northwestern

Violence erupts as social-media-fuelled gold rush swamps northwestern Zambia Hundreds of police clashed with thousands of informal miners this week in northwestern Zambia after viral posts claimed gold lay just beneath the surface across a wide rural swathe. The sudden influx — tens of thousands of people by local estimates — overwhelmed local authorities, sparked allegations of bribery and violence, and prompted a delegation of senior ministers to the scene in a bid to restore order. Officials said security forces had…

In Nigeria, another major kidnapping took place on Sunday at a Koran school in the state of Niger, northwest of the country, where 200 children went to school. No final assessment has yet been made on the number of young people reported missing. Against this unpleasant uncertainty, spontaneous protests have taken place in northwestern Nigeria over the past week, condemning the incessant attacks on the…

The security climate is tense in the Central African Republic nine days before the election on 27 December. Raids by gunmen and gunfire have been reported in several cities in the northwestern part of the country since this morning. A worrying situation in Bangui where security has been strengthened. From our special…