market in the south-eastern Nigerian state of Abia, local media reported. Regional police spokesperson Geoffrey Ogbonna told the BBC that a number of people had also been wounded while shops and the market’s fence had …

Burkina Faso’s coup leader Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba is ready to be sworn in as the country’s president, just over two weeks after the overthrow of President Roch Kaboré. Last week, the Constitutional Council, after taking note of Mr. Kaboré’s resignation, declared Mr. Damiba president of Burkina Faso. State television says …

A teacher at Asaba Nursery and Primary School in Nigeria’s Delta State has been arrested for allegedly whipping a 19-month-old pupil to death, police report. The teacher allegedly left several marks on the toddler’s body after whipping him last Monday. According to reports, the suspect, believed to be the son …