Morocco: Amnesty accuses Morocco of using spyware on rights activistsF

Morocco: Amnesty accuses Morocco of using spyware on rights activistsF

London, Oct 10, 2019 – Two rights activists in Morocco have been targeted by surveillance technology developed by an Israeli firm that enables the sender to seize near-full control of mobile devices, Amnesty International said Thursday. The rights group said...
Sahel: Conflict with Jihadists expands to southwest NigerF

Sahel: Conflict with Jihadists expands to southwest NigerF

Niamey, Oct 7, 2019 – Two soldiers were killed and five others wounded in a “terrorist” attack in southwest Niger, a region that until recently had been spared jihadist raids, the interior ministry said Monday.  “A detachment of the security...
Libya: Warlord Haftar’s air raid targets civilians, injures childrenF

Libya: Warlord Haftar’s air raid targets civilians, injures childrenF

Tripoli, Oct 7, 2019 – An air raid on riding stables near the Libyan capital Tripoli has wounded at least six people, including children, sparking condemnation from the United Nations and the unity government. An African worker was also among the six people...
Sahel: Prison uprising in Chad, one killedF

Sahel: Prison uprising in Chad, one killedF

N’Djamena, Oct 7, 2019 (AFP) – At least one inmate was killed and another 11 wounded on Monday in a prison uprising in eastern Chad before troops retook control, officials said.  The uprising broke out in Abeche, the capital of Ouaddai province, where...
Algeria: Regime finds no helper, unable to replace PM BedouiF

Algeria: Regime finds no helper, unable to replace PM BedouiF

The Algerian military command and its civilian allies (the regime) are reported to be unable to find a prime minister to replace the highly unpopular acting PM, Nourredine Bedoui. According to investigative web magazine Algerie Part, “no credible political figure has...
Sahel: Mali president Boubacar Keita dismisses coup speculationF

Sahel: Mali president Boubacar Keita dismisses coup speculationF

Bamako, Oct 6, 2019 – Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on Sunday rejected as speculation talk of a military coup after recent jihadist attacks left dozens of soldiers dead near the border with Burkina Faso. Keita said lessons would be learned after 38...
Tunisia:  Legislative elections underwayF

Tunisia: Legislative elections underwayF

Tunis, Oct 6, 2019 (By Caroline Nelly Perrot) – Tunisians go to the polls Sunday for the third parliamentary polls of a successful but hectic transition to democracy since the North African country’s 2011 revolution. Polling stations open for the...
Egypt: Tension escalates with Ethiopia over Nile damF

Egypt: Tension escalates with Ethiopia over Nile damF

Cairo, Oct 6, 2019 – Egypt has urged international mediation over what it called “deadlock” in talks in Sudan over a massive dam under construction on the Nile River, sparking fresh tensions with Ethiopia. Negotiations between the three countries...
Sahel:  France wants to drag Europe into a conflict with no endgameF

Sahel: France wants to drag Europe into a conflict with no endgameF

France has begun asking its European partners to send special forces to Mali and other Sahel nations in Africa, to shore up local forces who are being increasingly targeted by deadly jihadist attacks across the vast desert expanse. The idea is to improve on the basic...
Western Sahara: The forgotten conflict that is likely to perdureF

Western Sahara: The forgotten conflict that is likely to perdureF

United Nations, United States, Oct 3, 2019 (AFP) – UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he hopes to maintain the political “momentum” to seek a solution to the Western Sahara conflict, despite having not had a special envoy to the region for...
Algeria: Forced election will destabilize the Mediterranean regionF

Algeria: Forced election will destabilize the Mediterranean regionF

By Arezki Daoud – 4 October 2019: The Algerian political crisis is in its 33rd week with no sign of any of the protagonists standing down.  The standoff continues, with the military command intensifying its repression against members of civil society, while the...
Africa: ISWAP kills five vigilantes in Nigeria’s Gubio regionF

Africa: ISWAP kills five vigilantes in Nigeria’s Gubio regionF

Kano, Nigeria, Oct 1, 2019 – Jihadists killed five members of a civilian militia during an attack on a town in conflict-hit northeast Nigeria over the weekend, security sources said Tuesday.  Fighters aligned to the Islamic State group on Sunday launched an...
Sahel:  France wants to drag Europe into a conflict with no endgameF

Sahel: Intense fighting between insurgents and Mali army in MoptiF

Oct 1, 2019 – A large contingent of Malian troops, backed by air support, fought Tuesday with jihadist fighters who made an incursion into a military camp in the country’s fragile central region, sources said. Two military posts came under attack at dawn...
Tunisia: Presidential candidate Nabil Karoui still in jailF

Tunisia: Presidential candidate Nabil Karoui still in jailF

Tunis, Sept 27, 2019 – One of two presidential candidates to have won through to a runoff election in Tunisia has called for his rival to be released from prison. “The situation leaves me morally uncomfortable… I would sincerely like to see him...
Libya: US kills suspected IS insurgents in raid on LibyaF

Libya: US kills suspected IS insurgents in raid on LibyaF

The US military command for Africa announced Friday it killed 17 suspected Islamic State group jihadists in southern Libya, in the third such strike in a week. “At this time, it is assessed the airstrike killed 17 terrorists” on Thursday, Africom said in a...
Egypt: Grim picture in Egypt as military seeks to contain unrestF

Egypt: Grim picture in Egypt as military seeks to contain unrestF

Cairo, Sept 25, 2019 – Egyptian authorities have arrested more than 1,000 people, rights groups said Wednesday, broadening a crackdown launched after rare protests calling for the ouster of general-turned-President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. The wave of arrests comes...
Africa: ISWAP kills five vigilantes in Nigeria’s Gubio regionF

Africa: Offices of Action Against Hunger closed by Nigerian armyF

Kano, Nigeria, Sept 19, 2019  – The Nigerian army has shut down the office of NGO Action Against Hunger in the northeastern city of Maiduguri, according to staff, after six of its employees were taken hostage by jihadists. “They came and asked everyone in...
Algeria: Military junta arrests opposition activist Fodil BoumalaF

Algeria: Military junta arrests opposition activist Fodil BoumalaF

Algiers, Sept 19, 2019 – An Algerian court on Thursday ordered the pre-trial detention of a leading figure in protests that have gripped Algeria for nearly seven months, one of his lawyers said. Former state TV journalist Fodil Boumala was arrested on Wednesday...
Tunisia: Former dictator Ben Ali dies in Saudi ArabiaF

Tunisia: Former dictator Ben Ali dies in Saudi ArabiaF

While the Tunisian people are preparing to chose their new president, former dictator from 1987 to 2011, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, died in Saudi Arabia.  He died at 83 in a hospital, according to Tunisian officials. Ben Ali has been in exile his wife Leïla Ben Ali and...
Libya: Two killed in drone strike in Sirte, raid on Mitiga airportF

Libya: Two killed in drone strike in Sirte, raid on Mitiga airportF

Tripoli, Sept 16, 2019 – Drone strikes on Libya’s coastal town of Sirte killed two pro-unity government fighters and wounded 18 others on Monday, their force said, blaming foreign powers backing military strongman Khalifa Haftar. The three raids on the...
From bad to worse: life after the ordeal of LibyaF

From bad to worse: life after the ordeal of LibyaF

Benin City, Nigeria, Sept 17, 2019 (Sophie Bouillon) – Emerging from her ordeal, Gloria considers herself “privileged”. Last year, the 26-year-old left Nigeria with four other women, dreaming of a better life in Europe. On a tortuous journey, three...
Algerians respond to military junta: thanks but no election!F

Algerians respond to military junta: thanks but no election!F

Algiers, Sept 17, 2019 – Protesters massed in the Algerian capital on Tuesday to demand the cancellation of a controversial presidential election planned for December 12. Interim leader Abdelkader Bensalah announced the poll on Monday in a bid to resolve the...
Tunisia: First round of presidential election sees rise of outsidersF

Tunisia: First round of presidential election sees rise of outsidersF

Tunis, Sept 16, 2019 – Political outsider Kais Saied was leading Tunisia’s elections with just over a quarter of votes counted, the electoral commission said Monday, in the country’s second free presidential vote since the Arab Spring. Saied was on...