Former Tuareg rebels in northern Mali and rival pro-government armed groups said they sealed a peace deal Thursday to end hostilities after days of talks.

Mali was hit by violence between the two sides in August and September despite a peace deal signed earlier this year.

But jihadist armed groups still represent the main threat in the region, carrying out regular attacks and laying mines.

Officials from the Tuareg-led Coordination of Movements of Azawad (CMA) and the Platform, a coalition of pro-government groups, told AFP they reached agreement on a “pact of honour” after nearly three weeks of talks in Anefis, 100 kilometres (60 miles) southwest of the regional capital Kidal.

“We have held direct negotiations between us. We finished the meeting this evening (Thursday), everyone has made peace, starting with us, the Platform and the CMA,” said Kidal member of parliament Ahmoudene Ag Iknass, a Platform supporter.

“The war is behind us. The Platform and the CMA have made peace, but other tribes or groups that had problems between themselves also made peace,” Boubacar Ould Hamadi of the CMA said.

The two sides had fought for control of Anefis in violation of the peace agreement they had signed — in May for the Platform and June for the CMA.

In a statement released Thursday, the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA) welcomed “the series of meetings held in Anefis, from October 4 to 14, 2015, as part of a direct and constructive dialogue” between the two sides.

MINUSMA said it was encouraged by “the development which constitutes a qualitative step in the process of inter-Malian peace.”

“This advance adds to the progress that has been made since the completion of the signing of the agreement for peace and national reconciliation in Mali, reaffirming the resolute march towards a lasting and inclusive peace,” it said.

Divided into rival armed factions, plagued by drug trafficking and at the mercy of jihadism, Mali’s desert north has struggled for stability since the west African nation gained independence in 1960.

In spring 2012 the north fell under the control of jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda who imposed a brutal interpretation of sharia law on the region, with the country reeling from a military coup.

The Islamists were largely ousted by an ongoing French-led military operation launched in January 2013, although they have since launched sporadic attacks on security forces from desert hideouts.

The French defence ministry said Thursday three special forces soldiers were wounded in a landmine blast this week in northern Mali.

Nine French soldiers have died in Mali where 1,300 French military personnel are deployed to fight the jihadists.

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Nigeria’s Boko Haram extremists are urging Somalia’s al-Shabab rebels to join them in pledging allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State group, and thus abandon al-Qaida.

Al-Qaida and Islamic State are rivals for jihadi recruits and the video posted on Twitter on Wednesday tells Shabab fighters that uniting “is of greater benefit to the struggle on the path of Islam” and will “help in defeating the infidels of the world.”

The appeal from an unidentified armed fighter is part of a wider courting of al-Shabab. Similar messages came nearly two weeks ago from militant extremists in Iraq, Sinai, Syria, and Yemen.

Al-Shabab has been losing ground in Somalia to a multinational African force but staged an April attack in neighboring Kenya that killed nearly 150 people at Garissa University.

The U.S. deployed 90 military personnel to Cameroon and plans to send surveillance drones to amass intelligence on the Boko Haram militant group and aid counterinsurgency efforts, military and administration officials said Wednesday.

About 45,000 Nigerians have been kidnapped by the Boko Haram sect since 2012.

This was reported during debates in the House of Representatives on a motion on the kidnap of 219 girls in Chibok, Borno State.

A motion, “Calling on the federal government to intensify efforts to rescue the 219 abducted Chibok girls”, was sponsored by Hon. Asabe Vilita Bashir, who represents Chibok/Damboa/Gwoza Federal Constituency of Borno State.

During the debates, Hon. Nasir Ali Ahmad (Kano/APC), informed the House that about 45,000 Nigerians were at the moment kidnapped and kept away by the dreaded sect.

Adopting resolutions of the motion, the House urged the federal government to set up a control/ situation centre to be manned by a specialised team drawn from all the security agencies in the country whose sole responsibility will be to search for the over 200 Chibok girls and all other victims abducted by the Boko Haram.

The House also urged the federal government to publicise the search for the abducted girls and proposed that there should be financial inducements for any information that will lead to the rescue of the girls.

In lead debates, Bashir (Borno/APC) expressed worry that the families of the missing Chibok girls and Nigerians are not informed of any rescue plan and are consequently living in unimaginable agony, not sure if there are any efforts being made to rescue them.

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Suicide bombers attacked the troubled town of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital last night,  killing at least seven persons and wounding dozen others.

According to the residents of the town, three suicide bombers were on the prowl at Sajeri area of the town at about 8:30p.m., detonating explosive devices strapped on them.

Sajeri, a highly populated area in the troubled town has become endangered as about two weeks ago, four female suicide bombers invaded the area killing over 50 persons and injuring more than 20 others.

In yesterday’s attack, an eyewitness, Ibrahim Abdullahi, told THISDAY on phone that “I just left the area where the explosion happened when I heard three loud bang that shook the entire area.

“Curiosity made me to return to see if some of the people I left at the vicinities were not killed in the explosion, but when I got there I saw at least seven corpses been evacuated and dozens of injured were been assisted.

Abdullahi said: “I cannot tell if they are female or male suicide bombers for now, but the youth vigilante members and soldiers were involved in evacuating the corpses.”

He noted that the three explosions were few metres away from each other, adding that many people were still in fear in the area believing that there could be another explosion.

A member of the youth vigilante group who spoke anonymously to our correspondent on phone, revealed that both the dead and the injured were taken to the General Hospital to be attended to.
However, no official confirmation of the incident could be obtained at the time of filing this report.

Several groups of students from Sudan — some holding western passports — are thought to have travelled to Syria via Turkey to join the ISIL group, but this is the first time Khartoum has given a figure, AFP reported.

“The total of those who have left the country to join the Daesh organization has reached 70 young men and women,” Abdul Rahman said at a news conference, using the Arabic acronym for ISIL.

The minister played down the significance of the figure, saying it was smaller than the number of recruits from other countries.

Sudan’s security apparatus and education services were also running awareness campaigns to prevent young Sudanese from joining the ISIL group, Abdul Rahman said.

Abdul Rahman said there were now “new, more stringent regulations related to granting exit visas and it has become more difficult to obtain entry visas to those countries”, without elaborating further.

In June, 12 students from Khartoum’s University of Medical Sciences and Technology were feared to have travelled to Turkey to join the group. Some held British, Canadian and US passports.

Another group of nine British students from the same university are also thought to have flown to Turkey from Khartoum to join the terrorist group in Syria.

The Ministry of Interior in Khartoum announced on Monday that about 70 Sudanese both males and females have went on to join the Islamic state (ISIS) franchises both in Libya and Syria.

ISIS infiltration into Sudan among the youths has become known last March after British media outlets confirmed that nine medical students from Sudanese origins entered Syria via Turkey to work in hospitals under the control of ISIS.

Last June, 18 college students also ran off to join ISIS in Syria including the daughter of senior diplomat. In late August, at least 4 female students flew off to Turkey including twins.

Most of these recruits are believed to be flocking to ISIS-controlled territories to work in their hospitals.

The Sudanese interior minister Esmat Abdel-Rahman said that this phenomenon is a source of concern for Sudanese families though it is not as developed compared to other countries.

Abdel-Rahman pointed out that security services spotted them departing adding that the focus in the past was on those headed to Mali in western Africa.

He claimed that they have noticed an outbreak of religious extremism in Khartoum state, especially among medical college students as well as in West Darfur.

The minister confirmed that his ministry has taken measures to curb ISIS expansion in the country.

Over the past two months, Sudanese authorities detained a number clerics who are ISIS-sympathizers.

The Sudanese official also spoke of coordination with the Turkish to prevent granting visas to Sudanese except under strict rules.

Last July, Abdul-Ilah, the son of the late leader of Jamaat Ansar al Sunnah, Abu Zaid Mohamed Hamzah, was killed in armed clashes in the ISIS stronghold of Sirte in Libya.

Also, in June ISIS announced that one of its Sudanese fighters nicknamed Abu al-Fida al-Sudani was killed in their stronghold of al-Riqa.

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Nigeria’s Islamic extremist insurgents Boko Haram are blamed for using teens and women to carry out suicide bombings in neighboring Chad and Cameroon this weekend, killing more than 45 people in what Cameroon’s government spokesman said is a move to spread terror as a multinational force prepares to deploy against them.

Two girls between the ages of 13 and 17 carried out suicide bombings in the northern Cameroon village of Kangeleri near Mora town on Sunday, killing at least nine and wounding 29 others, said Cameroon’s Minister of Communications Issa Tchiroma Bakary.

The Cameroon explosions came after five coordinated suicide bombings in neighboring Chad on Saturday killed at least 36 people and wounded some 50 others in a village near Lake Chad that is home to thousands of Nigerians who have fled the extremists’ violence.

The government said a man, two women and two children carried out the attacks.

The use of girls and women in recent suicide bombings in Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger raises fears that Boko Haram is using kidnap victims to target countries that are helping to combat the rebels.

“They have shifted their tactics. They have noticed it is impossible to face our forces, so they are now using young girls or young boys with explosives, who go more undetected, in areas they are told to go,” said Bakary.

He added it is difficult to know if the young girls know that they will die. “We guess that they use the girls who were kidnapped here and there, they brainwash them and use them.”

A Nigerian military explosives expert has told The Associated Press that many of the bombs are remotely controlled, meaning the bomber may not know when the explosives will be detonated.

Boko Haram members are trying to spread terror after pledging allegiance to the Islamic State earlier this year, Bakary said.

“As a token of their commitment they have to act,” he said. “This is to prove to their master how determined they are. This is the best way to receive money.”

The shift also comes as Nigeria and its neighbors prepare to launch a multinational force. Earlier this year Chadian troops helped Nigerian forces drive Boko Haram out of towns and villages in northeastern Nigeria where it had set up a so-called Islamic caliphate. Boko Haram continues cross-border hit-and-run attacks and suicide bombings.

Bakary called for more community self-defense groups, with people trained to neutralize the attackers, until the multinational force is fully prepared.

“Boko Haram knows their days are numbered given it will be impossible to face an army like this one and to remain in their strongholds. We are going to take them down where they are,” he said.

Boko Haram’s 6-year-old uprising has left an estimated 20,000 people dead, according to Amnesty International.