Africa

Toll from Niger tanker truck blast rises to 60: authorities

  NIAMEY, Niger (AFP) — The death toll from a tanker truck explosion near the international airport in Niger’s capital, Niamey, has risen to 60, authorities said Tuesday. The tally is likely to rise further as the prognosis is poor for several people who sustained severe burns, security official Hamani Adamou Abdoul-Aziz told state television. The overturned tanker exploded Sunday night as crowds gathered to collect spilt fuel. Interior Minister Mohamed Bazoum, who inspected the […]

38 killed as floods worsen in Mozambique after second cyclone

by Gregory WALTON PEMBA, Mozambique (AFP) — Heavy rain battered northern Mozambique on Monday as residents and relief workers confronted devastation wrought by Cyclone Kenneth, the strongest cyclone to ever hit Africa, which killed 38 people and destroyed thousands of homes. Roads have been washed away, fields submerged and many buildings wrecked by the storm, which came weeks after Cyclone Idai struck the Mozambican city of Beira, 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) to the south. Cyclone […]

Libyan air strikes kill four, wound 37: government

TRIPOLI, Libya (AFP) — Air raids on Tripoli Sunday night killed four people and wounded 37, Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) said Monday, blaming the attacks on strongman Khalifa Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA). This came a day after a similar attack on the capital killed another four civilians and injured 20, according to the GNA. Haftar’s LNA launched an offensive against Tripoli, the seat of the internationally-recognized GNA, on April 4. After […]

Jihadists kill pastor, four others in church attack in Burkina Faso

  OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AFP) — Gunmen killed four worshippers and a pastor in the first jihadist attack on a church in Burkina Faso, security and local sources said Monday, in the latest violence to rock the formerly peaceful west African nation. Sunday’s raid took place in the small northern town of Silgadji near Djibo, the capital of Soum province. “Unidentified armed individuals have attacked the Protestant church in Silgadji, killing four members of the […]

First death as Cyclone Kenneth smashes into Mozambique

  by Greg Walton and Joaquim Nhamirre Agence France Presse MAPUTO, Mozambique (AFP) — A powerful cyclone smashed into northern Mozambique, leaving one person dead on Friday, barely a month after a super-storm hit the centre of the country, devastating the area and leaving hundreds dead. Category three Cyclone Kenneth, packing winds of 160 kilometres (100 miles) an hour, struck the north coast’s Cabo Delgado province late Thursday after swiping the Comoros islands. The United […]

Mozambique braces for Cyclone Kenneth

A powerful cyclone was set to make landfall in northern Mozambique Thursday, barely a month after a super-storm slammed into the country’s centre, leaving hundreds dead and causing devastation. As Cyclone Kenneth barrelled towards to the northeastern coast after swiping the Comoros, the UN warned of flash flooding and landslides. Dozens of schools were closed and all flights between the capital Maputo and Pemba were cancelled. Forecasters at Meteo-France warned that Kenneth could trigger waves […]

51 killed, 1,000 people displaced by floods in S.Africa

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — Devastating floods in South Africa have left 51 dead and forced more than a thousand people from their homes, according to an updated toll issued Wednesday as President Cyril Ramaphosa flew to the deluged region. Heavy rains have lashed the southeast of the country, tearing down homes and ravaging infrastructure in KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces. Speaking to the affected Amanzimtoti community in Durban, after returning from emergency African Union […]

Road accident kills 19 wedding guests in Nigeria

KANO, Nigeria (AFP) — Nineteen wedding guests in the northern Nigerian state of Jigawa died when their bus lost control and burst into flames, police said Wednesday. The 18-seater was carrying 40 women and children returning from a wedding when its front tyre burst, causing it to skid off the road. The crash happened on Tuesday in Gwaram Sabuwa, a village around 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the state capital Dutse. “Nineteen people were killed […]

UN says over 260 killed in Libya battle as African leaders meet

TRIPOLI, Libya (AFP) — At least 264 people have been killed and over 1,200 wounded in weeks of fighting on the outskirts of Libya’s capital, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, as African leaders called for an immediate ceasefire. The WHO used Twitter to urge “a temporary cessation of hostilities, and for all parties to respect humanitarian law”. Eastern-based strongman Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive on the capital on April 4, as his self-styled Libyan […]

Haftar forces press offensive on Libyan capital

by Imed Lamloum TRIPOLI, Libya (AFP) — Forces backing Libya’s unity government battled to push back an offensive by strongman Khalifa Haftar on Sunday as his troops approached the gates of Tripoli after air raids overnight. Haftar’s self-proclaimed Libyan National Army, galvanized by victories in its eastern stronghold and in the country’s desert south, announced an offensive early this month to seize the capital from the UN-recognised administration of Fayez al-Sarraj. But his forces have […]

Sudan protest leaders halt talks with military

by Menna Zaki and Abdelmoneim Abu Idris Ali KHARTOUM, Sudan (AFP) — Sudanese protest leaders Sunday suspended talks with military rulers, after the army failed to meet their demand for an immediate transfer to civilian rule. The protest leaders had planned to name members of a civilian body to take over from the ruling military council which took power on April 11 after ousting veteran leader Omar al-Bashir. The momentum had been building all day […]

Updated: 13 killed, at least 16 injured as church roof collapses in South Africa

  JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — Thirteen people were killed and 16 injured when part of a church collapsed on worshippers following a violent storm near the eastern South African city of Durban, officials said Friday. The accident happened late Thursday when a brick wall under a makeshift roof collapsed during a service at a Pentecostal church, a converted hangar, in the town of Ndlangubo, north of Durban, in KwaZulu-Natal province. “Such a tragedy. 13 […]