Season 1, Episode 5
The Sahel 1Q2019 Update
Things are moving fast in the Sahel. Libya’s LNA southwestern offensive has increased instability in parts of the Sahel and the Sahara. In Mali, insurgencies and war are accelerating. And in Nigeria, Boko Haram and its sponsor, IS, are wrecking havoc. Arezki Daoud and Alessandro Bruno of MEA Risk LLC hold an unscripted chat on all of that.
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The situation in the Sahel is getting worse. Efforts from Libya’s LNA to clean up the country’s southwestern regions, anchored in the Sahel zonem and near the Libya-Algeria border adds more trouble to Algeria’s military, and pushes insurgents and foreign militants to the Chad. In Mali, there has been an escalation of violence, with killings from insurgencies and communal wars dominating the landscape. Northeastern Nigeria is set to become another exporter of terror to the Sahel, as Boko Haram is reorganizing and pushing the populations of Lake Chad to move to the Sahel. Northwest Nigeria is not secure either, with bandits wrecking havoc on the populations stretching from almost central Nigeria to into Niger Republic.
Hosts & Guests
Arezki Daoud
Alessandro Bruno
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