In fulfillment of the commitment by the Heads of State and Government, made in 2015, to finance 25 percent of the cost of AU peace support operations, the African Union has taken the groundbreaking decision to institute a levy of 0.2 percent on eligible imports in order to address the
Istanbul, the city that lies in two continents, experienced waves of shock when forces loyal to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt by some members of the military that began Friday evening and devolved into turmoil and violence. The attempted coup appeared to crumble in the early
Twenty-five years after pulling out its diplomatic mission from Somalia, the United States has filled a diplomatic void by swearing in an ambassador to Somalia. Ambassador Stephen Schwartz took his oath in Washington, following his Senate confirmation in May. The new Ambassador will be taking over from James Bishop who
Hamza El-Fulani, Abderrahmane El-Fulani and Abderrahmane El-Ansari were the three attackers who killed 18 people in Grand Bassam, a seaside town several miles from Abidjan according to a statement released by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). According to the statement, the attackers simply followed the instructions of
Gunmen opened fire on picnickers and swimmers enjoying a perfect day at three hotels in the beach resort city of Grand-Bassam about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Ivory Coast’s capital Abidjan, killing 18 people and leaving several more injured. According to Ivorian Officials, four French Citizens and a German woman
At least 22 people have been killed and over 50 others injured after a double bomb attack in the Meme Market on Friday, February 19th 2016 orchestrated by Boko Haram. The bombs were concealed in some market cargo and detonated around 8:35 am (local time) at the beginning of the
Following an emergency food security assessment, the World Food Program (WFP) has reported that about 2.5 million people; approximately half of Central African Republic’s (CAR) population have been affected by an intense hunger crisis. People have been forced to resort to extreme measures to survive and feed their families.
13 people have been killed after a bomb detonated during a prayer session in the village of Kouyape 10 kilometres from Kolofata in the Far North Region of Cameroon. The suicide bomber who had joined the lay faithful in the early hours of Wednesday the 13th, January 2016 in the
The recent airstrikes in Yemen by Saudi Arabian led coalition forces have triggered tensions in the region as the Iranian government accused Saudi Arabia of intentionally striking its embassy in Yemen. According to state-run IRIB News, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari laid the blame on Saudi Arabia; calling
The focus of Britain’s maiden airstrikes in Syria have been on six selected targets in the Omar oilfields, located in eastern Syria. The decision to target these oil fields was based on the fact that they represent over 10% of ISIS’ potential income from oil; hence, a major source of
Attacks in Koulfoua (on the Chadian side of Lake Chad) have killed dozens and wounded over a hundred more after three female suicide bombers detonated their bombs in the Market area of the island. Two of the blasts rang out from the centre of the market and a third in
We are frequently reminded that we still have a lot of work to do in regards to the war against terrorism. Cameroonians have come together again to mourn the victims lost to the terror group, Boko Haram, after the militant group carried out fresh attacks on civilians in the Far
Recently, there has been a second political action in favour of extending presidential term limits in the Central African region as President Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo (Brazzaville), who has already served three decades in power, seeks another presidential term. The Congolese constitution currently bars the 72-year-old from running again
In a bid to re-establish normal relations with the Government of Somalia, the United States has reopened its diplomatic mission with the Eastern Africa nation, which continues to battle Islamic extremist rebels. Due to the tenuous security situation in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, the U.S. mission for Somalia will
Perpetrating horrible atrocities such as rape, beheadings, enslavement and leaving total chaos in its wake, ISIS–which considers religious shrines idolatrous–continues to destroy and sell valuable antiquities in parts of Syria and Iraq. One of Palmyra’s ancient sites, the temple of Baalshamin (a Unesco World Heritage Site known as Pearl of
According to the Cameroonian government, two separate suicide bomb attacks in Maroua, the capital of Cameroon’s Far Northern Region, have killed at least 50 people, while leaving at least 32 others seriously injured. Regional Governor Midjiyawa Bakari of the Far North Region said that one of the girls – who
Irrespective of the fact that public support is not on his side, United Sates President, Barack Obama for the time being has ruled out the option of the American ground troops in the middle East actively participating in the fight against ISIS. President Obama’s administration, though training Sunni tribes’
It is astonishing how all efforts put in place to fight against ISIS seem to work in its favor. How does ISIS continue to thrive irrespective of the offensive attacks launched against the Islamic State? ISIS has had a very successful month I’d say. It has succeeded in capturing Ramadi
ISIS now controls more than 95,000 square km in Syria, which is 50 percent of the country’s territory. ISIS’s advance, which was preceded by the capture of Anbar’s capital Ramadi and the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra in the past week, comes despite eight months of US-led air strikes aimed
Many countries’ rearmament efforts have progressively been visible in recent times. These countries are determined to end all doubts about their international ambitions and reassert their statuses as first-tier nations. To that end, their governments have adopted aggressive domestic-policy agendas that seek first to re-energize their economies, which will then
