Special Reports

Rearming CAR’s Forces: A Way out of the Abyss?

Rearming CAR’s Forces: A Way out of the Abyss?

As international forces scrambled to provide security for the visit of Pope Francis to the Central African Republic (CAR) over the weekend, local and international actors have called for the rearmament of the country’s armed forces following rising sectarian violence. However, such a move is fraught with danger, including threats by certain ex-Séléka factions to invade the capital Bangui should it occur. CAR’s recent wave of sectarian violence followed a civil war that erupte

France's evolving African diplomacy

France's evolving African diplomacy

Over the past two weeks, fundamentalist attacks have spread terror from Beirut to Tunis and from Bamako to Paris. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) killed43 civilians in a market in Lebanon on November 12, 130 Parisians the next day as well as 12 members of the presidential guard in Tunisia on Tuesday, while al-Qaeda tried to steal headlines by murdering 19 hotel residents and workers in Mali on Friday. The rapid succession of these cowardly strikes confirms an

Mali Bamako hotel attack shows the country's continuing need for French military help

Mali Bamako hotel attack shows the country's continuing need for French military help

Francois Hollande’s visit turned into a wonderful party. The people of Timbuktu put on their most colourful clothes, danced to and sang to music being belted out from loudspeakers and cheered the man who had delivered them from vicious Islamists. The French president did not look like a triumphant Caesar, instead he seemed taken aback in his navy blue suit and tie and buttoned up white shirt as he was mobbed by the crowd. Journalists mused on how Tony Blair would have milked

Burundi: How to Deconstruct Peace

Burundi: How to Deconstruct Peace

Burundi is back in the spotlight of the world’s media and the agenda of the United Nations Security Council. As recently as two years ago, the country was considered a success story in peacebuilding circles, but now the news is firmly of a negative variety. The UN is trying to prevent a new civil war in a region still haunted by the Rwandan genocide. How did success so quickly turn to failure? Following the re-election of President Nkurunziza for a contentious third term in J

UNHCR: ' We can't cope with mass Burundian refugee influx in Tanzania'

UNHCR: ' We can't cope with mass Burundian refugee influx in Tanzania'

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has warned that heavy rains, flooding and a spike in new arrivals could threaten the lives of over 110,000 Burundian refugees living in overcrowded camps in Tanzania. An upsurge of new arrivals in the camps in April saw the figures rise to almost 180,000 Burundian and Congolese refugees in Tanzania. The violence in Burundi sparked by President Pierre Nkurunziza's bid for a third term has claimed at least 240 lives and se

Rwanda says Burundi leaders 'killing own people'

Rwanda says Burundi leaders 'killing own people'

Rwanda's president has accused Burundi's leaders of killing their own people as human rights activists accuse security forces of killing 11 people over the weekend. Paul Kagame's comments could cause tensions between the neighbouring countries to rise. He made them after Burundi's president, Pierre Nkurunziza, repeatedly accused Rwanda of precipitating violence and instability in Burundi. "Are these leaders or what, who kill their own people from morning to evening, dump them

Burundi violence: US to place sanctions on officials

Burundi violence: US to place sanctions on officials

The United States is to put sanctions on four current and former officials in Burundi in connection with the continuing violence there. They include the minister of public security and the deputy director of police. The four will face an asset freeze and visa restrictions. The US says President Pierre Nkurunziza's pursuit of a third term has "precipitated" violence which has left at least 240 dead since April. The violence increased in recent weeks, with bodies found on the s

Mali's president doubts al-Mourabitoun role in attack

Mali's president doubts al-Mourabitoun role in attack

Mali's president has questioned claims that al-Mourabitoun, an al-Qaeda-linked group, was responsible for last week's assault on a luxury hotel in the capital Bamako. In his first interview since Friday's attack that left 27 people dead, President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita told Al Jazeera that despite early speculation, his intelligence service suggested that another group, the Macina Liberation Front, was responsible for it. "Initially it was said that this was the work of al-M

World’s Deadliest? Boko Haram and the Challenge of Quantifying Violence

World’s Deadliest? Boko Haram and the Challenge of Quantifying Violence

As French President Francois Hollande decried the so-called Islamic State’s (ISIS)November 13th Paris attacks as an act of war, a conflict of less deadly outcomes was being waged on worldwide social media. Thousands of tweets, Facebook updates, and Instagram posts criticized the disproportionate media coverage and public sympathy the Paris violence evoked—particularly in the West—when comparable acts of mass violence in the developing world failed to garner as much as a solid

A look at Mali's Islamic extremist groups

A look at Mali's Islamic extremist groups

The competing claims by the Macina Liberation Front and Al-Mourabitoun to have carried out Friday's attack on the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako highlight the number of militant Islamic groups flourishing in Mali, a country with a weak central government and vast ungoverned spaces. Most of the groups trace their origins to al-Qaida's North Africa branch, and membership has also been very fluid between them. For the most part, they have not allied themselves with the Islamic Sta

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