Security

Prominent Sudanese politician and former Cabinet minister, Khalid Omer Yousif, was released on bail on Tuesday, a lawyer on his defense team said. Mr Yousif and other politicians were arrested in February after a coup by the military leaders who shared power with the civilian coalition they are part of, …

Mali has accused the French army of “spying” after it used a drone to film footage, which purported to show soldiers burying bodies near a military base that was recently returned by France. The military-dominated government in Mali said the images were false, and intended to accuse the Malian military …

A military tribunal in Burkina Faso has sentenced former President Blaise Compaore to life imprisonment for complicity in the 1987 murder of his predecessor Thomas Sankara. Mr Compaore who is in exile, was tried in absentia. His former head of security, Hyacinthe Kafando, was also sentenced to life imprisonment. Mr …

The al-Qaeda-allied al-Shabab militant group has dismissed reports that it was planning an attack against the Somali president and prime minister. Pro-al-Shabab Somali Memo website quoted an unnamed senior al-Shabab commander who termed the claim by the Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) “laughable”. The Shabab commander said Nisa …

Unidentified gunmen abducted an American nun in northern Burkina Faso on Monday, the bishop of the local diocese of Kaya said on Tuesday. The West African country faced a spiral of violence since 2015, attributed to jihadist movements affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group. More than 2,000 people …

Nigeria has repeated its demand for telecom companies to bar calls from unregistered phone lines, part of the government’s policy to boost security amid an Islamist insurgency and a spate of kidnappings. The country’s telecoms regulator had in December 2020 ordered mobile phone providers to add identification numbers (NINs) – …

The al Shabaab group linked to al Qaeda plans to target Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble, the country’s intelligence agency warned on Tuesday. Violence by the group, which aims to topple the central government and impose its own severe version of Islamic law, has …

National Security minister in Ghana, Albert Kan Dapaah declared that Ghana is on high alert against a possible terrorist attack. Speaking on the floor of Parliament, he said the nation is very much prepared for any potential attack. “[We] remain on high alert to avert terrorist infiltration with proactive measures, …

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has pledged to continue to help fight jihadist groups in northern Mozambique. The mission will see a continued presence of military personnel there for the next few months, with the long-term plan being to de-escalate the violence and help to bring stability to the …

The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) said 168 people are missing following an attack on a train last week in which eight people were killed and several wounded, Reuters agency reports. Suspected bandits blew up the track on the Abuja-Kaduna route in the northwest of the country and then opened fire …