SAM MEDNICK

West and Central Africa reporter

FILE - A mural is seen in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Wednesday March 1, 2023. Three survivors of an attack in Zaongo, central Burkina Faso, told AP that dozens of people were killed in their village on Nov. 5 when security forces attacked. One of the survivors, a 32-year-old farmer, said he photographed the horrific scenes of bodies as proof of the carnage before fleeing. (AP Photo, File)

Burkina Faso’s security forces are killing more civilians. Survivors detailed 1 village’s massacre

Women slain with babies wrapped against their bodies. Lifeless children intertwined together. A 2-month-old face-up on the ground.

FILE - In this image taken from video provided by ORTN, Col. Maj. Amadou Abdramane, front center, makes a statement on July 26, 2023, in Niamey, Niger, as a delegation of military officers appeared on Niger State TV to read out a series of communiques announcing their coup d'etat. The U.S. is scrambling to assess the future of its counterterrorism operations in the Sahel region of Africa after the ruling junta in Niger announced it was ending military cooperation with Washington. (ORTN via AP, File)

US military operations across the Sahel are at risk after Niger ends cooperation

The U.S. is scrambling to assess the future of its counterterrorism operations in the Sahel region of Africa after the ruling junta in Niger announced it was ending military cooperation with Washington.

Cherif Fall, Senegal's number one surfer paddles to the wave in the Atlantic Ocean in Dakar, Senegal, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. Instead of training in the waves off his Senegal homeland, Fall was wistfully preferring to be in Puerto Rico, where the last surfing qualifying competition for the Paris Olympics ends on Saturday. Senegal had nobody there to try and claim the last 14 spots for men and women because there was no money to send them, Fall says. (AP Photo/Sylvain Cherkaoui)

Senegal’s top surfer wants a fighting chance to compete at the Olympics

In four months, the world’s best athletes will be at the Paris Olympics. Yet some competitors say it won’t be truly representative of the global talent as not all countries can afford to give their athletes a fighting chance to get there.

A burning flare is visible at an oil extraction area located in Moanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Takeaways from AP visit to Congo as nation offers expanded oil drilling

The central African nation of Congo is looking to expand oil and gas drilling by auctioning off 30 sites around the country.

Annie Kopacitino holds her daughter, who she says has been affected by the pollution caused by oil drilling, in her village of Tshiende, Moanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023. The country is looking to expand the oil drilling. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

As Congo seeks to expand drilling, some communities worry pollution will worsen

The central African nation of Congo is known for its mineral riches. Now the country is looking to expand the oil drilling that so far has taken place only in its far west and off its Atlantic coastline.

FILE - Senegal President Macky Sall poses before an interview with The Associated Press at the presidential palace in Dakar, Senegal, Feb. 9 , 2024. Senegal’s President Macky Sall said Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, that he will end his term in April as expected, but he didn't give a new date for the presidential election originally scheduled for Sunday. (AP Photo/Sylvain Cherkaoui, File)

Senegal’s president says he’ll leave office in April, but gives no date for elections

Senegal’s President Macky Sall says that he will end his term in April as expected, but he has not given a new date for the presidential election originally scheduled for Sunday.

Supporters of the Aar Sunu Senegal opposition collective demonstrate on a street, in Dakar, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024. Senegal's government says it will hold a presidential election as soon as possible given that the country's top election authority has overturned a decree by President Macky Sall to postpone the vote. (AP Photo/Sylvain Cherkaoui)

Protestors keep pressure on Senegal’s president to hold elections as soon as possible

Protestors took the streets in Senegal’s capital Saturday to keep the pressure on President Mack Sall to hold elections quickly.

FILE - Senegal President Macky Sall poses before an interview with The Associated Press at the presidential palace in Dakar, Senegal, Feb. 9 , 2024. Senegal will hold elections as soon as possible given that the country's top election authority has overturned a decree by President Sall to postpone the vote, the government said Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Sylvain Cherkaoui, File)

Senegal’s president says election will be as soon as possible, after court overturns delay

Senegal’s government says it will hold a presidential election as soon as possible given that the country’s top election authority has overturned a decree by President Macky Sall to postpone the vote.

FILE - Demonstrators protest President Macky Sall decision to postpone the Feb. 25 vote, citing an electoral dispute between the parliament and the judiciary regarding some candidacies in Dakar, Senegal, Friday, Feb. 9, 2024. Opposition leaders and candidates rejected the decision, calling it a "coup." Security forces in Senegal have killed at least three people, including a 16-year-old boy, during protests in recent days denouncing the president's decision to delay elections, Amnesty International said Tuesday Feb. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Kleinowitz, File)

A rights group says Senegal’s security forces have killed at least 3 people during protests

Amnesty International says security forces in Senegal have killed at least three people, including a 16-year-old boy, during protests in recent days denouncing the president’s decision to delay elections.

Senegal President Macky Sall poses during an interview with The Associated Press at the presidential palace in Dakar, Senegal, Friday, Feb. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Sylvain Cherkaoui)

Senegal’s president defends delaying elections in exclusive interview as protests erupt nationwide

Senegalese President Macky Sall defended his decision to postpone elections as violent protests erupted across the country.

FILE - Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi waves to his supporters after casting his ballot inside a polling station during the presidential elections in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023. Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi wins reelection with over 70% of vote, election commission says. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy, File)

Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi is declared winner of election that opposition wants redone

Congo’s election commission says President Felix Tshisekedi has won reelection with more than 70% of the vote.

Security forces assault a supporter of presidential candidate Martin Fayulu during clashes outside his party's headquarters, in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. Fayulu, a main opposition candidate accused police of using live bullets to break up a protest Wednesday in Congo's capital, as demonstrators demanded a re-do for last week's presidential election. Fayulu is one of five opposition candidates who say the election should be rerun and question its credibility. Some rights groups and international observers also have questioned the vote. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Opposition candidate in Congo alleges police fired bullets as protesters seek re-do of election

A main opposition candidate in Congo accused police of using live bullets to break up a protest in the capital as demonstrators demanded a re-do of last week’s presidential election.

Election officials compare figures while counting votes at a polling station in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023. Lengthy delays at the polls forced officials on Wednesday to extend voting in Congo's presidential election as many residents in the mineral-rich West African nation struggled to cast ballots because of steep logistical and security challenges, raising concerns about the integrity of the process. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Congo conducts a 2nd day of voting after delays and closed polls keep people from casting ballots

Congo is wrapping up its second day of voting after a chaotic rollout and lengthy delays forced election officials to extend voting hours.

Voters look for their names outside a polling station in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023. Congo headed to the polls Wednesday to vote for president as authorities scrambled to finalise preparations in an election facing steep logistical and security challenges. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Congo’s presidential vote is extended as delays and smudged ballots lead to fears about credibility

Lengthy delays at the polls have forced officials to extend voting in Congo’s presidential election to Thursday.

FILE - Democratic Republic of the Congo President Felix Tshisekedi, center, flanked by his wife Denise Nyakeru, greets supporters at a rally in Goma, Eastern Congo, on Dec. 10, 2023. Tshisekedi is seeking reelection in Dec. 20 elections. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa, File)

Congo’s elections face enormous logistical problems sparking concerns about the vote’s credibility

Congo’s president says he has confidence an upcoming vote will be rolled out credibly, as tensions mount that a severe lack of electoral preparation could throw the conflict-riddled nation into disarray.

FILE - Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum smiles before a working lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron, Feb. 16, 2023 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. A court of the West African regional bloc ordered the release and reinstatement of Niger's democratically elected president Friday Dec. 15, 2023 nearly five months after he was overthrown by mutinous soldiers. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

West African court orders Niger’s president to be released and reinstated nearly 5 months after coup

A court of the West African regional bloc has ordered the release and reinstatement of Niger’s democratically elected president.

UN warns nearly 50 million people could face hunger next year in West and Central Africa

The United Nations is warning that hunger could surge across West and Central Africa next year, primarily driven by violence in the conflict-riddled region.

FILE - The site of a music festival near the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel, on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. Israeli officials say victim testimony and evidence gathered by rights groups indicate that Hamas militants carried out widespread sexual and gender-based crimes during their Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, File)

New signs emerge of ‘widespread’ sexual crimes by Hamas, as Netanyahu alleges global indifference

New testimony and evidence gathered by a rights groups indicate that Hamas militants carried out widespread sexual and gender-based crimes during their Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel.

Israelis embrace next to photos of people killed and taken captive by Hamas militants during their violent rampage through the Nova music festival in southern Israel, which are displayed at the site of the event, as Israeli DJs spun music, to commemorate the October 7, massacre, near kibbutz Re'im, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. Nearly two months after Hamas infiltrated Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostage, dozens are still unaccounted for, their families left living in limbo. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Nearly 2 months into the war, many Israelis have no idea if their relatives are dead or alive

Nearly two months after Hamas infiltrated Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages, dozens of people are still unaccounted for.

Tatyana Prima, who fled Mariupol, Ukraine, poses for a portrait with her national flag and the Israeli flag she displays outside of her apartment window in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023. She thought she'd left the bombs behind when she fled after Russian troops decimated her city. Risking her life, the 38-year-old escaped with her injured husband and young daughter, bringing the family to safety in southern Israel. Yet the calm she was slowly regaining shattered on Oct. 7, when Hamas militants invaded, thrusting her onto the frontlines once again. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Ukrainians who fled their country for Israel find themselves yet again living with war

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, more than 45,000 Ukrainians have sought refuge in Israel. Families were slowly picking up the pieces and finding ways to cope.

Community members sit in Materi town, Benin, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023, waiting for a distribution of small portable stoves. Groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have been spreading for years from the vast arid expanse south of the Sahara Desert — the Sahel — into wealthier West African coastal states like Benin. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick)

Groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State take root on the coast of West Africa

Groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State have been spreading from the vast, arid expanse south of the Sahara Desert into wealthier nations on the coast of West Africa.

FILE - Staff work at the Magen David Adom's (MDA) Marcus National Blood Services Center, in Ramla, Israel, Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023. The blood bank and processing center is a subterranean and shielded facility that became operational a few days before Oct. 7, when Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israeli areas near the border with the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)

Israel’s fortified underground blood bank processes unprecedented amounts as troops move into Gaza

Hours after Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, the country’s new fortified, subterranean blood bank kicked into action.

A man paddles a canoe near a Voodoo sacred forest in Adjarra, Benin, on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023. As the government grapples with preserving the forests while developing the country, Voodoo worshippers worry the loss of its spaces could have far reaching effects. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

In Benin, Voodoo’s birthplace, believers bemoan steady shrinkage of forests they revere as sacred

In Benin, the birthplace of Voodoo, practitioners of the faith believe the country’s forests are home to the spirits they seek guidance from and pray to.

France completes withdrawal of troops from northern base in Niger as part of planned departure

Niger’s military leaders say France has completed its withdrawal of troops from a northern base in the West African nation as part of its planned departure from the country in the wake of July’s military coup.

FILE - Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum smiles before a working lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron, Feb. 16, 2023 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. The Nigerien president detained since July by the soldiers who deposed him has petitioned a regional court demanding his release and reinstatement, according to court documents seen by The Associated Press on Wednesday Sept. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

Lawyers call for ousted Niger president’s release after the junta says it foiled an escape attempt

Lawyers for Niger’s ousted president have called for his immediate release. The demand on Friday came a day after the ruling military junta said it had thwarted an overnight attempt by Mohamed Bazoum to escape house arrest with his family nearly three months after he was detained in the wake of a mi

FILE - With the headquarters of the ruling party burning in the back, supporters of Niger's ruling junta demonstrate in Niamey, Niger, on July 27, 2023. The French troops being forced out of Niger were seen as a key line of decadelong defense amid efforts led by the West, particularly U.S. and France, to fight against jihadi violence in Africa’s hard-hit Sahel region.. (AP Photo/Fatahoulaye Hassane Midou, File)

French troops are starting to withdraw from Niger and junta leaders give UN head 72 hours to leave

The French military says it’s begun withdrawing from Niger following the July coup when mutinous soldiers toppled the country’s democratically elected president.

FILE - Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum smiles before a working lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron, Feb. 16, 2023 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. The Nigerien president detained since July by the soldiers who deposed him has petitioned a regional court demanding his release and reinstatement, according to court documents seen by The Associated Press on Wednesday Sept. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

The US declares the ousting of Niger’s president a coup and suspends military aid and training

The U.S. has officially declared the ouster of Niger’s democratically-elected president a coup d’etat.

Extremist attack kills at least 12 soldiers in Niger as jihadi violence increases post-coup

Niger’s military junta says an attack by Islamic extremists in western Niger killed at least a dozen soldiers and wounded seven others.

Mouhamadou Ibrahim, a former jihadi commander who decided to defect, poses for a photograph in Niamey, Niger, Friday, Aug. 18, 2023. The future of a program in Niger that encourages jihadi fighters to defect and reintegrate into society is unclear after mutinous soldiers toppled the government that launched it. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick)

A national program in Niger encouraged jihadis to defect. The coup put its future in jeopardy

The future of a program in Niger that encourages jihadi fighters to defect and reintegrate into society is unclear after mutinous soldiers toppled the government that launched it.

More than 50 security forces killed by jihadis in Burkina Faso, as violence inches closer to capital

Burkina Faso’s military says that more than 50 security forces were killed during intense fighting with jihadis in the north of the country.