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Ethiopian and Sudanese forces have clashed at the disputed al-Fashaga border area following alleged capture, execution and public display of the bodies of seven soldiers and a civilian killed over the weekend.

Sudan said on Tuesday that it had recaptured several of its territories that were being held by the Ethiopian army.

The al-Fashaga area is where the north-west of Ethiopia's Amhara region meets Sudan's breadbasket Gedaref state.

It has been contested for decades but tensions escalated over the last year with regular skirmishes reported between the two countries.

Witnesses have told the BBC that Sudanese forces advanced and retook two settlements that were being occupied by Ethiopians along the disputed area.

Military planes could also be seen circling the contested area as the Sudanese assault continued.

Pictures on social media showed dozens of Ethiopian military vehicles destroyed, but these could not be immediately verified.

Sudan accuses Ethiopian troops of capturing and executing its seven soldiers, but Addis Ababa has denied the allegations and instead accused Sudanese soldiers of encroaching into its territory.

The latest skirmishes are a major escalation of tensions between the two eastern African countries who are also embroiled in a dispute over Ethiopia’s filling of a mega hydroelectric dam along the River Nile.

Read more:

• Why Ethiopia and Sudan have fallen out over al-Fashaga

A mass corruption trial has begun in Angola with nearly 50 army and state security officers accused of numerous crimes including embezzlement and abuse of power.

Most of them were employed during the era of the former president José Eduardo dos Santos.

Prosecutors alleged that their offences cost the state more than $50m (£41m).

More than 200 witnesses have been lined up to testify.

One of the defence lawyers said he would seek to have the trial stopped due to procedural irregularities.

President João Lourenço came to power in 2017 promising to tackle rampant corruption that took root under his predecessor Mr Dos Santos.

Germany has agreed to return a sacred statue stolen from Cameroon at the beginning of the last century.

The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, which manages the German capital’s museums, said it would return the female figure, known as Ngonnso, to the Nso community in north-west Cameroon.

The statue was taken by a colonial officer and donated to Berlin’s Ethnological Museum in 1903.

A Nso kingdom prince told the Reuters news agency that the news was warmly received in Cameroon.

"After more than 120 years, we can only remain happy for it is a moment to commemorate and come closer to our ancestral links with love and togetherness,” Mbinglo Gilles Yumo Nyuydzewira is quoted as saying.

The foundation also said that it will return 23 pieces to Namibia and is planning an agreement to repatriate objects to Tanzania.

More on this topic:

• A guide to Africa's 'looted treasures'

The government of Nigeria's Cross River state has dethroned two traditional rulers following renewed violence in their communities over a land dispute.

A spokesperson for the Cross River state governor told the BBC that the monarchs from the Nko and Oyadama communities were deposed for failing to "rein in on their subjects".

The dismissed traditional rulers in southern Nigeria have not yet commented publicly.

The latest round of clashes between their communities broke out on Friday leading to massive destruction of homes and farmland.

At least six soldiers were shot and wounded allegedly by some residents when troops were deployed to quell the violence.

The security forces are reported to have responded by opening fire - killing at least two civilians and injuring a number of others.

Residents have accused the security forces of "heavy handedness"

Nigeria's constitution has no role for traditional rulers but they are nevertheless widely respected as custodians of both religion and culture.

The authorities often blame them when there is a breakdown of law and order in their respective communities.

More on this topic:

• How Nigeria's kings lost their power
• In pictures: Country of kings, Nigeria's many monarchs