Clashes in southern Chad between government forces and a little‑known rebel movement offer a window into how local conflicts feed into the continent’s broader instability, far from the headlines that dominate global coverage. On January 13, 2026, at least six people...
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Local Conflicts: State-Imposed Land Pact Struggles to Calm Tensions in Brakna, Mauritania
Authorities in Mauritania’s Brakna region have brokered a fragile peace deal aimed at ending a violent land dispute between neighboring farming communities, but deep political mistrust and unresolved questions about land rights suggest the crisis is far from over. The...
Niger Airport Attack Deepens Sahel’s Security and Diplomatic Strains
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...
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...
Mauritania: Ex-President Verdict Puts Mauritania’s Legal System Under Spotlight
Mauritania’s high-profile corruption trial of former President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz has sparked a bigger...
Guinea’s Mining Purge Echoes Mali’s Playbook, With Different Goals
Guinea’s junta has launched a sweeping crackdown on mining permits, abruptly revoking over 100 licenses for bauxite,...
West Africa: ECOWAS in turmoil
West Africa's economic grouping, ECOWAS, faces a new crisis as former chairman and Guinea-Bissau President Umaro...
Sahel: Failed assassination attempt on Mali’s interim president
Assimi Goita’s Profile By Amaury Hauchard with Laurent Lozano in Dakar An enigmatic special forces commander, Mali's...
Mali: Son of former president faces demand for his arrest
By Serge Daniel A year ago, times were good for Karim Keita. The son of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita had become a...
Mauritania arrests former president Ould Abdel Aziz for alleged corruption
Mauritania's former president, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, was on Tuesday jailed after a judge in charge of a corruption...
Sahel: Burkina Faso holds talks on security crisis
Burkina Faso on Thursday launched a two-day huddle gathering governing and opposition parties to discuss the country's...
Mali strongman Assimi Goita takes over power, pledges elusive stability
By Kassim Traore Malian strongman Colonel Assimi Goita stood by the goal of staging elections next February as he was...
Sahel: Mali sinks into a deeper political crisis
By Marion Douet The African Union announced it was suspending Mali with immediate effect and threatened the...
Mali president, PM resign after arrest by military junta
By Serge Daniel and Malick Konate Mali's interim president and prime minister resigned on Wednesday, a top junta aide...
Sahel: Mali descends into chaos with second coup in the offing
The Real Problem in the Sahel: Editor’s Opinion The chaos in Mali has provided further evidence that the former...
Sahel: Handover of power to civilians is not happening in Mali
Mali's largest union launches fresh strike Mali's largest trade union launched a fresh strike on Monday, an AFP...
Sahel: Ridicule over Mali’s military regime and threat of sanctions prompt junta to announce upcoming “broad-based” government
Mali's interim government is set to form a new "broad-based" cabinet, the presidency said on Friday, amid growing...
Mauritania: Former President Ould Abdelaziz in trouble, current regime wants him locked up
Mauritania's former president, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, was on Tuesday put under "house surveillance" by a judge after...
Sahel: Chad braces for more political turmoil
Opposition parties and civil society groups in Chad said fresh protests would be held on Saturday against the junta...
Chad: More smokes and mirrors in N’Djamena as military junta announces transition government
Editor Opinion: Smokes & Mirrors A “civilian prime minister,” a “transitional government.” “restoring democracy,”...
Sahel: Killed in Chad for demanding the rule of law
By Amaury Hauchard - A printed sheet of paper bearing a photo of Adoussouma hung on the crumbling wall at the...
Sahel: The extraordinary end of a reign: Day after he was proclaimed president of Chad, Deby allegedly dies in battle
Deby replaces Deby: what a surprise! A four-star general who is a son of Chad's slain president Idriss Deby Itno will...
Sahel: After 31 years in power, Chad’s president Deby reelected again
Idriss Deby Itno, who has won re-election according to provisional results Monday, has carved out a reputation as the...
Mali: Presidential and legislative elections in Mali set for February 2022
Presidential and legislative elections in Mali will take place next February, the country's post-coup government...
Sahel: Violence in Niger as country prepares to inaugurate a new president
By Boureima Hama - Elite troops in Niger thwarted an "attempted coup" early Wednesday, a security source said, just...
Sahel: Chad Strongman Deby prepares to rule for another term
Chad's Idriss Deby Itno, combining hardline tactics with political savvy, has sidelined his most viable challengers,...
Sahel: Chad ups violence against opposition, less than a month to presidential election
Police broke up demonstrations by opposition movements and civil society groups in Chad's capital N'Djamena Saturday,...
Chad: Opposition leader Saleh Kebzabo withdraws from presidential elections as dictator Deby ups intimidation against opposition
[Photo: Saleh Kebzabo] - Chad's main opposition figure, Saleh Kebzabo, on Monday announced he was withdrawing from the...
Sahel: Profile of Niger’s new president, Mohamed Bazoum
By Boureima Hama - Mohamed Bazoum, named the winner of Niger's presidential election, worked for years as the...
Niger: Former interior minister wins presidential elections, violence ensues
By Amaury Hauchard - Former interior minister Mohamed Bazoum won Niger's presidential elections, according to...
Sahel: People of Niger vote for a new president
By Boureima Hama and Amaury Hauchard - Niger voted Sunday in a presidential run-off between two political heavyweights...
Sahel: Political life in Chad heats up ahead of October presidential election
Fifteen parties in Chad's fragmented opposition said on Tuesday that they had named a single candidate to contest...
Burkina Faso Prime Minister proposing to negotiate with insurgents
Burkina Faso Prime Minister Christophe Dabire on Thursday floated the idea of negotiations with jihadist groups, an...
Sahel: Chad opposition parties coalesce against autocratic ruler Deby in upcoming election
Twelve opposition parties in Chad say they will field a joint candidate against Idriss Deby Itno, who has been in...
Chad regime bans protest before announcing candidacy of autocrat Idriss Deby
Chad's government has barred the opposition from staging protests ahead of an expected announcement by President...
Sahel: Feuding herders and farmers in central Mali endorse peace
Representatives from herder and farmer communities that have become ensnarled in violence sparked by jihadist attacks...
Sahel: Mali claims it ended military junta rule
Mali has officially disbanded its military junta, according to a government decree seen by AFP on Tuesday, more than...
Sahel: Mali police and army repress anti-French army protest
Malian security forces fired tear gas at dozens of demonstrators in the capital Bamako on Wednesday during an...
Sahel: Regime in Bamako bans the people of Mali from protesting foreign military presence
Mali's capital Bamako has banned a demonstration against France's military role in the West African country, the...
Mali military junta ratchets up repression against political figures
The Malian authorities on Thursday charged six figures, including a former prime minister, with seeking to mount a...
Sahel: Can Niger manage its first peaceful handover of presidential power?
Voters went to the polls in Niger on Sunday for an election that could seal a first peaceful handover between elected...
Mali’s military junta targets prominent figures in alleged ‘state security violation’
The Malian authorities said Monday they had opened an inquiry into violation of state security, a move that came after...
Sahel: France signals willingness to allow talks with Jihadists in the Sahel
France could back talks with some jihadist elements in Africa's restive Sahel region, a source in President Emmanuel...
Sahel: Mali is now a military dictatorship
Hopes that soldiers behind Mali's coup would swiftly restore civilian rule and tackle jihadism and ethnic violence are...
Burkina Faso: Christian Kabore “wins” presidential election
Burkina Faso's top court on Friday certified that President Roch Marc Christian Kabore had been elected for a second...
Sahel: An army Colonel heads Mali’s legislative body
Mali's interim legislature on Saturday elected Colonel Malick Diaw, a member of the military junta that toppled...
Mali’s in big trouble: A legislative body appointed by a junta-backed government
Mali's interim government on Thursday announced the composition of a new legislative body for the West African...