Africa

More means less for Zimbabweans battling hyperinflation

by Fanuel Jongwe Agence France-Presse HARARE, Zimbabwe (AFP) — With runaway inflation eating into incomes, staple foods have vanished from the tables of Zimbabweans like Emina Chishangwe, who lives in a poor dormitory town south of the capital Harare. “I can’t remember the last time I ate meat. It has become a luxury for some of us,” said the 57-year-old single mother of two adult sons. Zimbabwe has the highest inflation rate in the world, […]

34 killed in two jihadist attacks in Burkina Faso

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AFP) — Suspected jihadists killed at least 34 people in attacks on villages in northern Burkina Faso at the weekend, officials and sources said Monday. In the northwest of the country, 22 people, reportedly including children, were killed late Sunday at Bourasso in Kossi province, said Boucle du Mouhoun regional governor Babo Pierre Bassinga. “Armed men moved around the village at around 5:00 pm, firing in the air. They came back at […]

Mali welcomes lifting of ‘illegal, inhumane’ sanctions

BAMAKO, Mali (AFP) — Mali’s junta said Monday it was “satisfied” by the lifting of “illegal and inhumane” sanctions imposed by West African states in January after two coups in the country. The military-dominated government said in a statement it “notes with satisfaction a convergence of views that has allowed us to reach a compromise” that led to the lifting of the embargo against Mali. It thanked the Malian people for their “sacrifice and resilience” […]

Eight anti-coup protesters killed in Sudan mass rallies

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AFP) — At least eight Sudanese demonstrators were killed Thursday as security forces sought to quash mass rallies of protesters demanding an end to military rule, pro-democracy medics said. In one of the most violent days this year in an ongoing crackdown on the anti-coup movement, AFP correspondents reported security forces firing tear gas and stun grenades to disperse tens of thousands of protesters. “Even if we die, the military will not rule […]

Senegal court sentences opposition MP over banned protest

DAKAR, Senegal (AFP) — A Senegal court Tuesday handed an opposition MP a six-month suspended prison sentence for defying a ban on protests in the tense run-up to legislative elections and released another lawmaker and 82 other defendants tried in the same case. MPs Dethie Fall and Mame Diarra Fame were tried along with the 82 other defendants at the court in the capital Dakar. They were arrested on June 17 during a rally called […]

AU urges probe into deaths of Africans at Spain-Morocco border

NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — The African Union Commission chief has voiced shock at the “violent and degrading” treatment of African migrants trying to cross from Morocco into Spain after 23 people died, and called for an investigation into the incident. About 2,000 migrants stormed the heavily fortified border between the Moroccan region of Nador and the Spanish enclave of Melilla on Friday. At least 23 migrants died and 140 police officers were wounded in the […]

Gunman kills seven villagers in northeast Cameroon

YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon (AFP) — A gunman on a rampage killed seven people and seriously wounded two others across four villages in northeastern Cameroon, a local administrator and state television said Thursday. This “lone gunman, carrying an AK47-type weapon and four magazines loaded on both sides of his belt, opened fire on the innocent populations” of four villages, according to a statement released by Yves Bertrand Awounfac Alienou, the prefect of Vina department in the northeastern […]

Death toll in Burkina jihadist massacre rises to 86

  OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AFP) — The death toll from a weekend attack in northern Burkina Faso rose by seven, taking the number killed to 86, authorities said on Wednesday. The massacre at the village of Seytenga is the second worst in the history of Burkina’s insurgency, which started in 2015 when jihadists launched cross-border raids from Mali. Attacks mainly by groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have since claimed thousands of […]

DR Congo condemns Rwanda’s ‘support’ for M23 rebels

KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — The Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday condemned neighbor Rwanda for “supporting, financing and arming” the M23 rebel group that seized an important trading hub near the Ugandan border. “We will defend every centimeter of our territory,” added a Congolese communications ministry statement, which came a day after M23 rebels took the town of Bunagana in the eastern province of North Kivu. The statement cited 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner […]

Suspected jihadists kill at least 50 in Burkina Faso

by Armel Baily  Agence France-Presse OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AFP) — At least 50 civilians died in an attack by suspected jihadists in northern Burkina Faso, government spokesman Lionel Bilgo said Monday, in one of the bloodiest clashes since a military coup in January. “The army has so far found 50 bodies” after the village of Seytenga was attacked overnight Saturday, Bilgo said, adding that the toll “may rise”. “Relatives (of the victims) have returned to […]

Nigeria’s ruling party picks candidate for 2023 presidential poll

  by Emmanuel Anule  Agence France-Presse ABUJA, Nigeria (AFP) — Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party voted on Wednesday in key primaries to choose a candidate for next year’s election to replace President Muhammadu Buhari. No clear favorite emerged among the APC frontrunners vying to lead Africa’s most populous country, including former Lagos governor Bola Tinubu, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, former transport minister Rotimi Amaechi and Senate president Ahmad Lawan. The APC convention in […]

Attack on church in southwest Nigeria kills 21

  LAGOS, Nigeria (AFP) — Gunmen who attacked a Catholic church on Sunday with explosives in southwest Nigeria killed at least 21 worshippers, including some children, local officials said. The violence in St Francis Catholic Church in Owo town during a Sunday service prompted international condemnation after a rare attack in Nigeria’s usually safer southwestern region. Richard Olatunde, spokesman for the Ondo State governor’s office, told AFP that dynamite exploded inside the church before gunmen […]