Kenya erects a wall along border with Somalia to keep out al-Shabaab (Telegraph) - Maleeha

Kenya is to build a 440-mile wall along its border with Somalia in a bid to keep outmilitants from al-Shabaab in a bid to boost security after a wave of attacks that have claimed scores of lives and brought severe criticism of the government’s response.

The wall, a series of concrete barriers, fences, ditches and observation posts overlooked by CCTV stations that is expected to stretch from the Indian Ocean to the city of Mandera where both countries converge with Ethiopia.

Like Israel’s “Separation Barrier” with West Bank, its stated aim is to keep out terrorists.

Nigeria protests to S. Africa over anti-immigrant attacks (Arab News) - Maleeha

Nigeria has complained to South Africa about a wave of attacks targeting foreigners and called on Pretoria to punish the culprits and compensate the victims, the Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
Junior Foreign Minister Musiliu Obanikoro summoned South Africa’s High Commissioner Lulu Mnguni “to register Nigeria’s protest over the ongoing xenophobic attacks against fellow Africans in South Africa”.
“In the meeting, ambassador Obanikoro condemned the attacks on foreigners in South Africa, expressing concern on the fate of Nigerians and indeed of other nationals who are migrants in the country,” said a statement from his office.

Boko Haram crisis: Nigeria begins Sambisa ground offensive (BBC) - Maleeha

Nigerian ground troops have joined an offensive on the last known hideout of the Boko Haram Islamist militants, a military spokesman has told the BBC.

The vast north-eastern Sambisa forest is where they have many bases - and it has been subject to aerial bombardments since February.

There has been speculation that some of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped more than a year ago are being held there.

Boko Haram has killed thousands in northern Nigeria since 2009.

Nigeria's military, backed by troops from neighbouring countries, launched an offensive against Boko Haram in February - and has recaptured most of the territory the militants had taken in the previous year.

Swaziland's judiciary and government rocked by arrests (Mail and Guardian Africa) -MJ Gillis

Swaziland’s justice minister Sibusiso Shongwe and two judges, Mphendulo Simelane and Jacobus Annandale, were arrested on Monday at their respective homes, according to that country’s Broadcasting and Information Service.

Justice Simelane was reportedly arrested at his village home at Mkhulamini in the Manzini region. The police then arrested Justice Jacobus Annandale at his home in Pine Valley, outside Mbabane. Shongwe, was arrested around lunch time at his Mahlanya residence.

According to the radio evening news bulletin, Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi, who allegedly skipped Swaziland for South Africa on Wednesday last week, returned home on Friday evening.  Since Saturday, the police have tried to arrest Ramodibedi, who remained behind locked doors at his plush Dalrich residence.  The police refrained from breaking into his house after receiving instructions from their superiors. 

Judge Simelane is charged for defeating the ends of justice.  This relates to his failure to recuse himself in a matter between Ramodibedi and the Swaziland Revenue Authority.  Simelane subsequently ruled in favour Ramodibedi.  As a former high court registrar, Simelane had participated in a dispute between Ramodibedi and the revenue authority over the taxation of the chief justice’s R128000 gratuity. Justice Annandale is also to be charged with defeating the ends of justice

Shongwe, on the other hand, is charged with corruption, for allegedly failing to account for a R2-million deposit in his trust account.  

Fled to SA
Ramodibedi’s whereabouts were surrounded by mystery last week, after he left his body guards stranded at the Oshoeck border gate, while he crossed over to South Africa with his family. 

Ramodibedi allegedly left the country, despite a royal summons from King Mswati III.

He reportedly received the message while at the border post, but proceeded with his trip.

Government spokesperson, Percy Simelane , confirmed that Ramodibedi had skipped the country and that government officials were unaware of his whereabouts.

Thousands Rally In Ethiopia Against ISIS Killing Of Ethiopian Christians In Libya (International Business Times) -MJ Gillis

Thousands of Ethiopians gathered in the capital of Addis Ababa on Wednesday for a rally to protest the killing of Ethiopian Christians in Libya. There were reports of violence at the government-sponsored gathering at Meskel square, where protesters hurled rocks and scuffled with police, leading to the detention of some people, Reuters reported.

Citizens of the majority-Christian country gathered in the square holding placards, which read: "We want revenge for our sons' blood," referring to the mass execution of Ethiopian Christians shown in a recent video released by the Islamic State group, the Associated Press reported.

The ISIS video, released on Sunday, showed fighters holding two groups of people they described as "followers of the cross from the enemy Ethiopian Church," before beheading and shooting them. The video purportedly showed the killing of some 30 Ethiopian Christians in Libya. 

Ethiopia reportedly confirmed that the people executed in the video were its citizens.

The killings were widely condemned abroad, with Pope Francis speaking out against the “continuing martyrdom being so cruelly inflicted on Christians in Africa, the Middle East and some parts of Asia,”according to Reuters.

The U.S. also condemned the killings as an act of “vicious, senseless brutality.”

The scuffles at the rally reportedly began moments after Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn finished his speech, where he urged Ethiopians to avoid making dangerous trips across the Sahara to Europe, calling it a “death journey.”  

"We should strengthen our resolve against any form of terrorism and extremism," he said, Reuters reported.

While protesters largely condemned the actions of the extremist group, several anti-government slogans were also reportedly seen at the rally. "Where is the African Union? Where are the Ethiopian defence forces?" read one placard, according to Agence France-Presse.

Chad’s Troops Rescue 43 Boko Haram Child Soldiers In Nigeria (Naija News) -MJ Gillis

Col. Azem Agouna, Chadian Army Spokesman, said on Wednesday that they have repatriated 43 children, who had been kidnapped by Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram and forced to become child soldiers.

He said in N’djamena that the children, who are aged 12 and older and are Chadian nationals, were found in the Nigerian town of Damasak, in North-Eastern Borno.

Naija247news recalls that Damasak was under Boko Haram control until Chadian and Nigerian forces recaptured the town in early March.

Agouna said the children managed to escape during the clashes between the insurgents and soldiers, while the local families helped them to hide from the jihadists.

He disclosed that when it was certain that Boko Haram had been defeated and would not return to the town, the children came out of their hiding places and asked Chadian security forces for help.

The spokesman said the army would look into how and when Boko Haram abducted the children from Chad. 

Group to Togo government: Respect right to protest (U~T) - Jessica Bae

Group to Togo government: Respect right to protest

LOME, Togo (AP) — Amnesty International is calling on Togo's government to respect the right to demonstrate in the run-up to April 25 elections.

The international rights group on Tuesday warned against the excessive use of force. It said police used live rounds during a demonstration to support a teachers' strike in March, wounding at least 30 people in Glei, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of the capital, Lome.

Hundreds feared dead after migrant boat capsizes off Libya (France24) - Jessica Bae

Hundreds feared dead after migrant boat capsizes off Libya

Emergency services mounted a major search and rescue operation Sunday north of Libya after a ship carrying an estimated 700 migrants trying to reach Italy capsized in the Mediterranean.

Italy’s ANSA news agency said an estimated 700 people were aboard and only 28 people were rescuedin the incident, which happened in an area just off Libyan waters, south of the southern Italian island of Lampedusa.

South Africa to deploy army to end anti-immigrant attacks (France24) - Jessica Bae

South Africa to deploy army to end anti-immigrant attacks

South Africa will deploy the army to areas that remain volatile after a spate of violent attacks targeting immigrants, the defense minister announced on Tuesday.

Soldiers will be sent to support police in troubled areas, Defense Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said in a live broadcast.

U.N. refugee chief to visit Kenya to plan return of Somali refugees (Reuters)--Lelia Busch

NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The head of the U.N. refugee agency will visit Kenya in early May to discuss plans to repatriate more than 335,800 Somali refugees following a massacre by Somali Islamists at a Kenyan university.

Kenya has given the United Nations three months to close Dadaab refugee camp, one of the largest in the world.

Kenya has said in the past that al Shabaab militants use the camp as a hideout. It is about an hour's drive from Garissa, where militants attacked the university on April 2, killing 148 people.

"The idea is to have a pledging conference so we will be discussing that when the high commissioner comes," said Raouf Mazou, the U.N. refugee agency's (UNHCR) representative in Kenya.

He could not say how much money they would need to fund the mass repatriation.

UNHCR chief Antonio Guterres has visited Dadaab several times, including at the height of the 2011 Somali famine when the camp's population swelled to half a million.

Since then, 50,000 refugees have returned spontaneously, Kenya's foreign minister, Amina Mohamed, told a news conference on Tuesday.

Another 2,000 have been voluntarily repatriated under a pilot scheme launched by UNHCR, Kenya and Somalia in December, she said.

"We are very encouraged because none of them has come back," said Mohamed. "That's already a positive signal for the refugees that are in the camps to do as the others have done -- which is basically to move back to Somalia."

The speed at which Dadaab is closed will depend on funding, Mohamed said.

"If we can move those refugees within the three months, we will do it," she said. "We will be requesting our partners, donors, for resources, that we will use to expedite the repatriation."

UNHCR has urged Kenya to rethink its plan, warning that it is illegal under the 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention to force refugees back to areas where their lives are threatened.

Aid agencies have also been critical, as conflict and hunger persist across the Horn of Africa nation which has been mired in civil war since 1991.

A UNHCR survey of refugees in Dadaab found less than 3 percent intended to return to Somalia within the next two years, the U.N. says in its latest east African bulletin.

The remaining 97 percent said they were not ready, due to insecurity, lack of employment, housing and basic services.

Mazou said the refugees in Dadaab would like to return home if they could be sure of access to basic services and security.

"So this is what is being worked on," he said. UNHCR, Kenya and Somalia will ensure that returning refugees have access to healthcare, education and jobs, he added.

Mazou was speaking on the steps of Kenya's foreign ministry following a meeting with Mohamed and Somalia's foreign affairs minister, Abdusalam Omer.

"We are ready to receive our people," said Omer. "It will be done humanely, orderly, and quickly."

Kenya hosts the second largest number of refugees in Africa after Ethiopia.

South Africa deploys army to quell xenophobic violence (al Jazeera)--Lelia Busch

Soldiers have been deployed to volatile areas in Johannesburg and KwaZulu-Natal in a bid to quell anti-immigrant violence that has killed at least seven people in several weeks of unrest, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, South Africa's defence minister, has said.

The government had vowed to crack down strongly on the unrest, but the decision to put soldiers on the streets on Tuesday came after two nights of relative quiet in both cities.

"We come in as the last resort, the army will serve as a deterrent against the crime that we see," Mapisa-Nqakula told reporters, declining to give details on how many troops would be involved.

"There are people who will be critical but those who are vulnerable will appreciate this decision," she said.

"Now we deploying because there is an emergency."

Zimbabweans leave South Africa after xenophobic attacks (al Jazeera)--Lelia Busch

Beitbridge, Zimbabwe - Hundreds of Zimbabwean nationals who fled attacks in South Africa are now being processed in a border town in Zimbabwe.

At least 400 people affected by xenophobic attacks in the city of Durban crossed into Zimbabwe late on Monday, spending the night at a camp set up in the border town of Beitbridge.

They are expected to leave to different destinations across Zimbabwe later on Tuesday.

South Africa saw a wave of xenophobic attacks at the end of March, starting in Durban, and later spreading to the townships in and around Johannesburg. At least eight people were killed and thousands of others displaced.

Brenda Mavenge said she left Durban after her husband was attacked.

"My husband was attacked [and] he is in hospital right now.

"The men who attacked us took all our possessions, even cell phones. Now how will I communicate with my husband who is still in South Africa?" Mavenge asked.

Returnees face an uncertain future as they enter an economy with an exceptionally high unemployment rate [Reuters]

Local media reported that out of the 407 repatriates, at least 92 were children. The Herald said 112 were women.

Returnees talking to Al Jazeera told horrific tales.

Peter Jongwe said he left because of the threats he received.

"I've been in South Africa for two years. We rented a 10-room house. Seven rooms had foreigners, the other three had South Africans who were Zulu.

"The Zulus said we must leave and they started breaking down our doors and stealing our things. I hid with my wife under the bed and thank God we escaped with our lives," he said.

Psychological assistance

Maxwell Phiri, from Zimbabwe's Red Cross, said some people were traumatised and needed psychological assistance.

"We are managing as best as we can. But we need more. Things like food, blankets, anything people can spare to help these families. More buses are coming from South Africa in a few days."

Earlier reports said 700 Zimbabweans would leave Durban.

While many in Beitbridge expressed relief for having escaped the violence, many are also concerned about their future. 

They have returned to a country with an unemployment rate sitting at close to 90 percent and the chances of finding employment are slim.

"I worked in construction in Durban. I used to send money home to my mother every month so she can look after ‎my brothers and sisters," returnee Dumisani Moyo said. "I left because I didn't feel safe, but now that I am here what I am I going to do? You know there are no jobs here. How will I help my family now?" 

South African authorities have struggled to maintain law and order in Johannesburg and Durban, where mobs have been attacking foreigners from Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique and other African countries.

Foreigners have routinely been accused of taking jobs away from local South Africans, struggling in a job-strapped economy.

Nigeria election: Savouring democracy (BBC) -MJ Gillis

In our series of letters from African journalists, Mannir Dan Ali says many Nigerians can still not believe that they have succeeded in doing what just more than a week ago seemed impossible to achieve - to vote out an incumbent who accepted defeat, preventing an outbreak of violence.

On the eve of Nigeria's presidential election, residents of the capital, Abuja, were rushing to shops and markets to stock up on everything from bottled water and bread to other essential supplies.

This resulted in clogged supermarkets and queues at ATMs.

I was told that in one bank you could not withdraw more than 100,000 naira (about $500, £340) from your account in the week leading up to the 28 March electoral contest between President Goodluck Jonathan and opposition leader Muhammadu Buhari.

At one supermarket I went to, the shelves for bread were empty and there was a long queue of people waiting to get loaves being brought in hot from an adjoining bakery.

Civil war mantra

All this frenzy was because of the fear that the poll could result in violence, similar to that seen after the disputed 2011 election when some 800 people died.

The prospect of an upset in the 28 March election led many local and international groups to try to ease concerns of violence erupting by getting President Jonathan of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) and Gen Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to sign a peace agreement and to pledge that they will abide by the verdict of the electorate.

The two candidates straddled the religious and regional fault lines in Nigeria, with President Jonathan a Christian from the south and Gen Buhari a Muslim northerner.

The desperate campaign rhetoric had not improved the atmosphere with some highly provocative claims by the politicians.

There was a flurry of international intervention - most notably by the US.

President Barack Obama released a statement on the eve of the election reminding Nigerians that "to keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done", echoing the mantra heard after the 1967-1970 Biafran civil war which threatened to break up Africa's most populous state.

International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda also had a clip repeatedly broadcast on some television channels, warning that those responsible for hate crimes committed during the election could be tried at the ICC.

TV drama

On the day itself, the permanent voter cards and biometric card readers introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) helped to sanitise the election and made it difficult for the 100% voter turnout that used to occur in the past - and through which dubious figures used to be returned as votes.

With supporters of the two main candidates heavily mobilised, the vote passed off generally peacefully in spite of some minor hitches.

The one time when everyone in Nigeria held their breath was at the collation centre where results were being announced a few days later.

A PDP agent and a former government minister, Godsday Orubebe, nearly disrupted the whole process by accusing the electoral boss of bias - a charge he dismissed after a tense few minutes that seemed like hours to most Nigerians glued to their televisions and radios that were broadcasting the whole drama live.

Before the matter was defused, many Nigerians feared either a repeat of what happened in Ivory Coast in 2010 when the announcement of election results was halted and the result sheet was torn up live on television by a ruling party agent, leading to a brief civil war

Or a repeat of the Nigerian situation in 1993 when a court halted the announcement of results and the military subsequently annulled the poll, leading to a prolonged political crisis in the country.

'Come of age'

When it emerged later that day that President Jonathan had called and congratulated the opposition candidate and conceded defeat, Nigeria erupted into celebrations several hours before the formal announcement was made by Inec that Gen Buhari had won the election by a margin of more than two million votes.

It is a sad irony that the scores of deaths which followed were not as a result of political clashes, but the reckless way in which some people were celebrating the victory through dangerous driving and other stunts.

And while some of the credit for the historic week must go to the electoral commission and to a president who found a redeeming feature in a generally lacklustre term in office, it was also the Nigerian people who were determined to show they had come of age.

They are savouring the fact that they have broken the jinx that an incumbent cannot be defeated through the ballot box.

These strengthened democratic credentials leave a sweet taste for Nigerians and should also be as a warning to the president-elect that it is no longer possible to take the voters for granted.

Malawi orders police to shoot in a bid to protect albinos (Reuters) - Jessica Bae

Malawi orders police to shoot in a bid to protect albinos

LILONGWE (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Malawi police are under orders to shoot anyone attacking albinos in the latest bid to crack down on a rising wave of violence against albinos in East Africa whose body parts are prized in black magic.

At least 15 people with albinism, mostly children, have been killed, wounded, abducted or kidnapped in East Africa in the past six months with a marked increase in Malawi, Tanzania and Burundi, according to the United Nations.

Nigeria's election of Muhammadu Buhari is truly revolutionary (The Guardian) -MJ Gillis

Muhammadu Buhari has just been elected as the next president of Nigeria by a margin of more than 2m votes because on the issues that mattered to Nigerians, he had more credibility than his rival, current president Goodluck Jonathan.

Corruption and insecurity dominated the agenda of Nigeria’s most competitive presidential election since its return to democracy in 1999. Pew Research has shown that 72% of Nigerians are concerned about Islamic extremism while more than eight in 10 feel that corruption (86%) and crime (88%) are “very big” problems.

Buhari and Jonathan both vowed to tackle these issues, especially with regards to Boko Haram, the Islamist terrorist group that has killed more than 13,000 Nigerians and displaced 1.5 million.

But Buhari, a 72-year-old retired general, enjoyed advantages on these fronts from the start. His record as Nigeria’s hard-headed military ruler from 1983 to 1985 lent credence to his promises to crush the Boko Haram insurgency. His reputation as an incorruptible politician who lives modestly rendered his pledges to tackle government graft believable.

Jonathan, on the other hand, couldn’t escape the fact that Boko Haram had grown in strength during his five years as president, or that he had failed to react swiftly to the kidnap of 276 girls from Chibok, most of whom are still missing.

Kenya freezes bank accounts with suspected terrorism links (Gulf News) - Maleeha

Kenyatta warned that the masterminds behind attack were inside Kenya.

Nairobi: Kenya has suspended a series of bank accounts suspected to be linked to financing terrorism, days after the university massacre of almost 150 people by Somalia’s Al Qaida-linked US, the treasury said Wednesday.

“Actions taken are consistent with the international law on financing terrorism.... we produced a list of persons and entities who may have been involved in facilitating terrorism activities,” said top treasury official Kamau Thugge.

“There will be intensive investigations to be able to establish whether indeed they were involved.”

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Saturday warned US fighters his government will respond to their killing of almost 150 students in the “severest way” possible, with warplanes on Monday attacking Islamist bases in southern Somalia.

But Kenyatta also warned that the masterminds behind last Thursday’s attack were inside Kenya, not Somalia.

“The planners and financiers of this brutality are deeply embedded in our communities,” he said.

“We will not allow them to continue their lives as normal, the full force of the law will be brought to bear with even greater intensity than has been the case in previous years.”

The treasury have given no details on the exact accounts frozen.

However, there are huge flows of money both ways between the neighbouring nations, for trade and business, as well as in lifeline remittances to war-torn Somalia from relatives in the region.

With no formal banking system in the impoverished country, diaspora Somalis turn to money transfer services to send money back home support their families, sending some $1.3 billion (Dh4.7 billion euros) each year, dwarfing foreign aid.

The day-long seige on Garissa University, situated near the border with Somalia, claimed 148 lives, including 142 students, three police officers and three soldiers.

The massacre was Kenya’s deadliest attack since the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi.

France's Hollande to declassify Rwanda genocide documents: source (Reuters) - Jessica Bae

France's Hollande to declassify Rwanda genocide documents: source

 (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande has decided to declassify documents related to the Rwanda genocide that killed over 800,000 people in 1994, a source close to the president's office told Reuters on Tuesday.

The documents from between 1990 and 1994 include minutes from secret defense meetings and files from advisers to then-president Francois Mitterrand relating to the genocide in the central African state, the source said.

The documents will be available to researchers and historians if they make a request to Dominique Bertinotti, a former minister and custodian of Mitterrand's archives.

More than 800,000 minority Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed in a three-month rampage by ethnic Hutu extremists in 1994 while the world largely stood by.

France - an ally of the Rwandan government that ruled before the genocide - stayed away from last year's 20-year commemoration after rebel-turned-President Paul Kagame renewed accusations of a direct French role in the killings.

While Paris has acknowledged mistakes in its dealings with Rwanda, it has repeatedly dismissed accusations that it trained militias to take part in the 1994 massacres.

Forces Of Chad, Niger Capture Nigeria Border Town (Naij) - Maleeha

A spokesperson for the Chadian government has confirmed that soldiers from Chad and 

Niger on Tuesday drove Boko Haram Islamist militants from a northern Nigeria border town 

which they have occupied since late last year.

Reuters reports that the town of Malam Fatori, which was seized by Boko Haram in November, had been the scene of fighting between coalition forces and the militants, and military sources falsely claimed to have retaken it in January.

Chad’s Communications Minister Hassan Sylla Bakari however said this time there was no doubt who controlled the town.

‘Change’ unseated Nigeria’s president, but may be slow in coming (Al Jazeera) -MJ Gillis

Muhammadu Buhari won an upset victory over Nigeria president Goodluck Jonathan this week using a catchphrase that’s familiar to anyone who’s paid attention to American politics over the past eight years: “change.”

Buhari leveraged the same slogan used to much success by Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign to unseat Jonathan and his ruling People's Democratic Party, which has had its candidates occupy the presidency since Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999.

The change Buhari promised was an end to the Boko Haram insurgency that has killed thousands of Nigerians and forced over a million to flee. He campaigned on a reputation as an anti-corruption crusader, and made populist pledges such as stipends for poor people and health care for all.

Jonathan campaigned on the motto of continuity for his “Transformation Agenda,” saying the growth Nigeria enjoyed during his first elected term — during which the country recalculated its GDP to become the largest economy in Africa — would continue if he could have another four years. But voters weren’t convinced, and sent Jonathan packing, with about 2.5 million fewer votes than Buhari.

But when the former military general and coup leader Buhari takes office at the end of May, he’ll inherit a treasury depleted by the global drop in the price of oil, Nigeria’s biggest export. He will be responsible for figuring out how to put Boko Haram down for good, and what to do about the legions of people that have fled across Nigeria and over its borders. And he’ll be up against an entrenched political culture in Nigeria that’s allowed corruption to flourish for years. Fulfilling an election promise of change, in short, will be a lot harder than making one.

Rape and HIV a common reality for young Swazi women (Al Jazeera) - Jessica Bae

Rape and HIV a common reality for young Swazi women

While new HIV cases are declining, young women aged 24 and under are three times more likely to contract the disease.

Poverty and social disempowerment make women more susceptible to HIV infections in Swaziland [EPA]

Burundi Landslides 'Kill 10' Near Bujumbura (allAfrica) - Maleeha

A bridge destroyed by landslide in Burundi

AT least 10 people are missing, feared dead, in Burundi after landslides, which have destroyed hundreds of home, officials say. Some 3,000 people have been left homeless, according to a BBC reporter who has been to the scene, on the shore of Lake Tanganyika.

Their houses were destroyed after mud and rocks, dislodged by the rain, plunged down the hillside. Bridges were also washed away by swollen rivers. President Pierre Nkurunziza has visited the scene of landslides, 35km (20 miles) south of the capital Bujumbura.

The governor of Bujumbura district, Jacques Minani, described it "a disaster", reports the AFP news agency. He said that the emergency services were now searching the area for survivors.

French forces rescue Dutch hostage held in Mali since 2011 (France 24)--Lelia Busch

French forces have freed a Dutch man held hostage in Mali since 2011 by al Qaeda’s north African arm, the French defence ministry said.

It said Sjaak Rijke, who was kidnapped in Timbuktu in November 2011, was freed on Monday during a special operation and had been transferred “safe and sound” to a temporary base in Tessalit, north-east Mali.

French forces had also killed two militants and captured two others during fighting that took place during the early morning operation, said Lieutenant Colonel Michel Sabatier, a spokesman for Barkhane, the French counter-insurgency operation in the region.

Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said Rijke was in good condition considering the circumstances and receiving medical treatment under Dutch supervision.

“The liberation of Mr Rijke underscores France’s staunch determination to fight armed terrorist groups in the Sahel region as part of the Barkhane operation,” the French ministry said in a statement.

In November Rijke’s captors, the al Qaeda-affiliated AQIM group, issued a video of him along with French national Serge Lazarevic.

Lazarevic, held captive in the Sahara for three years, was released the following month in exchange for four Islamist militants with ties to al Qaeda in north Africa.

France launched an intervention against al Qaeda-linked militants in its former colony Mali in January 2013.

It has since created Barkhane, a 3,000-strong counter-insurgency force to track down Islamist militants, including AQIM, across a band of the Sahara desert stretching across five countries from Chad in the east to Mauritania in the west.

Dutch troops have been deployed in Mali as part of security and peacekeeping missions under the aegis of the United Nations.

(REUTERS)