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West Africa

18 killed in northeast Nigeria military raid
Nigerian soldiers attacked training camps for suspected members of the radical Islamic sect Boko Haram deep in a game reserve in the nation's restive ...
French leader to visit Mali, talk of troop levels
President Francois Hollande says he'll suggest when France will reduce troop levels in Mali during a trip there Saturday, nearly four weeks after a ...
Arabs, Tuaregs in Mali face hostility amid war
Bawba Mint Baba Ahmed's dress-making teacher singled her out in front of the class, telling her: "You look like a rebel." Others threatened to slit ...
Nigeria lawmaker charged over alleged bribery
A Nigerian lawmaker who led a probe into the nation's fuel subsidy program that saw billions of dollars lost through fraud has been charged with ...
Syrian opposition: willing to meet with regime
Syria's top opposition leader said Friday that he was willing to sit down for talks with President Bashar Assad's government to "ease the pain of the ...
Mali jihadists in custody say tortured by military
Three suspected jihadists arrested in the days since the liberation of Timbuktu said Friday that Malian soldiers were torturing them with a method ...
US limited in fight against North Africa militants
The United States is struggling to confront an uptick in threats from the world's newest jihadist hot spot with limited intelligence and few partners ...
Freedom returns to the storied city of Timbuktu
On the morning French commandos parachuted onto the sand just north of this storied city and ended 10 months of Islamic rule, Hawi Traore folded up ...
Kofi Annan tackles drug trafficking in West Africa
Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan launched a commission Thursday to tackle drug trafficking in West Africa as the region increasingly ...
Correction: Nigeria-Plane Graveyard story
In a story Feb. 2 about Nigeria dismantling abandoned airplanes at airports around the country, The Associated Press reported erroneously what ...
Timbuktu revels in new freedom but fears linger
A leaflet listing the regulations for women under Islamist rule now lies in dirt here at the tribunal in Timbuktu. Rule No. 1: The veil should cover ...
5 killed in separate attacks in north Nigeria
Authorities say at least five police officers have been killed in separate attacks in northern Nigeria. Gunmen raided Birnin-Gwari in Kaduna state ...
French capture Islamists' last major Malian town
French forces met no resistance Wednesday in Kidal, the Islamists' last major town, as the two-week-old mission scored another success in its effort ...
Timbuktu manuscripts mostly safe, university says
Islamist extremists damaged or stole only a limited number of manuscripts in Timbuktu in Mali before they fled the fabled desert city, a South African ...
France takes key Mali cities; now the hard part
French-led forces have wrested control of three key cities in northern Mali from al-Qaida-linked militants, but the fighters have escaped with their ...
Dutch court rejects most of Shell spill case
A Dutch court has ruled that a subsidiary of international oil giant Royal Dutch Shell should be held responsible for a pipeline leak poisoning ...
Report: Ivory Coast gov't lacks impartiality
Ivory Coast's government has displayed a "lack of impartiality" by not pursuing specific perpetrators of 2010-11 postelection violence including those ...
US eyes drone base in Africa with al-Qaida in mind
Plans to base unarmed American surveillance drones in the African nation of Niger highlight the Obama administration's growing concern about extremist ...
In recaptured city in Mali, Islamists hunted down
Residents in Mali's newly liberated city of Gao hunted down and beat suspected Islamist extremists who had not fled with their brothers-in-arms as ...
Official: US may set up drone base in Niger
The Pentagon is moving toward setting up a military base in northwest Africa from which to operate surveillance drones to collect intelligence on ...
Donors pledge $455 million to Mali military push
African and Western nations on Tuesday pledged more than $450 million to fund an African-led military force to fight Islamist extremists in Mali.
Timbuktu, ancient seat of Islamic learning
Timbuktu, the fabled desert city where retreating Muslim extremists destroyed ancient manuscripts, was a center of Islamic learning hundreds of years ...
Tuaregs say they seized Mali towns from Islamists
Tuareg fighters in northern Mali say they have seized control of the strategic city of Kidal and seven other northern towns from Islamist extremists.
Mali military enters fabled town of Timbuktu
Backed by French helicopters and paratroopers, Malian soldiers entered the fabled city of Timbuktu on Monday after al-Qaida-linked militants who ruled ...
Nigerian who stole $145M pays fine to avoid prison
A man who formerly helped oversee Nigeria's police pension program pleaded guilty Monday to stealing $145 million, but walked out of court a free man ...