Hissène Habré, Ex-President of Chad, Is Convicted of War Crimes Dionne Searcy, The New York Times 7 June 2016 Image: Hissène Habré, the former president of Chad, during his trial on Monday by the Extraordinary African Chambers in Dakar, Senegal. DAKAR, Senegal — Hissène Habré, the former president of Chad, was sentenced to life in prison after he was found guilty of crimes against humanity, torture and sex crimes on Monday, more than 20

Boko Haram Using More Children as Suicide Bombers, Unicef Says Dionne Searcey, The New York Times 12 April 2016 Image: Children in Chibok, Nigeria, last month. One of every five suicide bombers deployed by Boko Haram in the past two years has been a child, a report by Unicef said. Credit Stefan Heunis/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images DAKAR, Senegal — As it torments West Africa, Boko Haram is increasingly turning to children to carry out

Executions Highest in 25 Years, Amnesty International Says Rick Gladstone, The New York Times 06 April 2016 Image: Officials in Iran preparing a noose for an execution in 2014. Amnesty International said in its annual report that almost 90 percent of the executions that it recorded last year were carried out in Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. CreditArash Khamooshi/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Despite a growing repudiation of the death

Chadian helicopters bomb Boko Haram on Nigeria-Niger border- Niger Army Reuters 22 March 2015   (Reuters) - Two Chadian army helicopters bombed Nigerian Boko Haram positions on Sunday, killing several dozen militants near a village on the border with Niger, a senior Niger military official told Reuters. Niger and Chadian soldiers have been fighting the Islamist militants in a joint mission with Nigeria and Cameroon since March 2, in a bid to

France to press for U.N. support for Africa force to fight Boko Haram Abdoulaye Massalaki, Reuters 22 February 2015   NIAMEY (Reuters) – France will support a bid by the African Union to win the backing of the U.N. Security Council for its five-nation force fighting Islamist militant group Boko Haram, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Sunday. Fabius spoke on a tour of Chad, Cameroon and Niger, countries that have launched operations

Boko Haram crisis: Niger to send troops to Nigeria BBC Africa 10 February 2015   Niger's parliament has voted to send troops to Nigeria to join the fight against militant Islamist group Boko Haram. The vote took place after Boko Haram attacked a prison and detonated a car bomb on Monday in the town of Diffa, near Niger's border with Nigeria. MPs said parliament unanimously authorised deploying 750 soldiers with a regional force battling Boko

Nigerian refugees strain Chad, Niger Misha Hussain and Abdoulaye Massalaki, IOL News 13 January 2015   Dakar/Niamey - Some 20 000 Nigerians have fled to Chad, Niger and Cameroon in the past two weeks after their towns and villages were attacked by Islamist sect Boko Haram, according to the United Nations and government figures. The influx of refugees has put further strain on some of the poorest nations in Africa, which are already struggling

Regional leaders step up Boko Haram fight with troops, command centre By Bate Felix, Reuters 8 October 2014 Niamey (Reuters) – Leaders of Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Benin on Tuesday announced plans to step up the fight against Boko Haram with an additional battalion and a command centre to tackle the militants whose insurgency has spread beyond Nigeria, a statement said. Boko Haram’s violent five-year campaign for an Islamic state has killed thousands

Darfuri Refugees in Eastern Chad: Among world's most forgotten people, and increasingly abandoned  By Eric Reeves, Sudan researcher and analyst 8 July 2014    [Note: This is the first of a series of briefs looking at the many aspects of ongoing catastrophe in Darfur and the western region of Sudan as a whole; over the coming weeks and months I will post sustained analyses of: Rape—A topic that the UN and UNAMID refuse to raise in a serious