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The United Nations mission to Libya expressed concern Saturday over clashes in Tripoli, after a night of heavy fire between militias in the capital. The latest fighting comes as Libya is once again divided between competing governments — one of which is based in Tripoli — despite more than a year of tentative steps towards unification. The cause of the violence in the seaside neighborhood was unclear, but videos circulated on social media showed families with children sheltering and fleeing as artillery fire flew across the night sky. Some accused two of the city’s powerful militias of infighting. In a statement, the mission said the clashes endangered civilians and called on Libyans “to do everything possible to preserve the country’s fragile stability at this sensitive time.” Libya has for years been split between rival administrations in the east and the west, each supported by various well-armed militias and foreign governments. The Mediterranean nation has been in a state of upheaval since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising toppled and later killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. READ: Detained Bangladeshis in Libya to be brought back: FM The country’s plan to transition to an elected government fell through after an interim administration based in Tripoli, headed by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, failed to hold elections last year. Dbeibah has refused to step down since then, raising questions over his mandate. In response, the country’s East-based lawmakers have elected a rival prime minister, Fathy Bashagha, a powerful former interior minister who is now operating a separate administration out of the city of Sirte. Dbeibah, in a televised phone call, urged a powerful commander who leads the 444 brigade — which serves his government — to do what is necessary to restore peace in Tripoli. His rival, Bashagha, in a series of Tweets called on armed groups to surrender their weapons. Last month, Bashagha entered Tripoli and attempted to install his government there, but left within hours after fighting broke out that killed one person. Meanwhile, a widening blockade on oil production, largely in the country's east, has cut off key state revenues in opposition to Dbeibah's remaining in power. On Friday, a video announcement by residents and workers of the Sidra oil port, a key export facility, warned that they would stop operations due to lack of basic services in surrounding towns.

Gunmen opened fire on worshippers and detonated explosives at a Catholic church in southwestern Nigeria on Sunday, leaving dozens feared dead, state lawmakers said. The attackers targeted the St. Francis Catholic Church in Ondo state just as the worshippers gathered on Pentecost Sunday, legislator Ogunmolasuyi Oluwole said. Among the dead were many children, he said. The presiding priest was abducted as well, said Adelegbe Timileyin, who represents the Owo area in Nigeria’s lower legislative chamber. Also read:Children among 31 killed at church fair stampede in Nigeria “Our hearts are heavy," Ondo Governor Rotimi Akeredolu tweeted Sunday. “Our peace and tranquility have been attacked by the enemies of the people.” Authorities did not immediately release an official death toll. Timileyin said at least 50 people had been killed, though others put the figure higher. Videos appearing to be from the scene of the attack showed church worshippers lying in pools of blood while people around them wailed. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said “only fiends from the nether region could have conceived and carried out such dastardly act,” according to a statement from his spokesman. “No matter what, this country shall never give in to evil and wicked people, and darkness will never overcome light. Nigeria will eventually win,” said Buhari, who was elected after vowing to end Nigeria’s prolonged security crisis. In Rome, Pope Francis responded to news of the attack. “The pope has learned of the attack on the church in Ondo, Nigeria and the deaths of dozens of worshippers, many children, during the celebration of Pentecost. While the details are being clarified, Pope Francis prays for the victims and the country, painfully affected at a time of celebration, and entrusts them both to the Lord so that he may send his spirit to console them,” the pope said in a statement issued by the Vatican press office. Also read:Police say man shoots 2 females, self outside Iowa church It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack on the church. While much of Nigeria has struggled with security issues, Ondo is widely known as one of Nigeria's most peaceful states. The state, though, has been caught up in a rising violent conflict between farmers and herders. Nigeria's security forces did not immediately respond to questions about how the attack occurred or if there are any leads about suspects. Owo is about 345 kilometers (215 miles) east of Lagos. “In the history of Owo, we have never experienced such an ugly incident," said lawmaker Oluwole. “This is too much.”

It now costs Ayan Hassan Abdirahman twice as much as it did just a few months ago to buy the wheat flour she uses to make breakfast each day for her 11 children in Somalia’s capital. Nearly all the wheat sold in Somalia comes from Ukraine and Russia, which have halted exports through the Black Sea since Moscow waged war on its neighbor on Feb. 24. The timing could not be worse: The U.N. has warned that an estimated 13 million people were facing severe hunger in the Horn of Africa region as a result of a persistent drought. Abdirahman has been trying to make do by substituting sorghum, another more readily available grain, in her flatbread. Inflation, though, means the price of the cooking oil she still needs to prepare it has skyrocketed too — a jar that once cost $16 is now selling for $45 in the markets of Mogadishu. “The cost of living is high nowadays, making it difficult for families even to afford flour and oil,” she says. Read: Plane wreckage found in Nepal mountains, 14 bodies recovered Haji Abdi Dhiblawe, a businessman who imports wheat flour into Somalia, fears the situation will only worsen: There is also a looming shortage of shipping containers to bring food supplies in from elsewhere at the moment. “Somalis have no place to grow wheat, and we are not even familiar with how to grow it,” he says. “Our main concern now is what will the future hold for us when we currently run out of supplies.” Another 18 million people are facing severe hunger in the Sahel, the part of Africa just below the Sahara Desert where farmers are enduring their worst agricultural production in more than a decade. The U.N. World Food Program says food shortages could worsen when the lean season arrives in late summer.

A stampede Saturday at a church charity event in southern Nigeria left 31 people dead and seven injured, police told The Associated Press, a shocking development at a program that aimed to offer hope to the needy. One witness said the dead included a pregnant woman and many children. The stampede at the event organized by the Kings Assembly Pentecostal church in Rivers state involved people who came to the church’s annual “Shop for Free” charity program, according to Grace Iringe-Koko, a police spokeswoman. Such events are common in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, where more than 80 million people live in poverty, according to government statistics. Saturday’s charity program was supposed to begin at 9 a.m. but dozens arrived as early as 5 a.m. to secure their place in line, Iringe-Koko said. Somehow the locked gate was broken open, creating a stampede, she said. Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency said first responders were able to evacuate the bodies of those trampled to death and bring them to the morgue. Security forces cordoned off the area. READ: Nigeria attacks: Hundreds reported killed as bandits target villages Dozens of residents later thronged the scene, mourning the dead and offering any assistance they could to emergency workers. Doctors and emergency workers treated some of the injured as they lay in the open field. Videos from the scene showed the clothing, shoes and other items meant for the beneficiaries. One witness who only identified himself as Daniel said "there were so many children” among the dead. Five of the dead children were from one mother, he told the AP, adding that a pregnant woman also lost her life. Some church members were attacked and injured by relatives of the victims after the stampede, according to witness Christopher Eze. The church declined to comment on the situation. The police spokeswoman said the seven injured were “responding to treatment." The “Shop for Free” event was suspended while authorities investigated how the stampede occurred. Nigeria has seen similar stampedes in the past. Twenty-four people died at an overcrowded church gathering in the southeastern state of Anambra in 2013, while at least 16 people were killed in 2014 when a crowd got out of control during a screening for government jobs in the nation's capital, Abuja.

Congo’s M23 rebels closed in on a major military camp in the country’s east on Thursday after days of fighting the army, officials said. Clashes continued Thursday at the Rumangabo base in the Rutshuru area of North Kivu province about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the provincial capital, Goma. “There is no truce. The fighting is still continuing this morning on the same fronts as yesterday,” deputy army spokesman Gen. Sylvain Ekenge said. Gunfire exchanges have been heard there since early in the morning, said Manouvo Nguka, who lives in Rumangabo where the base is located. “The army seeks to regain full control of Rumangabo,” he told The Associated Press. The situation has been critical since Wednesday night, he added. “There was more than an hour of exchange of fire between the loyalist army and the M23 rebels,” he said. Also Read: After suicide bombing, Congo officials fear more attacks The army earlier confirmed the rebels also attacked its positions in the Nyragongo and Rutshuru areas. More than 20 shells were fired by the rebels on Tuesday and Wednesday on Rumangabo, Natale, near the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature, and the surrounding area, according to a statement from military spokesman Lt. Gen. Constant Ndima. The M23 is largely an ethnic Tutsi group opposed to the Congo government that started in 2012 and seized control of Goma, a city of more than 1 million for nearly a month. U.N. forces and Congo’s army dislodged the M23 from Goma and many of rebels fled to Rwanda and Uganda before a 2013 peace agreement. Rwanda and Uganda deny claims that they support M23. The group has recently resurfaced with increasing attacks in eastern Congo. It accuses the Congo government of not respecting the commitments it made to integrate rebel fighters into the national army. Gen. Benoit Chavanat, Deputy Force Commander of the United Nations mission in Congo, said its forces are backing the Congolese army against M23. He told U.N.-backed Radio Okapi the joint forces are stabilizing the situation in the Tchanzu, Runyonyi and Bunagana areas.     Pope Francis is expected to visit Congo at the beginning of July, including a trip to Goma to celebrate Mass and meet with war victims, according to Congolese authorities. However, the Vatican did not immediately respond when asked Thursday whether the current fighting would bring the pope to alter his plans.  

A fire in the neonatal unit of a hospital in Senegal has killed 11 newborns, President Macky Sall said. Only three infants could be saved. “To their mothers and families, I express my deepest sympathy,” Sall tweeted late Wednesday. The fire was blamed on an electrical short circuit at the Mame Abdou Aziz Sy Dabakh Hospital in Tivaouane, a town 120 kilometers (75 miles) northeast of the capital, Dakar, Mayor Demba Diop said. The deadly fire comes a year after four other newborns died in a hospital fire in Linguere in northern Senegal. Also read: 7 die in Philippine ferry fire; over 120 rescued from water A series of other deaths also have raised concerns about maternal and infant health in the West African nation known for having some of the best hospitals in the region. Earlier this month, authorities discovered a baby that had been declared dead by a nurse's aide was still alive in a morgue. The infant later died. Last year a pregnant woman died in Louga, in the north of the country, after waiting in vain for a cesarean section. Three midwives were given six-month suspended sentences for not giving help to a person in danger. Also read: Delhi fire tragedy death toll rises to 29 Health Minister Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr, who was attending the World Health Assembly in Geneva, cut short his trip to return to Senegal.

A disaster triggered by a severe downpour on Monday evening in northeast Nigeria's Yobe state killed five people, a statement from the emergency agency said on Tuesday. The rain was accompanied by very strong winds, causing havoc on residents and buildings in some communities of Damaturu, the state capital, said the State Emergency Management Agency in a statement. "A total of 41 victims from six different communities were evacuated, while unfortunately five died," the statement said, adding those injured were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment. Also Read: Rainstorms kill at least 12 in greater Sao Paulo area Meanwhile, the state governor, Mai Mala Buni, in a statement on Tuesday, commiserated with the families of the five people who died from building collapses following a heavy rainstorm in the state capital. Buni directed the emergency agency to ensure treatment of those who sustained various degrees of injuries and to provide the victims with emergency relief materials to cushion their hardships.     

The Somali National Army's (SNA) elite forces, Danab, on Tuesday killed 11 al-Shabab militants at the El-Adde location near Kismayo town in the southern part of the country.   SNA commander of 16th Danab Unit in the region, Arab Dheg Ahmed told Somali National News Agency that the forces also arrested two other fighters and recovered weapons during the operation. "We recovered six AK 47 rifles and one PKM gun after conducting a special operation near Kismayo town in Lower Jubba region today," Ahmed said. Also Read: 17 al-Shabab militants killed in foiled attack in central Somalia He said the army will intensify military operations to flush out al-Shabab fighters who are on the run in Jubaland and Southwest States. The operation comes a day after the elite forces arrested a senior al-Shabab commander who was in charge of landmines and explosions in the Lower Shabelle region.     

The war in Ukraine is aggravating a triple food, energy and financial crisis across Africa, according to UN Secretary-General António Guterres. It is a human tragedy which can have "a dramatic impact on economies, in particular, those of developing countries," Guterres said during his recent visit to Senegal's Dakar. The war is driving up global food and fuel prices; senior UN officials are concerned that rising costs will push more people into hunger and could lead to political instability and social unrest in some parts of Africa, where food prices have increased by a third since last year. Before the Russian invasion began in February, the combination of climate change, conflict and the Covid pandemic was already impacting the socio-economic situation in Africa, especially in the Sahel region, which includes Senegal. Guterres said: "We must ensure a steady flow of food and energy in open markets, removing all unnecessary export restrictions," adding that "countries must resist the temptation to hoard and instead release strategic stocks of energy." The UN estimates that a quarter of a billion people could be pushed into extreme poverty this year, caused by the consequences of the conflict in Ukraine. International financial institutions have a key role to play and "must urgently provide debt relief by increasing liquidity and fiscal space," the UN Chief said, "so that governments can avoid default and invest in social safety nets and sustainable development for their people." In March 2022, the UN chief established the Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance (GCRG) set up in response to the crisis provoked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, saying that the invasion was producing alarming effects on the world economy already battered by Covid and climate change. The GCRG, calls on countries to find creative ways to finance increased humanitarian and development recovery needs worldwide and to give generously and immediately release funds that they have already pledged. Also read: UN head condemns attacks on civilians during Ukraine visit

Martine Roamba’s 10-month-old daughter weakly tugs at her mother’s breast searching for milk. The malnourished baby has been struggling to feed since birth as her mother hasn't had enough to eat to produce sufficient breastmilk since fleeing her village in northern Burkina Faso last year when jihadis started killing people. Seated on a hospital bed with other severely malnourished children and their parents on the outskirts of Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou, 30-year-old Roamba tries to calm her crying daughter. Also read: Gold mining site blast reportedly kills 59 in Burkina Faso “It’s very worrying and we’re praying to God that the baby doesn’t deteriorate into an even worse situation,” she said. Hunger is soaring across conflict-ridden Burkina Faso, a result of increasing violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, which has killed thousands and displaced millions, preventing people from farming. Some 3.5 million people are food insecure, with nearly 630,000 expected to be on the brink of starvation, according to the latest food security report by the government and U.N. agencies. This is an 82% increase from last year of people facing emergency hunger. “The nutrition situation in (the country) is deteriorating more and more, there are more and more people in need,” said Claudine Konate, a nutrition specialist for the U.N. Children's Agency, UNICEF. The country has to prepare for a growing crisis, she said. At the hospital in Ouagadougou, the number of severely malnourished children arriving has doubled from two years ago and there isn’t enough space or staff to care for them, said Clarisse Nikiema, head of nutrition at the hospital. “Because they were displaced, they are deeply impoverished and can’t feed their families, so children become malnourished,” she said. Sometimes after recovering, families refuse to leave because they don’t want their children going hungry at home where there’s no food, she said. In January, mutinous soldiers ousted Burkina Faso’s democratically elected president, and the ruling junta says that restoring security is their top priority. However, attacks have since increased with an 11% rise in incidents in February, according to the U.N. The violence is driving more people closer to starvation, say experts. The situation is most dire in the northern Sahel region, where cities like Djibo have until recently been besieged by jihadi rebels for months, restricting the delivery of food aid. Other towns like Gorom Gorom, have almost no operating health centers. Only two out of 27 in the district are fully functioning, said Jean Paul Ouedraogo, representative for the Italian-based aid group Lay Volunteers International Association. Jihadi rebels are also expanding and pushing south and west into Burkina Faso's breadbasket, stealing crops and livestock and chasing people from their rural farms and into cities. The decreasing supply and increase in demand is causing prices to spike. A bag of 100 kilograms of corn has nearly doubled since last year from $30 to $50, say locals. Aid organizations are bracing for more price hikes because of the war in Ukraine. Burkina Faso buys more than a third of its wheat from Russia, according to the U.N., and while the impact is not yet visible, humanitarians say it’s a concern. “The crisis in Ukraine is also likely to impact soaring grain prices, making an already bad situation worse,” said Gregoire Brou, country director for Action Against Hunger in Burkina Faso. Aid for the country is already underfunded — last year’s humanitarian response plan received less than half of the requested $607 million, according to the UN — and now agencies say donors have indicated there could be a 70% cut to funding in order to support operations in Ukraine. Also read:Soldiers declare military junta in control in Burkina Faso Meanwhile hunger is affecting virtually everyone in the country, even those trying to defend it. During a trip to the northern town of Ouahigouya, civilians who volunteered to fight alongside the army, told The Associated Press they’re battling jihadis on empty stomachs. “The volunteers fight for the country, but they fight with hunger,” said one volunteer who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. The lack of farming and minimal pay as a volunteer — $8 a month — isn’t enough to subsist on, he said. Malnourished people are arriving at health centers in Ouahigouya in severe condition and taking longer to recover, said Dr. Gerard Koudougou Kombassere, who works at a hospital in the town. Displaced people are the most affected and malnutrition rates among them are rising, he said. In a makeshift displacement camp in Ouahigouya where some 2,300 people have sought refuge, residents told AP they have received food assistance only once in the past 10 months. At one of the shelters, Salamata Nacanabo said her family used to eat five times a day when they lived in their village, but now they eat just once. Mimicking the sound of gunshots, the 31-year-old recounts the day jihadis stormed her village killing eight people, seizing everything she owned and forcing her family to flee. “They stole everything, cattle, food, and they took my goats," she said. “Now it’s very hard to take care of the children.”