captivity

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AX) — As dawn cast its first light over Johannesburg this Wednesday morning, a dramatic event unfolded in a quiet suburban enclave known as Lombardy East. The tranquility was shattered when dozens of foreign nationals, with many being teenagers and young adults hailing from Ethiopia and Somalia, courageously broke free from a house. The local police, the ever-vigilant South African Police Service (SAPS), quickly mobilized to investigate the incident as a potential breach of South Africa’s…

NAIROBI, Kenya - On the fringes of Eldoret City, just a stone's throw away from Sugoi where President William Ruto calls home, a family convenes not for celebration but in an atmosphere heavy with longing and despair. This isn't your usual Sunday barbeque gossip. The buzz around the humble, leafy compound shimmers with a blend of hope and disbelief. Neighbors, faces warm with anticipation, quietly file in, carrying tales of a man presumed lost in the labyrinths of fate. Sgt. Abdullahi Isse Ibrahim, a name once conjured with…

Famous Kenyan actress Wanjiku Mburu makes a tearful plea for her brother George, who's been held captive for a decade by Somali insurgents. NAIROBI, Kenya (AX) — Known for her role as Mama Baha in Machachari, Wanjiku Mburu received a staggering call she never thought she’d get. After ten long years, her brother, George Mburu, who was whisked away by Somali militants, finally broke his silence. Mburu took to TikTok, shedding light on her brother's fate. George, a civilian engineer snatched in January 2014 while in…

This evening, 90 schoolchildren are released after 3 months of captivity in Nigeria; our correspondent in Lagos has the latest news. We take you to Goma where the community is still reeling from a devastating volcanic eruption 3 months ago, and the Nairobi neighborhood is turning green.…

Auxiliary worker Sophie Pétronin was released on Thursday, October 8th. An event that puts an end to almost four years of captivity. Sophie Petronin had already narrowly escaped the kidnapping of terrorists in 2012. Previously, the French woman had worked since 2001 in favor of orphaned and malnourished children in Gao. In 2012, she was able to leave the Algerian consulate, where she had sought refuge, at the last minute and be filtered out of the country in disguise before the jihadists took control of the area. The…