Nigeria: Tension in Jos Again!

Barely weeks after the last crisis that virtually turned the once bubbling city of Jos into a ghost town, tension again enveloped the city yesterday, as security personnel took over almost every part of Jos.This followed the arrest of 26 men suspected to be mercenaries on a mission in the city, by men of the Plateau State police Command.According to reports from Jos last night, a combined team of military men and the police has taken over almost the entire city, wearing an unfriendly look and apparently ready to deal with any trouble that might arise. The suspects, who were said to be travelling in a bus with Okene Local Government Legislative Council written on it, and wearing military uniform, were intercepted by a police patrol team.

Somalia: Violence Continues As Ethiopian Troops Begin Pullout

The Ethiopian army has began withdrawing its troops from Somalia’s capital after a two-year military occupation, but the violence that triggered the invasion continues, Radio Garowe reports.More than 20 military trucks, including transport and armored vehicles, left bases in Mogadishu and headed southwards to the town of Afgoye, in neighboring Lower Shabelle region.Bereket Simon, special adviser to Ethiopia’s prime minister, told the Reuters news agency that the Ethiopian army’s withdrawal from Somalia as entered the “implementation phase.”

Congo-Kinshasa: UN Calls On Rebels to Resume Talks With Government

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) today called on the main rebel group in the east of the vast country to resume talks with the Government next week in a bid to end fighting that has forced over 250,000 from their homes since August.The mission, known by its French acronym MONUC, said the mainly Tutsi rebel group known as the National Congress in Defense of the People (CNDP) would have an opportunity at the talks in Nairobi, Kenya, on 7 January to raise with the Government all issues of interest to it.