Mauritanian and Spanish naval forces have conducted joint exercises off the coast of Nouadhibou, underscoring a growing security partnership in a stretch of Atlantic waters that has become central to migration control and maritime surveillance. The drills show how...
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Mali: Gold Mining Site in Sikasso Region Hit by Armed Group
Armed attackers struck the Morila gold mine in southern Mali during the night of January 4 to January 5, 2026, causing material damage to the site, according to multiple sources. The mine is located in the Sikasso region, near Mali’s border with neighboring countries....
Burkina Faso: Deep Supply Weaknesses in Ouagadougou Amid Seasonal Butane Shortages
Gas shortages in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, have become a recurring issue at the end of each year. The problem now appears regularly between December and January, when demand for butane rises with year-end festivities and cooler harmattan, a dry, dusty...
Sahel: Jihadist Attack Kills Local Prefect in Southwestern Niger
A jihadist attack in Niger targeted the residence of the prefect (governor) of Torodi during the night of Sunday, January 4, into Monday, January 5. Torodi, the last major town before the border with Burkina Faso, lies roughly 30 miles south of Niamey. At least seven...
Flashpoints: How Emirati and Qatari Competition Is Redrawing the Red Sea Map
Charlotte Touati - Mondafrique: Two competing poles are now clearly taking shape in the contest for control over access to the Red Sea. The first, structured around the United Arab Emirates, Israel, and the Abraham Accords, includes Ethiopia and Somaliland, which has...
Flashpoints: Benin-Niger Tensions Deepen as Diplomatic Relations Deteriorate
Relations between Benin and Niger have entered a new period of strain following reciprocal diplomatic expulsions. In recent days, authorities in Cotonou (Benin) asked two Nigerien embassy officials to leave the country. Niamey responded by declaring Benin’s chargé...
Mauritania’s Former President Loses Final Appeal, Will Serve 15 Years
Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who led Mauritania from 2009 to 2019, has lost his final appeal and will serve 15 years in...
Sahel: Community Mourns Mariam Cissé, Killed by Militants in Northern Mali
Mariam Cissé, a well-known content creator from the town of Tonka in northern Mali, was abducted on November 6, 2025,...
Sahel: Foreign Workers Targeted in New Mali Kidnappings
A series of recent kidnappings in western and northern Mali have reinforced growing concerns for foreign workers and...
Sahel: Regime in Mali initiates talks with former rebels without France’s blessing
Former Malian rebels have signed a pact designed to "facilitate ties" with the Sahel state's ruling junta, a spokesman...
Sahel: Mali leaders want more power
Mali's military-dominated authorities on Saturday published a bill designed to further shore up the powers of junta...
International: Europe getting angry at Mali leaders
The European Union on Friday imposed targeted sanctions on five members of Mali's ruling junta, including Prime...
Sahel: Burkina junta lifts nationwide curfew
Burkina Faso's junta lifted Wednesday a nationwide curfew they imposed after seizing power in a coup last month, the...
Security: Germany calls for reevaluating Europe’s operations in Mali
European nations must re-evaluate their anti-jihadist duties in Mali in light of growing tensions with the ruling...
Sahel: Political impasse in Mali as opposition groups and junta disagree on transition details
A major coalition of Malian political parties on Sunday rejected the military-dominated government's plan for a...
Security/Sahel: Joint Burkina Faso/Niger counter-insurgency operation claims neutralizing dozens of jihadists
The armies of Burkina Faso and neighbouring Niger said Thursday they had killed around 100 "terrorists" in a joint...
Sahel: Cameroon refugees pour into Chad in unfolding violence over water
Footage from the conflict zone By Djimet Wiche More than 30,000 people in northern Cameroon have fled to Chad after...
Sahel: Niger president says weapons from Libya fuel violence in Sahel
Niger President Mohamed Bazoum on Monday urged his country's allies to step up the fight against arms trafficking from...
Sahel: Gunmen kill seven former rebels in northern Mali
Seven former rebels were killed in northern Mali overnight, a spokesman of the group, the Coordination of Movements of...
Sahel: Attack on bus in Mopti, Mali claims dozens of civilian lives
Suspected jihadists in Mali killed at least 30 civilians in an attack on a passenger vehicle in the volatile central...
Sahel: Disasters hit Niger hard
By Boureima Hama Few countries in the world struggle with as many burdens as Niger. The arid Sahel state is the...
Mali: How insurgents are in total control in the north of the country
By Amaury Hauchard Security forces in the Menaka region of northeastern Mali are struggling with a kaleidoscope of...
Burkina Faso: Anti-France sentiment in Burkina Faso creates operational challenges for French troops in the Sahel
By Armel Baily A French military convoy heading for Mali remained blocked in Burkina Faso on Thursday after being...
Niger: Unable to get protection from the government, Niger villagers are now forming militia groups
By Boureima Hama Abdoulaye casts a questioning eye over the passengers of a car that has pulled up at the entrance to...
Burkina Faso: 14 killed in army-jihadists clash in Thiou
Three soldiers and 11 suspected jihadists were killed when an army unit came under fire in northern Burkina Faso, the...
Mali: West African block seeks to isolate Mali’s junta
West African bloc ECOWAS issued sanctions against members of Mali's transitional government, including its prime...
Security: As Russia’s influence in Africa grows, EU wants to impose sanctions on Russian mercenaries Wagner
EU foreign ministers agreed Monday to draw up more sanctions on shadowy Russian mercenary group Wagner over its...
Sahel: New Jihadist attacks in Mali and Burkina Faso
Four Malian soldiers were killed by suspected jihadists Sunday and several others wounded in an attack northeast of...
Sahel: Artisanal mine at Garin-Liman, Niger collapses, at least 18 killed
At least 18 people died when an artisanal goldmine collapsed in southern Niger near the border with Nigeria, the local...
Sahel: Jihadists strike in Niger’s Tillaberi region
A jihadist attack in Niger's volatile "tri-border" zone with Burkina Faso and Mali has killed dozens of members of a...
Sahel: Chad rebels claim they want political solution and dialogue with military junta
Chad's main rebel groups said Tuesday they were conditionally willing to take part in national talks aimed at leading...
Mali: Despite supporting Mali’s strongman Goita, VP gets arrested for “subversive remarks”
Malian authorities have arrested a vice president of the country's interim parliament for making "subversive remarks"...
Sahel: Mali’s environmental crisis
Extreme weather events in central Mali are complicating even further the lives of residents of the conflict-ridden...
Sahel: Mali expels ECOWAS representative
Mali's interim government has expelled the representative of West African bloc ECOWAS from the conflict-ridden and...
Inside West Africa’s drug trade
By Selim Saheb Ettaba: West Africa is a small but strategic hub for smugglers moving drugs from Latin America to...
Sahel: Niger opens first military school in Niamey
Facing a spate of jihadist attacks, Niger on Friday opened its first military school in the capital Niamey to train...
Sahel: UN and NATO mulling over support to Sahelian armies in combating militant groups
NATO is studying options to bolster support for the multinational G5 Sahel force in the troubled three-borders region...
Sahel: IED kills 16 soldiers between Koro et Bandiagara in Mali
Sixteen soldiers were killed and 10 wounded in an attack in central Mali on Wednesday, security and health officials...
Sahel: Russia’s entry into the Sahel raises concern in the region
Chad's foreign minister warned against outside interference on Thursday, referencing Russian paramilitaries operating...
Sahel: The country of Niger faces Covid and cholera at once
First Covid Delta cases emerge in Niger The first cases of Delta variant of Covid-19 have been recorded in the...
Sahel: Mali ex-interim president and PM freed from house arrest
Former Malian interim president Bah Ndaw and his prime minister Moctar Ouane have been freed from house arrest, the...
Mali arrests former Prime Minister over alleged corruption
By Serge Daniel Former Malian prime minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga was arrested on Thursday as part of a corruption...
Sahel: 16 soldiers killed in jihadist-hit southeast Niger
An attack by hundreds of Boko Haram fighters on a town in Niger's jihadist-plagued southeast killed 16 soldiers and...
A destabilized region: Awful week in the Sahel
Introduction by Arezki Daoud: For years, several analysts made dire predictions about where the Sahel was headed....
Sahel: Impoverished Chad faces influx of Cameroon refugees
At least 10,000 people, mostly women and children, have fled into Chad from northern Cameroon this week after deadly...
Niger: Torrentials rains and raging floods kills dozens in Maradi and Agadez
Heavy rains that have lashed Niger since June have claimed 64 lives, authorities said on Saturday, as floods and...
Sahel: Violence in the Sahel continues to escalate with no end in sight
Deadly competition between two insurgent groups spreads terror in Lake Chad Here is a factfile on Boko Haram and its...
Niger: Several regions experiencing severe flooding, dozens killed
Heavy rains lashing arid Niger since June have killed 35 people and made more than 26,500 homeless, the civil...
Mali: Truck-bus collision kills 37 people at Zambougou
Thirty-seven people were killed and several others injured when a bus collided with a lorry in central Mali during...









