#armed-groups

#armed-groups

BENI, Democratic Republic of Congo More than 40 civilians were killed on Monday when a militia attacked a camp for displaced people in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a local official and the head of a civil society group said.Jean Richard Lenga, chief of the Bahema Badjere district in Ituri Province, said members of the Cooperative for the Development of the Congo, or CODECO, massacred 46 people with knives and firearms and burned others in their homes in the middle of the camp.

Thousands of Sudanese refugees watched as the first emergency aid workers reached a village in Chad, days after escaping from their embattled country.Mothers tended to toddlers, while men listed their most urgent needs water, vaccines, tarps for the looming rainy season.The fighting that erupted in Sudan's capital last month has ricocheted far beyond the city's borders, worsening instability in the restive western region of Darfur and sending tens of thousands of people fleeing to neighboring countries, including Chad in Central Africa.

The military junta that controls Mali pardoned 49 Ivorian soldiers and suspended their prison sentences, ending a diplomatic dispute that highlighted the growing isolation of the West African country and its strained relations with its neighbors.The decision, announced late on Friday, came a week after the soldiers, who had been detained nearly six months ago, had received sentences of 20 years.

One-fifth of the country's schools are closed and experts warn of dire consequences ahead for Burkinabe children.Dakar, Senegal & Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso  In the small towns in Burkina Faso's Sahel region, straddling the borders with Mali and Niger, the start of the long-delayed school year finally rolled around last month.

The meeting is taking place following the Chinese and Afghan foreign ministers' arrival in Islamabad.. Pakistan is set to host a day-long trilateral dialogue with China and Afghanistan in Islamabad after the arrival of the Chinese and Afghan foreign ministers, Qin Gang and Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, on Friday.

An attack at a school in northwestern Pakistan followed a separate incident in which another teacher was shot dead.At least seven teachers have been killed in a shooting at a school in northwestern Pakistan, following a separate attack in which another teacher was shot dead, Geo TV reported.Both incidents took place on Thursday in the Parachinar area of Kurram tribal district near the border with Afghanistan, the local television channel said.

France's foreign ministry is standing by its ambassador amid mounting anti-French sentiment in Burkina Faso.France is backing its ambassador in Burkina Faso despite a request by authorities there to replace him amid growing anti-French sentiment.I would like to express my support and our support for our ambassador and for all the embassy staff, who are doing a remarkable job in conditions which, as you know, are difficult, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told LCI TV on Thursday, adding that the letter had requested a change of envoy.

One of the anti-Kremlin groups responsible for an armed incursion into Russia this week, the Russian Volunteer Corps, is led by a far-right extremist described by German officials and humanitarian groups, including the Anti-Defamation League, as a neo-Nazi.The Volunteer Corps, made up of Russians who oppose Vladimir V. Putin's war, does not have any public affiliation with the Ukrainian Army.

The Pentagon said on Tuesday that a Russian warplane struck an unarmed American MQ-9 Reaper surveillance drone over the Black Sea just after dawn on Tuesday, hitting its propeller and causing its American operators to bring it down in international waters.Russia said that the drone was flying toward its territory and denied that it had used force.

Burkina Faso's government spokesman says the country wants to defend itself and France has one month to pull out troops.Burkina Faso has decided to end a military accord that allowed French troops to fight armed groups in the country, the government has said.Burkinabe authorities want France to pull its troops out of the country within a month, government spokesman Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo said on Monday.

The defence ministry makes the statement during the maiden visit of Pakistan army chief General Syed Asim Munir to Beijing.Islamabad, Pakistan China says it will work with Pakistan's military to further deepen and expand the two nations' mutual interests and jointly protect regional peace and stability.

Israeli security forces said on Wednesday that they had shot dead a man they accused of planting a bomb in northern Israel after he had probably infiltrated the country from southern Lebanon, in one of the most unusual security incidents along the border in years.The military did not reveal details about the man killed but said that they were investigating whether he had been connected to Hezbollah, an Islamist militia and political movement that has long fought Israel and has a stronghold in southern Lebanon.

The move comes after the Sahel country's military rulers demanded that Paris withdraw its forces.France will withdraw its troops from Burkina Faso within a month after the West African country's military rulers asked it to leave, the French foreign ministry said, in a move that will further reduce its presence in a region facing growing violence from armed groups.

Relations between France and former colony Burkina Faso continue to deteriorate as violence continues in the Sahel.The French foreign ministry says it received a letter from the Burkinabe authorities in December requesting the departure of France's ambassador from Burkina Faso.The French ministry's spokeswoman confirmed to Reuters on Tuesday by email that it had received such a letter, but declined to give further details or say how it had responded.

(MOMBASA, Kenya) Droughts, flooding and a shrinking Lake Chad caused in part by climate change is fueling conflict and migration in the region and needs to be better addressed, a report said Thursday.Human rights group Refugees International called for the issue to be central to a high-level international conference on the Lake Chad basin next week in Niamey, Niger's capital.

Imran Khan and his supporters are to gather in Rawalpindi on Saturday after an attack on their march this month injured Khan.Islamabad, Pakistan  Pakistan's interior minister has asked former Prime Minister Imran Khan to postpone a planned sit-in in Rawalpindi on Saturday, citing the threat of attacks.