Washington confirms deployment of small team of US forces to Nigeria

WASHINGTON, United States 

The United States has deployed a small military team to Nigeria, Washington confirmed on Tuesday.

The head of US Africa Command said the move was in coordination with the Nigerian government and aimed at strengthening efforts against terrorist threats in the country’s north. AFCOM did not provide details of the mission’s size, scope or activities.

Nigeria is facing a long-running jihadist insurgency which has killed tens of thousands of Nigerians since 2016.

In December, US President Trump, in coordination with Nigerian authorities, ordered missile strikes on what he described as Islamic State camps in the country’s northeast.

Trump has claimed that the insurgents are carrying out a "Christian genocide" but the Nigerian government says people of all faiths have been victims of the terrorist attacks.

Nigeria’s Defence Minister has confirmed the presence of US personnel but didn’t provide further details.

Son of Moammar Gadhafi, Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, killed in Libya

TRIPOLI, Libya 

Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, the son of former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, has been killed in the town of Zintan, Libyan officials said on Tuesday.

The circumstances of his death have not been announced but local media are reporting that he was killed by armed men in his home.

Born in June 1972, Seif al-Islam earned a PhD at the London School of Economics and was seen as the reformist face of the Gadhafi regime.

Moammar Gadhafi was toppled in a NATO-backed popular uprising in 2011 after more than 40 years in power.

He was killed the same year amid the ensuing fighting that would turn into a civil war.

Seif al-Islam Gadhafi was captured while attempting to flee to neighboring Niger. The fighters released him in June 2017 and had since lived in Zintan.

A Libyan court convicted him of inciting violence and murdering protesters, and sentenced him to death in absentia in 2015.

He was also wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity related to the 2011 uprising.

Arsenal beat Chelsea to reach the Carabao Cup final

LONDON, England 

Arsenal took a step closer to winning their first major silverware since 2020 as they beat Chelsea to reach the Carabao Cup final.

Leading 3-2 from the first leg, the Gunners had to wait until the 97th minute to seal their progress on a tense evening at the Emirates Stadium.

Substitute Kai Havertz scored the only goal of the night deep into injury time, rounding goalkeeper Robert Sanchez before slotting home.

Mikel Arteta's men, who are top of the Premier League and still involved in three cup competitions, will face either Manchester City or Newcastle in the final at Wembley next month.

The hosts started the game in the ascendancy but, with Chelsea lining up with a back five, chances were limited in the first half.

Blues boss Liam Rosenior brought on attackers Estevao and Cole Palmer on the hour mark in an attempt to spark his team into life, but Arsenal were able to keep them at bay.

That laid the platform for Havertz, who has only recently returned from injury, to seal Arsenal's aggregate victory with a cool finish in the closing seconds.

The Gunners, whose last major silverware came by virtue of an FA Cup victory over Chelsea, last reached the League Cup final in 2018.

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 04/02/2026

 

South Sudan's leader sacks aides after dead man appointed

JUBA, South Sudan 

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has sacked two senior aides following an embarrassing situation where he appointed a dead man to serve on a panel to lead discussions on elections scheduled for December.

Steward Soroba Budia's appointment was announced in a presidential order dated 30 January, but local media pointed out that the member of the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), had died five years ago.

It led to people mocking the appointment on social media.

Without giving reasons, an official statement said the president had sacked his press secretary David Amour Major and the chief administrator in the Ministry of Presidential Affairs, Valentino Dhel Maluet.

Kiir was "pleased" to announce that the two had been relieved of their duties, and wished to express his "profound gratitude" to them for their service, said the statement posted on the president's official Facebook account, and signed by Minister of Presidential Affairs Africano Mande Gedima.

On Monday, Amour said in a press release that the president's office had relied entirely on the "accuracy and currency" of the names submitted by "stakeholders" for inclusion on the panel.

"It is now evident that a thorough verification was not done by one of the stakeholders which resulted in this unfortunate administrative oversight," Amour said.

He did not name the stakeholder, while the UDP has not commented.

It is unclear whether the statement led to Amour's dismissal. There had been speculation before the statement that he would be sacked.

Budia had been a signatory to a peace agreement signed in 2018 to end conflict that had hit South Sudan after its independence in 2011.

Kiir has set up the panel, made up of representatives of different parties, to pave the way for elections.

But there are doubts as to whether the election will take place, as the country is still experiencing conflict.

Previous elections have been postponed, with Kiir in office since independence.

The UN says more than 180,000 people are believed to have been forced to flee their homes by recent fighting.

Jonglei state is seeing the worst of it with the army battling forces aligned to South Sudan's suspended Vice-President Riek Machar.

He is currently under house arrest and on trial for murder, treason and crime against humanity. He denies the charges.

Kiir and Machar are supposed to be part of a unity government agreed in the 2018 settlement after a five-year war that followed a power struggle between the two men.

Ethiopia denies Trump claim that US funded Nile mega-dam

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia 

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Tuesday denied claims by President Donald Trump that the country's new mega-dam was funded by the United States.

The $4-billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) straddles a tributary of the River Nile and will generate 5,150 megawatts of electricity, making it the largest dam by power capacity in Africa.

Egypt, a close ally of the US which depends on the Nile for 97 percent of its water, considers the dam an "existential threat".

In Davos last month on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, Trump backed that claim, saying the dam "was financed by the United States and it basically blocks the Nile".

The Ethiopian premier pushed back in a speech to parliamentarians on Tuesday.

"We did not receive a single birr (the Ethiopian currency) in loans or financial aid from any foreign sources for the construction of the mega-dam. We achieved this through the strong commitment of Ethiopians living in the country and in the diaspora," Abiy said.

The GERD, whose construction began in 2011, was financed through taxes and loans from Ethiopians.

The construction firm behind the dam says there is no reason to divert water from Egypt.

The dam "releases water to produce energy. They are not irrigation schemes that consume water," Pietro Salini, CEO of Webuild, the project's prime contractor, told AFP at the inauguration in September.

Salini also said the project was entirely financed by Ethiopia.

"Not one international lender was willing to put money in this project," he told AFP.

Trump, a longtime ally of his Egyptian counterpart, pledged to "get negotiations back on track" between Cairo and Addis Ababa.

Egypt has said it is ready "to relaunch mediation efforts," but Ethiopian authorities have not yet responded.

Nigerian army announces death of Boko Haram commander Abu Khalid

ABUJA, Nigeria 

Nigeria's armed forces said on Sunday that a key commander of the islamist organisation Boko Haram was killed in a night raid by the armed forces in Borno State.

Abu Khalid was one of the key figures in the islamist terrorist group Boko Haram, which operates mainly in Nigeria's north.

The commander, reportedly the second-in-command for the group's logistics and operations in Sambisa Forest in Borno State, was killed by a recent Nigerian military operation in the area, according to a statement by the armed forces on Sunday.

Aside from Abu Khalid, ten Boko Haram militants also died during the raid. No casualties were reported on the side of the Nigerian military.

The commander's death is one of the rare successes of the Nigerian armed forces, which have been struggling to contain rising levels of violence in the country in the past months. 

The military is battling on two fronts, trying to reign in both islamist terrorist groups like Boko Haram or its branch ISWAP, as well as armed gangs that kidnap locals and ask for ransom payments.

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 03/02/2026

 

Mozambique floods cut off communities as UN agencies struggle to respond

MAPUTO, Mozambique 

Mozambique is grappling with its worst flooding in decades, just months after recovering from a devastating drought. Nearly 700,000 people have been affected, with over 100,000 forced into temporary shelters as homes, farmland, and roads were submerged. 

The United Nations warns severe overcrowding is creating dangerous conditions, particularly for women, girls, the elderly, and those with disabilities.

The World Food Programme says it is scaling up to reach 450,000 people with life-saving food and nutrition assistance, but urgently needs $32 million to do so.

Specialized vehicles, boats, trucks, aircraft, and helicopters are being deployed to reach isolated communities cut off by washed-out roads and bridges.

UN agencies stress the risks are far from over. With continued rainfall forecast, more displacement is expected, and urgent international support is critical.

Ross Smith, WFP’s emergency response chief, says funding is down 40 percent from last year, straining efforts to respond.

The UNHCR is also seeking $38.2 million for 2026 to provide protection and support services in overcrowded shelters, where the most vulnerable face heightened risks of violence, exploitation, and lack of basic services.

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 02/02/2026