Politics

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Mali: Bamako Strikes Back as JNIM Expands Its Rule$

Over one turbulent weekend in mid‑October 2025, Mali’s army announced a series of airstrikes against jihadist strongholds just as the country’s most powerful al‑Qaeda affiliate, Jama’at Nusrat  al‑Islam wal‑Muslimin (JNIM), released a new video spelling out its...

Sahel: Three Sahel States Join Forces in Northern Mali Offensive$

Joint counterterrorism forces from the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) have carried out a precision operation in northern Mali, killing Boubacar Demougui Ag Almouner, one of the Islamic State in the Sahel’s most prominent field commanders. The strike took place on...

Sahel: The Demographic Tide Reshaping Mali’s Regional Balance$

Mali is on the cusp of a demographic transformation. According to new projections from the country’s National Population Directorate (DNP), the population—currently around 24.7 million in 2025—is expected to soar past 51.6 million by 2050. That represents a doubling...

Sahel: Fever Outbreak Overwhelms Mauritanian Hospitals$

Hospitals in Mauritania are under growing strain as an outbreak of an unidentified fever spreads through the country’s two largest cities, Nouakchott and Nouadhibou, raising alarm among residents and health professionals. Regional hospitals in both cities are...

Africa: New Warning of Evolving Hybrid Threats Linking Terrorism, Crime, and Climate Pressures Across Africa$

At a recent Mediterranean Dialogues Forum in Naples, Mauritania’s Foreign Minister Mohamed Salem Ould Merzoug delivered a sobering assessment of how Africa’s security landscape is changing — and what that means for neighboring regions and international partners....

Mauritania: Water Scarcity Sparks Protests in Chami$

Residents of Chami, a mining hub in western Mauritania, have taken to the streets to protest severe and prolonged water shortages that have left parts of the city without running water for days. Demonstrations erupted on October 15 outside the local offices of the...

Sahel: The Burkina Faso coup: Not so bloodless after allF

Two civilians were killed and a dozen injured in last month's coup in Burkina Faso, an event that had previously been hailed as bloodless, the authorities said on Monday, adding that junta leader and interim president Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba had ordered an...

Sahel: Mali military junta rules out return to normal for at least five yearsF

Mali's lawmakers on Monday approved a plan allowing the military junta to rule for up to five years, AFP journalists said, despite regional sanctions imposed on the country over delayed elections. After staging a coup in the impoverished Sahel state in August 2020,...

Sahel: How to destroy a nation: ordinary Malians speak of their horrific lifeF

By Amaury Hauchard Some are men of arms, who have taken up a gun out of need or for a cause. Others are just ordinary civilians, struggling to survive from one day to the next and make sense of the mayhem. These are the people of central Mali, which in 2015 spiralled...

Mali’s new leaders are unflinching in face of economic turmoilF

By Amaury Hauchard: Mali's ruling military junta has appeared unflinching so far in the face of economic sanctions imposed a month ago by the country's West African neighbours, despite indications the measures are beginning to bite. In response to the junta postponing...