An overnight assault on Niger’s main international airport has prompted a partial drawdown of U.S. diplomatic staff from Niamey and renewed scrutiny of the country’s security trajectory and external partnerships. Shortly before midnight on January 29, 2026, armed...
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Defense: Mauritania and Spain Use Naval Exercises to Bolster Atlantic Maritime Security
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...
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...
Benin Soldiers Mount Brief Coup Attempt
Benin’s government says it has put down a brief but serious military uprising after soldiers appeared on state...
West Africa: Allegations of Staged Military Takeover Cloud Guinea-Bissau’s Electoral Crisis
Guinea-Bissau, a small West African nation of 2.2 million people sandwiched between Senegal and Guinea, has been...
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...
Mali: Mali junta face more disgruntled Ethnic Touaregs
Regional rebels in Mali who signed a peace deal in 2015 have withdrawn their representatives from the capital, a move...
Niger crisis: Burkina Faso sides with Niger junta, suspends media for anti-Niger stance
Burkina Faso's junta-led government has suspended one of the country's most popular radio stations after it broadcast...
Niger: Toppled president said to be “fine, given the situation”
Niger's detained president was seen by his doctor on Saturday, his entourage said, amid mounting concern for his...
Niger: ECOWAS walks away from early threat of using force to restore deposed president
West African leaders will make negotiations with the military leaders who have seized control in Niger the "bedrock"...
Niger: Thousands of coup supporters gather in Niamey stadium
Thousands of supporters of the military coup in Niger gathered at a Niamey stadium Sunday, when a deadline set by the...
Nigerian president Tinubu under pressure to avoid war with northern neighbor Niger
By Camille Malpat with Aminu Abubakar in Kano, Nigeria: Political leaders in Nigeria are urging President Bola Tinubu...
Brief: Nigeria cuts electricity to Niger after coup
Nigeria has cut its electricity supply to Niger after West African neighbours imposed sanctions on the junta that...
Niger: Coup leaders get popular support amid rising regional tensions
By Boureima Hama with Delphine Touitou: Thousands of people rallied Thursday in Niger's capital in support of the coup...
Sahel: West African states getting stressed over coup in Niger, do not rule out military action
Senegal said Thursday that it will participate if the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) decides to...
Niger: Nuclear industry in France seeks to appease concerns over Niger’s uranium
The military coup in Niger last week raises the question of Europe's dependency on uranium mined in the West African...
Niger: New leaders launch purge of deposed regime ministers
Four ministers in Niger, a former minister and the head of ousted president Mohamed Bazoum's party have been arrested...
Niger military junta accuses France of plotting counter-coup
By Boureima Hama: Niger's new junta on Monday accused France of seeking to "intervene militarily" to reinstate deposed...
Niger: ECOWAS threatens Niger junta to return power to civilians
African leaders on Sunday gave the junta in Niger one week to cede power or face the possible use of force, and...
Niger: Athletes from Niger struggle to perform in Kinshasa after coup
Nigerien participants in the Francophone Games, which have kicked off in DR Congo's capital, have been left struggling...
Niger: Army General Abdourahamane Tchiani leads Niger’s new ruling junta
By Boureima Hama: Niger's putschists named an army general as the new leader of the unstable jihadist-hit nation on...
Niger: Army sides with presidential guard in ousting president Bezoum
Niger's armed forces chief on Thursday declared his support for troops who announced they had seized power, despite a...
Podcast: Sahel: North Mali is bracing for more violence
Mali in the Sahel region is facing unprecedented crises. With the withdrawal of France forces and the upcoming pull...
Niger in the footsteps of Mali and Burkina, coup in the offing
The Militarization of the Sahel By Boureima Hama: An attempted coup was underway Wednesday in the Sahel state of Niger...
Mali: Ethnic Tuaregs brace for attacks from army and Russian mercenaries ($)
By Arezki Daoud: The departure of the French forces and the forthcoming exit from Mali of the UN peacekeeping mission...
The militarization of the Sahel: Governments run by soldiers ($)
By Arezki Daoud: Military regimes now dominate the governments of the Sahel nations. The countries in the region have...
Sahel: Russia pledges continued support to Mali as UN ends MINUSMA mandate
Russia has renewed its "unstinting support" for Mali after the end of the UN peacekeeping mission in the desert state,...
Senegal: President Macky Sall made the right decision by not seeking third term
By Adrien Marotte and Soulé Dia: Relief swept Senegal and its supporters on Tuesday after President Macky Sall...
UN peacekeeping missions in Africa at a crossroads
By Amélie Bottollier-Depois: When Mali recently called for a UN peacekeeping force to depart the country "without...
Sahel: Mali’s new constitution paves the way for more instability ahead
Mali’s Problems in Four Minutes Opinion By Arezki Daoud: Yesterday, we reported how the Tuareg community in northern...
Sahel: Mali has a new constitution
Malian voters overwhelmingly approved changes to the constitution in a referendum, marking a key step in the ruling...
Sahel: More trouble in Mali as Touareg groups in north are up in arms over recent junta actions
Armed groups that signed a landmark peace accord in insurgency-hit Mali have alleged widespread fraud during voting in...
Mali rulers pushing for a breakup with UN, accusing it of spying
Mali's ruling junta has asked prosecutors to probe the UN's peacekeeping mission for "espionage" following a report...
Niger adopting traditional conflict resolution methods to end communal conflicts
By Boureima Hama: Traditional chiefs, officials, human rights activists and NGOs have been criss-crossing the vast...
Mali accuses UN mission of fueling communal tensions, calls for its immediate withdrawal
Mali's foreign minister called Friday for the UN Security Council to withdraw the peacekeeping mission in his country...
Mali junta wants people to vote for new constitution to enable power grab
Malians go to the polls on Sunday to pass judgment on the governing junta's constitution, which has fueled speculation...
Sahel: Over 16 million people need aid in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger
More than 16 million people affected by conflict and climate change in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger need humanitarian...
Sudan truce extension brings renewed fighting, little aid
Fighting flared again in Sudan on Tuesday despite the latest ceasefire pledges of the two warring generals, meant to...
Burkina Faso junta likely to delay return to civilian rule, rejects talks with insurgents
Photo: PM Apollinaire Joachim Kyélem de Tambèla: Burkina Faso's prime minister on Tuesday ruled out negotiations with...
Mauritania: Ruling party wins legislative and local elections, opposition claims “massive fraud”
Mauritania Elections By Hademine Ould Sadi: The ruling party in Mauritania scored a comfortable victory in last week's...
Sahel: 11 men jailed over Chad ‘coup bid’ promised pardons
Eleven men accused of planning a "coup d'etat" in Chad have been sentenced to 20 years in prison, the attorney general...
Mauritania: Voting in local and legislative elections begins
El-Khadir Lamine, an 18-year-old student voting for the first time, said he was hoping for "new opportunities for...
Sudan: As military-men fight over power, Khartoum falls into chaos
Thousands of residents on Wednesday fled Sudan's capital, where witnesses said bodies lay in the street from fighting...
Africa: Competition between France and Russia over Africa is getting more violent
By Barbara Debou: On a night in early March, arsonists attacked a brewery owned by the French drinks giant Castel in...
Sahel: Secretary Blinken visits Niger as US worries about Russia’s expanding influence in the Sahel
By Shaun Tandon: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Niger on Thursday for a rare visit to a country seen...
Mali junta cracks down on social media influencers, arrests Rokia Doumbia
A prominent social media influencer in Mali was detained Wednesday after lambasting the ruling military junta as a...