Experts are warning that a focus on alleged Islamist militant ties is hindering efforts to respond to insurgencies in Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.   Local insurgent groups have claimed ties to Islamic State to increase their clout, but the groups operate autonomously, experts who study the regions say.   On April 18, a strike on an army base near the Congo’s border with Uganda left several Congolese soldiers dead and others injured.   It was the first attack credited to Wilayat Central Africa, previously known as …

Indonesia has arrested 34 people and cut internet access in its easternmost region of Papua to rein in violence after protesters torched buildings, a market and a prison over mistreatment of students and perceived ethnic discrimination. Police have flown in 1,200 more officers to quell sometimes violent protests since Monday in towns such as Manokwari, Sorong, Fakfak and Timika, near the giant Grasberg copper mine operated by Freeport McMoran’s Indonesian unit. The communication ministry has blocked the internet and telecoms data to prevent Papuans from accessing social media since Wednesday, …

Iranian state media said the government showcased a domestically built long-range, mobile surface-to-air missile system on Thursday. The system’s unveiling came on Iran’s National Defense Industry Day and at a time of rising tension between Iran and the United States. Iran developed a large domestic arms industry in the face of international sanctions and embargoes barring it from importing many weapons. Concerns over Iran’s long-range ballistic missile program contributed to the United States last year leaving the pact that Iran sealed with world powers in 2015 to rein in its …

A fresh push to repatriate Rohingya refugees to Myanmar fall flat on Thursday, with no one turning up to hop on five buses and 10 trucks laid on by Bangladesh. Members of the Muslim minority, 740,000 of whom fled a military offensive in 2017, are refusing to return without guarantees for their safety and a promise that they will at last be given citizenship by Myanmar. “The Myanmar government raped us, and killed us. So we need security. Without security we will never go back,” Rohingya leader Nosima said in …

A fresh push to repatriate Rohingya refugees to Myanmar appeared Thursday to fall flat, with no one turning up to hop on five buses and 10 trucks laid on by Bangladesh. “We have been waiting since 9:00 am (0300 GMT) to take any willing refugees for repatriation,” Khaled Hossain, a Bangladesh official in charge of the Teknaf refugee camp, told AFP after over an hour of waiting. “Nobody has yet turned up.” FILE – Rohingya refugees stand in a queue to collect aid supplies in Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, …