AFP Africa

A scramble for gold reserves dug up in illegal mines is fuelling violence by criminal gangs in parts of Nigeria, officials, expert reports and local residents say, with much of it smuggled to Dubai.Northwestern and central Nigerian states have long been terrorised by criminal gangs locally called “bandits” who raid villages, abduct residents and loot …

Illegal gold mining stokes bandit violence in NigeriaFri, 19 Dec 2025 06:32:31 GMT Read More »

A few months ago, farmer Belete Melke was sheltering from a heavy downpour in a remote village in Ethiopia’s Amhara region when suddenly gunfire erupted around him.”We were caught in the crossfire,” he told AFP, after being struck by a stray bullet.Northern Amhara is Ethiopia’s second most populated region with roughly 23 million inhabitants, and …

Ethiopian civilians ‘caught in the crossfire’ of Amhara conflictFri, 19 Dec 2025 06:23:25 GMT Read More »

Washington on Thursday accused South Africa of harassing US government employees working with Afrikaners, the white minority to whom President Donald Trump is granting refugee status, in the latest escalation of tensions.The State Department said that passport information of US officials was leaked and warned in a statement that “failure by the South African government …

US accuses S.Africa of harassing US officials working with AfrikanersThu, 18 Dec 2025 18:53:19 GMT Read More »

Washington on Thursday accused South Africa of harassing US government employees working with Afrikaners, the white minority to whom President Donald Trump is granting refugee status, in the latest escalation of tensions.The State Department said that passport information of US officials was leaked and warned in a statement that “failure by the South African government …

US accuses S. Africa of harassing US officials working with AfrikanersThu, 18 Dec 2025 15:55:30 GMT Read More »

Benin President Patrice Talon said Thursday that the bulk of the army did not back a recent foiled coup bid whose leaders recruited young trainee soldiers. “No significant segment of the army joined” the attempted coup of December 7, which saw a group of soldiers claim on national television that they had deposed the president, Talon …

Benin president says bulk of military not behind failed coupThu, 18 Dec 2025 15:00:06 GMT Read More »

M23 police and plain-clothed intelligence agents were still deployed Thursday in Uvira, local and security sources said, after the armed group announced it had begun withdrawing from the eastern DR Congo city.After seizing the major cities of Goma and Bukavu early this year, fighters from the Rwanda-backed M23 group captured Uvira near the border with …

M23 police still present as armed group withdraws from DR Congo cityThu, 18 Dec 2025 13:03:13 GMT Read More »

The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) said it has agreed a loan for the refurbishment of a rail link in Angola strategic for the transport of minerals which are in high demand at American firms.In an announcement Wednesday, the DFC said the rail link runs between the Lobito port on the Atlantic coast to …

US grants loan for strategic Angola rail lineThu, 18 Dec 2025 09:24:11 GMT Read More »

Lacking support and feeling terrified, Mary turned to one of Sierra Leone’s traditional healers when she found out she was pregnant as a teenager, an ordeal that left her with permanent pain and emotional scars.Leaning against a veranda railing in an overcrowded slum on the outskirts of Freetown, she clasped her hands tightly as if …

Cassava sticks and pain: Stalled S.Leone abortion bill leaves women few optionsThu, 18 Dec 2025 06:35:33 GMT Read More »

South Africa arrested and expelled seven Kenyans who had been working illegally on a US government programme to accept white Afrikaners as “refugees”, the government said Wednesday.President Donald Trump’s administration in May offered refugee status to the minority white Afrikaner community, claiming they were victims of discrimination and even “genocide”, which the Pretoria government strongly …

S.Africa expels Kenyans working on US Afrikaner ‘refugee’ applicationsWed, 17 Dec 2025 21:46:31 GMT Read More »

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces destroyed and concealed evidence of mass killings they committed after overrunning the Darfur city of El-Fasher, a new report has found.Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL), which has used satellite imagery to monitor atrocities since the RSF’s war with the army began, said on Tuesday the group “destroyed and concealed …

RSF destroying evidence of atrocities in Sudan: reportWed, 17 Dec 2025 13:34:16 GMT Read More »