Gunmen kidnap at least 50 in Nigeria’s Zamfara state, residents and police say
Maiduguri, Nigeria Reuters A gang of gunmen kidnapped more than 50 women and children in a raid on Kakin Dawa village in Nigeria’s north-west Zamfara state, police and residents said. Kidnapping for ransom by gunmen, known by locals as bandits, is rife in north-west Nigeria due to high levels of poverty, unemployment and the proliferation […]
Sudan conflict: Unruly RSF fighters sow chaos in farming heartland
NAFISA ELTAHIR and KHALID ABDELAZIZ, of Reuters, report on witness accounts of the looting, kidnapping and killing that have taken place after the Rapid Support Forces seized most of the state of El Gezira in December…
Honduras rolls out widespread gang crackdown
Tegucigalpa, Honduras Reuters Honduran authorities announced a slate of measures on Friday intended to cut down on organised crime, including the construction of a new prison, collective trials and terrorist designations for gang members. President Xiomara Castro said in a late-night television address that security forces should be deployed to “urgently execute interventions across parts […]
Abducted retired Catholic bishop who mediated between cartels in Mexico is located, hospitalised
Mexico City AP A retired Roman Catholic bishop who was famous for trying to mediate between drug cartels in Mexico was located and taken to a hospital after apparently being briefly kidnapped, the Mexican Council of Bishops said Monday. The church leadership in Mexico said in a statement earlier that Monsignor Salvador Rangel, a bishop […]
Nigerian army hunts for kidnapped students, parents seek answers
Kaduna, Nigeria Reuters Nigerian soldiers were on Monday hunting for armed kidnappers who seized nearly 300 school pupils in Kaduna state last week, a security source said, as distraught parents sought answers on when they would be reunited with their children. The source said the army’s Kaduna-based One Division was leading the operation and “will […]
“I forced her to go to school”, Nigerian mother cries after mass school abduction
Kaduna, Nigeria Reuters Seven-year-old Safiya Kuriga complained she was feeling feverish but her mother still made her attend class on Thursday. Within two hours, gunmen entered her school and kidnapped Safiya and some 300 other students in Nigeria’s northern Kaduna state. “I forced her to go to school that morning despite her complaining to me […]
Five Venezuelans freed out of 31 migrants kidnapped in Mexico
Mexico City, MexicoReuters Mexican security services have freed five Venezuelans kidnapped over the weekend by gunmen, local authorities said on Tuesday, as they searched for another 26 people snatched from a bus traveling to the border city of Matamoros. The bus was intercepted on Saturday on the Reynosa-Matamoros route in the northern state of Tamaulipas, […]
An abducted German priest is freed in Mali, a year after being seized in the country’s capital
Bamako, Mali AP A German priest who was abducted by al-Qaeda-linked rebels in Mali’s capital in November, 2022, has been released by his captors, a former colleague told The Associated Press on Monday. Church members in the capital of Bamako learned of the release of Rev Hans-Joachim Lohre late on Sunday, according to Dia Monique Pare, a […]
Over 30 people kidnapped by highway criminals in north Cameroon
Yaounde, CameroonReuters Over 30 people, likely including students from neighbouring Chad, have been kidnapped by suspected bandits in northern Cameroon, the mayor of the local town of Touboro said on Monday. The kidnapping took place on Sunday evening, mayor Celestin Yandal told Reuters. A Cameroonian security source confirmed the incident without giving details and said […]
Freed US nurse says Christian song was her rallying cry after she was kidnapped in Haiti
Port-au-Prince, Haiti AP A US nurse who was released by kidnappers in Haiti last week says a Christian song called See a Victory became her battle cry after she and her young daughter were abducted. Alix Dorsainvil and her child were freed Wednesday, nearly two weeks after they were snatched at gunpoint from the campus of a Christian-run […]