West Africa

French military forces in Timbuktu have left the region after spending nine years helping Malian troops retake the city from Islamist insurgents. France has gradually reduced its anti-terrorism operation in northern Mali, despite the persistent threat from jihadists. On Tuesday, a French General handed a symbolic wooden key to a …

A final year student of a University in Osun State has been set ablaze after refusing to join a secret society known as cults, the university administration has confirmed. The University discovered the incident after the student failed to show up for exams. They contacted his parents who said he …

Authorities in Ghana have announced that airlines carrying unvaccinated foreign nationals into the country will be fined $3,500 per passenger, as they are concerned about a surge of infections over the festive period. The measure that came into effect on Monday aims to tighten the ban on unvaccinated foreign visitors …

At least eight people have been killed and many others wounded after they were attacked by gunmen in a market in central Nigeria’s Plateau state, BBC News reports. The attack happened on Sunday evening in the village of Pinau, in Wase area, where people had gathered for the weekly market. …

Backed by the Nigerien army, Burkina Faso’s security forces announced that they had succeeded in eliminating 100 Islamist militants in two weeks of operations, BBC News reported. On Thursday, at least 13 members of a civilian militia fighting the jihadists were killed in the north of the country. The volunteer …

The government of Ghana has announced that all visitors must be fully vaccinated against covid-19 from midnight Sunday before being allowed to enter the country. In a statement, the government said Ghanaians who intend to return to the country within the next fortnight are exempt, but will be vaccinated upon …

At least 16 worshippers have been killed and many others wounded by gunmen in a mosque in the Nigerian Niger state, local media have reported. Niger state government official, Ahmed Ibrahim Matane told the BBC that the attackers opened fire on the Muslim worshippers during early morning prayers on Wednesday. …

The governor of Borno state in north-eastern Nigeria has banned food distributions to tens of thousands of people displaced by Islamist extremists, BBC News has reported. Borno State governor, Babagana Umara Zulum told aid agencies that they would not be allowed to distribute food or other items to people who, …

Burkinabè President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré has, by decree, dismissed Prime Minister Christophe Joseph Marie Dabiré from his functions and dissolved the government. “The prime minister’s functions are over, the government is dissolved,” a presidential decree said. The West African country has been plagued since 2015 by recurrent jihadist attacks …

The Nigerian government has announced that a million of doses of coronavirus vaccines in the country expired last month and said they had been withdrawn before then and will be destroyed. The government said in the statement that it “now politely declines all vaccine donations with short shelf life or …