NOTEWORTHY RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

SOUTH SUDAN

'Hundreds killed' as South Sudan rivals clash. Fighting involves government troops of President Salva Kiir and forces loyal to Vice President Riek Machar. BBC News, 10 July 2016: VIDEO

South Sudan: Who's Behind South Sudan's Return to Fighting? The ruling SPLA's Chief of General Staff and former governor of Northern Bahr El Ghazal, Paul Malong - a figure that many see as the true power behind the Salva Kiir's presidential throne. By Clémence Pinaud, AllAfrica, July 11, 2016: TEXT | PICTURE

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

Death toll rises in battles in Central African Republic. A government spokesman accused fighters loyal to former President Francois Bozize of trying to retake power. By By Paul-Marin Ngoupana, Reuters, September 9, 2013: TEXT

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

UN must avoid past mistakes in new Democratic Republic of Congo mission. This is the first time such a brigade has been created within a peacekeeping force. By Professor Ray Murphy (Irish Centre for Human Rights, School of Law, NUI Galwa), Irish Times, April 4, 2013: TEXT

South Africa charges Democratic Republic of Congo 'rebels for coup plot.' Nineteen suspected Congolese rebels who belonged to the Democratic Republic of Congo's Union of Nationalists for Renewal (UNR) rebel group have been charged in a South African court with plotting a coup against President Joseph Kabila. BBC News, February 7, 2013: TEXT

LIBERIA

Two Liberian Mercenaries Arrested. The UN panel of expert investigation recently reported on plan to undermine Ivory Coast identified eastern Liberia as a recruitment platform and rear base for military training used by Ivorian rebels fighting to unseat the government of President Alassane Ouattera. By Agnes M. Tarr, AllAfrica, October 22, 2013: TEXT

MALI

UN troops from Chad killed in Mali's Tessalit town. Civilians and two UN peacekeepers from Chad have been killed and six others wounded - some "severely" - in a suicide attack in northern Mali. BBC News, Octobber 24, 2013: TEXT | PICTURE

French President Hollande says war on terror won in Mali in speech at inauguration celebration. Hollande spoke before more than a dozen heads of state at inauguration festivities for Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who won the post-rebellion elections. By AP, Washington Post, September 19, 2013: TEXT | PICTURE

Hollande wins Unesco peace prize for Mali intervention. France's President Francois Hollande was awarded the annual Felix Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize by Unesco at a ceremony in Paris.BBC News, June 5, 2013: TEXT | PICTURE

French citizens among radical fighters in Mali, minister says. "This shows that there existed a kind of terrorist war network, which would welcome young people in search of a radical destiny, as some have done in Afghanistan or Syria," Defense Minister Jean Yves Le Drian said. By Laura Smith-Spark and Saskya Vandoorne, CNN, March 8, 2013: TEXT | PICTURE | VIDEOS

Fear overtakes joy in Gao. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up two days in a row; a group of jihadi fighters kept Malian soldiers, supported by the French, in street combat for more than four hours. By Thomas Fessy, BBC News, February 11, 2013: VIDEO | TEXT

330 UK military personnel sent to West Africa. Number 10 is also considering who will provide "force protection" for the military advisers. ..."If they (the military advisers) are spread out in different locations providing technical advice to different aspects of the Malian forces then those numbers will begin to climb quite rapidly," Former defence minister Sir Nick Harvey warned. ... General Sir Mike Jackson warned that nations involved may face a "protracted guerrilla warfare". BBC News, January 28, 2013: TEXT | PHOTO | VIDEO

Islamists Burn Priceless Manuscripts As French-Led Troops Surround Timbuktu. Timbuktu mayor Halley Ousmane, who is in Bamako, confirmed the fire at the Ahmed Baba Centre for Documentation and Research, which housed between 60,000 and 100,000 manuscripts, according to Mali's culture ministry. AllAfrica, January 28, 2013: TEXT | VIDEO

9 questions about Mali you were too embarrassed to ask. The Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) has largely been replaced by two breakaway Islamist groups: Ansar Dine and the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA), the latter has recruited Arab fighters from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) .By Max Fisher, Washington Post, January 16, 2013: TEXT

UK troops to assist Mali operation to halt rebel advance. The UK has agreed to help transport foreign troops and equipment to Mali amid French efforts to contain rebels. BBC News, January 13, 2013: VIDEO

France confirms Mali military intervention. French troops "have brought support this afternoon to Malian units to fight against terrorist elements" President Francois Hollande said. BBC News, January 11, 2013: click here

UNESCO chief deplores new destruction of Timbuktu mausoleums. “I am profoundly shocked by the ferocity that has marked the latest round of destruction of Timbuktu's mausoleums,” said UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova. At least three mausoleums in Mali were reportedly destroyed on 23 December, including that of the Al Hassan and Al Houseyni twins. UN News Centre, December 25, 2012: click here

A great African history in danger. Since the Islamist groups Ansar Dine and Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) took Timbuktu in April 2012. The future of Timbuktu's ancient manuscripts is uncertain as international organisations discuss an intervention force. By Celeste Hicks, The Africa Report, December 21, 2012: click here

- UNESCO - Mali - Timbuktu Manuscripts project: information | images

Islamists vow to smash every mausoleum in Timbuktu. A spokesman for the Ansar Dine group, Sanda Ould Boumama, said it would "destroy every mausoleum in the city." BBC News, July 1, 2012: click here

Mali Islamist militants 'destroy' Timbuktu saint's tomb. Islamist fighters said to be linked to al-Qaeda have destroyed the tomb of a local Muslim saint in Timbuktu. BBC News, May 6, 2012: click here

NIGERIA

Nigeria Government Says Death Claims of Kidnapped Foreigners Are Premature. “It is not confirmed,” Interior Minister Abba Moro told reporters today in Abuja, the capital. “When investigations are concluded the federal government will have the courage to tell the people the true position of things.”By Elisha Bala-Gbogbo, Bloomberg, March 13, 2013: TEXT

Nigerian Islamists say have killed 7 kidnapped foreign hostages. The victims of the February 16 kidnapping in Bauchi state included four Lebanese, one Briton, a Greek citizen and an Italian. A Setraco official later said the Middle Eastern hostages included two Lebanese and two Syrians. By M. J. Smith, Africa Review, March 10 2013: TEXT | PICTURE

Boko Haram offshoot claims responsibility in Nigeria kidnapping. In an e-mail sent to reporters Ansaru said it had kidnapped seven workers from a construction company's offices onSaturday because of "transgression and atrocities" against Islam. CNN, February 18, 2013: TEXT | MAP | VIDEOS

The kidnap fear. Foreign firms may become scared to send their people to northern Nigeria. Ansaru, an acronym for “Vanguard for the Protection of Muslims in Black Africa”, may be a breakaway from Boko Haram (“Western teaching is sinful”), a group that was responsible for 800-plus deaths last year alone.The Economist, February 23, 2013: TEXT

Kidnap threat adds to Nigeria's woes. There have been a total of five kidnappings thought to be connected to Nigerian Islamists since 2011, with suspicions mainly falling on a group known as Ansaru, believed to be a splinter faction of extremist group Boko Haram. Sky News Australia, February 21, 2013: TEXT | PHOTO