Burundi VP flees days ahead of polls
AFP, BUJUMBURA, Burundi: Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza’s controversial bid to stand for a third consecutive term  in office was dealt a fresh blow yesterday after one of his top deputies fled the country and urged him to step down. In a letter addressed to Nkurunziza, whose re-election bid has already sparked weeks of civil unrest, a refugee crisis and a coup attempt, second vice-president Gervais Rufyikiri urged the president to put the interests of the Burundian people before your personal interests.
Drone kills 4 ‘Al-Qaeda’ militants
AFP, ADEN: A drone strike has killed four suspected Al-Qaeda militants in southeast Yemen, a front-line in the US war on the jihadist network, a provincial official said yesterday. The attack late Wednesday hit a car in a military camp in Al-Qaeda-controlled Mukalla, capital of the vast desert province of Hadramawt. The official, who did not want to be named, said a local Al-Qaeda chief was among those killed. A second Al-Qaeda vehicle was targeted on Wednesday evening in a drone strike in the town of Ghil Bawazir in the same province but there was no word of casualties, he said.
Niger army kills 15 Boko Haram      
AFP, NIAMEY: Niger’s army killed 15 Boko Haram militants in the course of land and air operations against the armed Islamist group, the defence ministry announced Wednesday. The army also took 20 prisoners, Colonel Moustapha Ledru said on state radio, and destroyed an armoured vehicle, 26 motorbikes, and two caches of food and fuel held by the Islamists. Ledru did not say whether the Chadian army, which has large numbers of troops in Niger, had taken part in the operation. Nor did he specify whether it had taken place in Niger or neighbouring Nigeria.