• Sia Kambou / AFP - Getty Images

    Rebels of the Seleka coalition arrest a man, who was wearing military fatigues and claiming to belong to the Seleka movement, suspected of looting a house in Bangui, Central African Republic, on March 26, 2013.

    Looters, gunmen roam Central African Republic capital after coup

    By Ange Aboa, Reuters

    Looters and gunmen roamed the streets of Central African Republic's capital Bangui on Tuesday as rebels and regional peacekeepers struggled to restore order two days after a coup plunged the mineral-rich country into chaos.

    The ousting of President Francois Bozize and the political turmoil around it has raised fears of a humanitarian crisis in the former French colony - and embarrassed regional power South Africa which had sent troops to defend the government.

    About 5,000 Seleka rebel fighters poured into the capital on Sunday, brushing aside a 400-strong South African force which attempted to block their path. At least 13 South African soldiers were killed and 27 wounded. Read the full story.

    Agence France-Presse Correspondent's Blog: 'Zero tolerance' for looters in Bangui

  • Mob violence, looting follow fall of Mali towns

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Angry crowds shout at suspected Islamist extremists in the back of an army truck in Gao, northern Mali, on Jan. 29. Four suspects were arrested after being found by a youth militia calling themselves the "Gao Patrolmen". Malian soldiers prevented the mob from lynching them.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Malian soldiers guard suspected Islamist extremists after throwing them in the back of the army truck in Gao, northern Mali, on Jan. 29.

    Joe Penney / Reuters

    Resident Ousmane Togo is reflected on a piece of broken mirror as he surveys the remains of a hotel hit by French air strikes in Douentza, Mali on Jan. 29. The hotel was used as a base for Islamists and was hit by French air strikes over a week ago.

    Reuters reports -- French-backed Malian troops searched house-to-house in Gao and Timbuktu on Tuesday, uncovering arms and explosives abandoned by Islamist fighters, and France said it would look to hand over longer-term security operations to African troops.

    French and Malian troops retook the two Saharan towns in northern Mali virtually unopposed at the weekend after an 18-day French-led offensive that has pushed back the al Qaeda-allied militants into hideouts in the deserts and mountains.

    Malian government soldiers were combing through the Niger River towns and their neighborhoods of dusty alleys and mud-brick homes. In Gao, they arrested at least five suspected Islamist rebels and sympathizers, turned over by local people, and uncovered caches of weapons and counterfeit money.

    Residents reported some looting of shops in Timbuktu owned by Arabs and Tuaregs suspected of having helped the Islamists who had occupied the world-famous seat of Islamic learning, a UNESCO World Heritage site, since last year.

    Fleeing Islamist fighters torched a Timbuktu library holding priceless ancient manuscripts, damaging many.

    Read the full story.

    Eric Feferberg / AFP - Getty Images

    A Malian tries to break the lock off a store front as looters and residents stand by in the streets of Timbuktu on Jan. 29. Hundreds of Malians looted stores in Timbuktu on Tuesday, saying the shops belonged to "Arabs" and "terrorists" linked to the radical Islamists who occupied the desert town for 10 months.

    Eric Feferberg / AFP - Getty Images

    Looters crowd to get into a shop in the streets of Timbuktu on Jan. 29.

    Eric Feferberg / AFP - Getty Images

    A Malian soldier tries to disperse looters in the streets of Timbuktu on Jan. 29.

    Eric Feferberg / AFP - Getty Images

    Timbuktu residents plunder stores they say belong to Arabs, Mauritanians and Algerians who they accuse of supporting the Al Qaeda-linked Islamists during their 10-month rule over the ancient center of Islamic learning, on Jan. 29.

    Thousands of residents came out to celebrate after French and Malian troops entered the town of Gao on Sunday, with a parade of motorbikes honking their horns and people weeping in disbelief. Lindsey Hilsum of the UK's Channel 4 News reports.

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  • Wave of looting spreads in Argentina

    Martin Acosta / EPA

    A woman is overcome with emotion as she looks at damage by looters to a gas station in San Fernando, Buenos Aires province, Argentina, on Dec. 21.

    Reuters reports: Two people were killed in Argentina on Friday as looters broke into supermarkets in several cities, stirring memories of the country's devastating economic crisis 11 years ago.

    Police fired teargas and rubber bullets to stop dozens of stone-throwing youths from looting a supermarket owned by French retailer Carrefour near the capital, a day after the unrest erupted in the Patagonian ski resort of Bariloche.

    Government officials condemned the violence and sent 400 military police to the southern city, where raiders stormed a supermarket owned by the local unit of Wal-Mart and made off with flat-screen televisions and other goods.

    The violence spread to the central city of Rosario, where two people were killed, and to the northern province of Chaco. About 250 people were arrested in total in four different provinces and police battled to avert fresh incidents in the urban sprawl that encircles Buenos Aires. Full Story

    Martin Acosta / AP

    A security guard holding a hockey stick grabs looter at a gas station on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Friday, Dec. 21, 2012.

    Enrique Marcarian / Reuters

    Police open fire at people who tried to loot a supermarket in San Fernando on the outskirts of Buenos Aires on Dec. 21.

    Enrique Marcarian / Reuters

    People who tried to loot a supermarket throw stones at police in San Fernando on the outskirts of Buenos Aires on Dec. 21.

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  • Guatemalans loot Pochuta city hall to protest mayor's reelection

    By Rich Shulman

    These looters seems to be having an awfully good time. It reminds me of Black Friday shopping in the U.S.

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    People loot the City Hall one day after the country's general elections, in Pochuta, Guatemala, Monday Sept. 12. Residents began looting to protest the reelection of Pochuta's Mayor Benjamin Vazquez, claiming election fraud.

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    A boy carries a mirror looted inside the City Hall, one day after the country's general elections in Pochuta, Guatemala, Monday Sept. 12.

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    A man pretends he drives a lawn mower as he jokes with others after residents looted the City Hall one day after the country's general elections, in Pochuta, Guatemala, Monday Sept. 12.