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  Libya hotel attack signals growing reach of Islamic State

  Militants loyal to the Islamic State group on Wednesday claimed responsibility for a deadly and complex attack on a hotel in Libya's capital Tripoli, signaling an expansion of the jihadi group's reach in the chaotic North African state while raising questions about the extent of coordination with leaders in Syria and Iraq.

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  American, 9 others killed in Libya after gunmen storm luxury hotel

  In the latest sign of Libya's descent into chaos, gunmen stormed a luxury hotel used by diplomats and businessmen in the capital Tuesday, killing 10, including an American, a French citizen and three people from Asia.

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  Amid Libya turmoil, a renewed call to return early US sailors' remains home

  Every time the remains of Navy Master Commandant Richard Somers and the crew of the USS Intrepid get the attention of leaders in Washington, world events intervene. They were the first identified Americans killed in combat to be buried abroad.

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  John Kerry in Nigeria to warn against postelection violence

  In a rare high-level visit to Africa's most populous country, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday urged Nigeria's leading presidential candidates to refrain from fomenting violence after next month's vote, and he condemned savage attacks by Boko Haram, an al-Qaida-linked insurgency.

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  Boko Haram attacks northeastern Nigerian city, scores killed

  In fierce fighting Sunday that killed more than 200 combatants, Nigerian troops clashed with Islamic extremists who attacked Maiduguri, the biggest city in northeastern Nigeria, from three fronts.

• Central African Republic: Militia kidnaps sports minister

  A minister in Central African Republic's transitional government was kidnapped Sunday by armed men believed to belong to the Christian anti-Balaka militia group, his wife said.

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  Egypt: 15 killed in clashes between Islamists, police

  Anti-government protesters fought street battles with police in Cairo and other cities on Sunday, the fourth anniversary of the country's 2011 uprising, as clashes left at least 15 people dead and dozens injured. Another two people died when an explosive device they were planting under a high-voltage tower in the Nile Delta exploded prematurely, according to security officials.

• Libyan extremist group says leader has been killed

  Benghazi-based extremist Islamic militant group Ansar al-Shariah said Saturday its leader Mohammed al-Zahawi has been killed.

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  Tide turning in Ebola fight after hard lessons

  A top U.N. official in the fight against Ebola greeted just three patients at one treatment center he visited this week in Sierra Leone. Families in Liberia are no longer required to cremate the remains of loved ones to halt the spread of the virulent disease.

• Ebola vaccine heads to Liberia for tests even as crisis eases

  It took so long for the first Ebola vaccination to be shipped to Liberia that the crisis there was waning before British company GlaxoSmithKline announced that 300 doses of an experimental vaccine were on their way to the West African nation on Friday.

• UN: 3,300 villages destroyed in Sudan fighting in early 2014

  A new U.N. report says more than 3,000 villages were destroyed in Darfur during targeted attacks on civilians early last year as hundreds of thousands of people fled the escalating violence.

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  Its work done, Ebola task force sits tight in West Africa

  U.S. troops in West Africa turned over their final Ebola treatment center Tuesday and could begin returning home in early February, pending a final decision by U.S. officials.

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  Sierra Leone eases blocks on travel, business as Ebola wanes

  With the Ebola outbreak weakening in West Africa, Sierra Leone eased restrictions on movement and commercial activity Friday even as the president warned that the fight against the deadly disease is not yet over.

• UN: Joint operation against Congo rebels 'imminent'

  The top U.N. envoy in Congo said Thursday President Joseph Kabila assured him his approval of a joint U.N.-Congolese military operation against a rebel group that failed to surrender by a Jan. 2 deadline is "imminent."

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  Sons of Egypt's Mubarak to be released on bail

  The two sons of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak were ordered released on bail Thursday pending a retrial in the last case that was keeping them behind bars, paving the way for their release for the first time since they were incarcerated in the wake of their father's 2011 ouster.

• Large blast at Mogadishu hotel as suicide car bomber hits

  A suicide car bomber blew himself up at the gate of a hotel which was being used by a delegation of Turkish officials Thursday in Somalia's capital, killing three Somalis and shattering windows.

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  GALLERY

  The week: Top pictures from Europe and Africa

  While Europe was consumed last week by the fallout from the Paris terror attacks, life still went on, and other parts of Europe and Africa were hit by disasters both man-made and natural.

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  LRA rebel, set for war crimes trial, was a child soldier

  Lord's Resistance Army commander Dominic Ongwen, who arrived Wednesday in The Hague to stand trial at the International Criminal Court, is remembered by his grandmother as a victim himself, having been kidnapped as a boy by the LRA and turned into a child soldier.

• Boko Haram leader says God ordered him to carry out massacre

  The leader of the terror group Boko Haram says God commanded him to massacre hundreds of people in northeastern Nigeria, an attack described by human rights groups as the worst so far by the militia.

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  US ambassador: Ugandan rebel commander arrives at International Criminal Court

  A commander from a fearsome Ugandan rebel group known for abducting and torturing children was taken into custody early Wednesday at the International Criminal Court, where he faces charges including murder and enslavement, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations said.

• Japan's self-defense force expands international participation in Africa

  Defense Minister Gen Nakatani paid a visit to the Ground Self-Defense Force units participating in U.N. peacekeeping operations in South Sudan on Monday as the government plans security-related legislation in the upcoming session of the Diet.

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  US-built Ebola treatment centers in Liberia are nearly empty as outbreak fades

  Near the hillside shelter where dozens of men and women died of Ebola, a row of green U.S. military tents sit atop a vast expanse of imported gravel. The generators hum; chlorinated water churns in brand-new containers; surveillance cameras send a live feed to a large-screen television.

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  US sending MRAPS to Somalia for African Union mission

  The U.S. will transfer 20 mine resistant vehicles, commonly known as MRAPS, to African Union forces taking part in military operations in Somalia, Combined Joint Task Force–Horn of Africa said Tuesday.

• UN worker kidnapped in C. African Republic, 2 others held

  A United Nations official says a Kurdish female staffer has been kidnapped in Central African Republic.

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  Niger: 45 churches burned in protests that killed 10

  The Niger government says at least 45 churches have been set on fire in this predominantly Muslim West African nation in protests over French cartoons lampooning Islam's prophet.

• UN condemns recent escalation of attacks by Boko Haram
• Libyan government army declares ceasefire
• Kony commander says he surrendered because he didn't want to die in bush
• 30 hostages taken by Boko Haram in Cameroon are released
• Mali announces end of its Ebola outbreak
• Boko Haram stages attacks in Nigeria and Cameroon
• Report: Nigerian suicide bomber kills 4
• Detachment from MacDill AFB battled Ebola in Africa
• UN peacekeeping base attacked northern Mali
• Surrendered LRA commander moved to Central African Republic
• In Nigeria, satellite images shed light on Boko Haram's rampage
• No quick fixes to counter surging Boko Haram
• Nigeria says 68.8 million registered to vote as Boko Haram attacks grow
• Liberia’s Ebola epidemic could be eliminated by June, researchers say
• Nigerian military dismisses reports that Boko Haram killed 2,000
• Nigeria vote chaos looms as raids highlight Islamist threat
• Nigeria's Boko Haram pushes girls to become suicide bombers
• Boko Haram raids Cameroon army base
• Boko Haram killed hundreds in Nigeria terror attacks, local officials say
• Air Force veteran accused of aiding failed coup in Gambia is denied release
• Uganda confirms man held by US forces is top deputy of LRA's Kony
• Turkish carrier halts flights to increasingly isolated Libya
• Kenyan judge suspends portion of controversial new security law
• Al-Shabab terrorism threat casts wider shadow over Kenya
• Congolese rebels face military action after missing arms deadline

AFRICOM News

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  EUCOM, AFRICOM keep cyber vigilance after CENTCOM hack

  Other combatant commands are closely monitoring their social media platforms after U.S. Central Command’s Twitter feed was briefly taken over on Monday by hackers claiming to be affiliated with the Islamic State group.

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  YEAR IN REVIEW 2014

  African missions call for firepower, logistics

  From securing an Embassy in South Sudan to evacuating U.S. personnel from Libya and sending in troops to help in the battle against Ebola in western Africa, U.S. military crisis responders were kept busy in 2014.

• Military community grants Christmas wishes to needy kids December 23, 2014
• Most US troops in Liberia could soon be home December 3, 2014
• Ramstein commander tackles Ebola on several fronts November 25, 2014
• Burkina Faso strongman vows to cede power after warnings November 4, 2014