Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz

West African forces ready for Gambia intervention as leader's mandate ends

West African troops were ready to intervene in Gambia on Jan. 19 after President Yahya Jammeh's mandate expired and overnight talks to convince him to stand down failed. 

Gambia's President-elect Adama Barrow was set to be sworn into office on Jan. 19 at the Gambian embassy in neighboring Senegal, while there was no word from Jammeh. 

Libya's future threatened by 'terrifying' ISIL, says UN chief

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned that the future of Libya, and the stability of the whole Sahel region, is at stake as it faces the "terrifying threat" of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

But he warned international powers not to "stoke the fires of conflict" in the country.

African Union calls for 7,500-strong force to fight Boko Haram

The African Union called Jan. 30 for a regional five-nation force of 7,500 troops to defeat the "horrendous" rise of Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamist militants.
 
The call for collective action came as leaders of the 54-member bloc opened their two-day annual summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, where they were addressing a string of crises across the continent.