JOHANNESBURG, Jun 17 (IPS) - Operation Amani Leo, launched jointly by MONUC (the United Nations Mission in Congo) and FARDC (the Congolese army) in January to regain control of mining territories in the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu from rebels, while ensuring security for the local population has been extended to September. But Congolese women are arguing for changes in the conduct of military operations.

CAPE TOWN, May 25 (IPS) - Almost a year after a review mission of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) found Zimbabwe guilty of "serious non-compliance" with the scheme’s minimum criteria on conflict diamonds, the militarisation of the southern African country’s diamond mining operations continues.

OUAGADOUGOU, May 14 (IPS) - Military exercises are under way in the Sahel region as part of the United States-led Trans-Saharan Counter Terrorism Partnership. Participating militaries are enthusiastic, but civil society cautions that force may not be enough to ensure regional security.

MBANDAKA, DR Congo, May 3 (IPS) - A report alleging that government troops summarily executed fifty civilians in early April in fighting around Mbandaka, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo's northwestern Équateur Province has been rejected by the government.

KAMPALA, Apr 20 (IPS) - The fate of thousands of women and girls held as sex slaves and child soldiers by Uganda’s Lords Resistance Army rebels hangs in the balance.

KHARTOUM/JUBA, South Sudan, Apr 19 (IPS) - Poor access to telephone networks and lack of roads in some areas of South Sudan is delaying the submission of voting results to the election commission.

MBANDAKA, DR Congo, Apr 15 (IPS) - Fighting between "Enyélé" insurgents and regular armed forces in the northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo at the beginning of April left 18 people dead, including nine rebels, and triggered mass displacements from the region's principal city, Mbandaka.

TURKANA, Kenya, Mar 31 (IPS) - The children are afraid. There are armed bandits hiding with stolen animals in the thickets behind Nawoyaregae Primary School in Kaputir Location.

FREETOWN, Mar 30 (IPS) - Sierra Leone has become a place of torment for journalists practicing their profession.

HARARE, Mar 30 (IPS) - Mary Pamire will never forget the day a group of men took turns to rape her.

FREETOWN , Mar 25 (IPS) - Former child soldier Komba Gbondo maimed and killed many people from his hometown, and the 25-year-old is still too terrified to return.

NAIROBI, Mar 20 (IPS) - With less than a month to the historic multi-party poll in Africa’s largest country, Sudan, eminent African leaders are calling for a peaceful and calm election process.

NAIROBI, Mar 10 (IPS) - Kenyans affected by the violence that erupted after the country’s disputed presidential elections in 2007 may soon be able to speak out without fear. A new bill will offer better protection to state witnesses.

ABIDJAN, Feb 20 (IPS) - A week after President Laurent Gbagbo dissolved the government and the electoral commission, thousands marched in the city of Bouaké, damaging cars and shops. There have been almost daily demonstrations in cities across the country as Côte d'Ivoire's political crisis deepens.

JOHANNESBURG, Feb 3 (IPS) - The International Criminal Court is to review its earlier decision not to add genocide to the charges against Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir.

ADDIS ABABA , Feb 01 (IPS) - Peace in Sudan remains an uncertainty ahead of the country’s first general elections in 24 years, according to the African Union Commission chief.

YENAGOA, Nigeria, Feb 1 (IPS) - Three flow stations in the oil-rich Niger Delta have had to be closed after a pipeline was sabotaged, according to Royal Dutch Shell.

NAIROBI, Jan 28 (IPS) - The testimonies of women who survived sexual violence during post-election conflict in 2008 should be heard, say advocates. The magnitude of the crimes committed against women because of their gender must be recorded and prosecuted to prevent such violence from occurring again.

TORIT, South Sudan, Jan 20 (IPS) - An old rite is long overdue in Paul Yugusak Tombe’s home village, in Central Equatoria State, south Sudan.

JUBA, South Sudan, Jan 19 (IPS) - Sudan is at a crossroads. Its future looks grim. "Only a miracle can save it from disintegrating. The signs are already on the wall," says Khamis Lako, a petty trader in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.