PHOTOS: Emotions of the African Continent in the Year 2013

See fourteen touching and emotional pictures which represent the most memorable moments for the African continent in the year 2013. 

The Super Eagles delighted Nigerian football fans by winning the African Cup of Nations, hosted by South Africa, in February. It was first time the Nigerian national side had played in a Nations Cup final since losing to Cameroon on penalties 13 years ago.

 

Three states in north-eastern Nigeria were put under emergency rule this year to allow the security forces to fight an Islamist insurgency. For the first time in four years, the Eid durbar in August was held in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state and the city which had been the base of the Boko Haram militant group.

 

Mr. Mandela's widow Graca Machel and his ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (L) were among some 4,500 family members and foreign dignitaries at the state funeral.

 

The world mourned the death of Nelson Mandela in December. The anti-apartheid fighter and South Africa's first democratically elected president was born in 1918 and grew up in the village of Qunu, pictured here, where he was buried on 15 December.

  

The capture in January of Mali’s central town of Konna by Islamist militants prompted France’s military intervention. With 4,500 French troops on the ground, the insurgents were quickly ousted from northern towns – to the delight of some residents unhappy about their imposition of strict Islamic law, which banned smoking.

 

Zimbabweans went to the polls twice this year – once in March in a referendum on a new constitution - and again in July in presidential elections, won by incumbent President Robert Mugabe. Many of his more fashion-conscious supporters have been seen sporting a new designer label emblazoned with his signature.

 

In neighbouring South Africa, bling was more in vogue with the fashionistas – who dressed up here for a fashion competition at the horse races in Durban.

 

Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo continued to be dominated by the rebellion led by M23 fighters – seen here training at a military training camp in May. But following a major offensive by the army and a newly deployed UN intervention force, the rebel movement admitted defeat in November.

 

In June, Senegal’s guard of honour prepared to welcome US President Barack Obama, who was on the first leg of his African tour and which also took in South Africa and Tanzania.

 

Two years since the al-Qaeda-linked group al-Shabab was driven from Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, services and hobbies have been rejuvenating life in the city. Here a crowd watched young boxers train on Lido beach.

 

Kenya was hit by a terror attack in September when Islamist militants attacked the Westgate shopping centre on a busy Saturday, killing 67 people...

 

... the siege went on for four days and Kenyans of all faiths and political persuasions united in their response to the attack - and the hashtag #weareone began trending on Twitter.

 

Sudan witnessed deadly protests prompted by the removal of fuel subsidies. Here demonstrators used their phones to upload protest clips online to spread the word. Officials in October said more than 85 people were killed – though activists say the number was at least 200. Sudan's economy has been in trouble since South Sudan ceded in 2011, taking with it 75% of the oil reserves.

 

Sudan and South Sudan agreed to resume pumping oil in March after a bitter dispute over fees – but the situation in the South, one of the least developed regions of the world, unravelled in December in a dispute between the president and his former deputy – with overtones of an ethnic conflict, which left more 1,000 dead by the end of the year. 

Photo credit: AP, AFP, Reuters. 
READ MORE:  http://news.naij.com/55461.html