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...
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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...
Europe’s New Migration Rules Shift Pressure South to North Africa
The European Union’s revised migration framework, set to take effect in mid-2026, is already reshaping how migration is managed across the Mediterranean. Recent coordination meetings between North African states and Italy are part of the ongoing shift taking place in...
Irregular Migration to Spain Falls Sharply in 2025 With Decline in Atlantic Crossings
After reaching a historic high in 2024, irregular migration to Spain fell sharply in 2025. Official data show a decline of more than 40% compared with the previous year, driven largely by a collapse in arrivals via the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands. Spanish...
How the US Intervention in Venezuela is Reviving Global South Fears of Power Politics
The US raid that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is resonating across Africa as part of a broader pattern of great‑power behavior that many on the continent see as a return to old hierarchies, rather than an isolated episode in Latin America. The...
Burkina Faso Faces New Security Tensions Amid Coup Allegations
Burkina Faso experienced a sudden spike in political and security tension overnight in early January, with coordinated public mobilizations in Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso following warnings of a possible attempt to destabilize the country’s transitional...
Sahel: Terror Groups Gain Ground as Armies Struggle to Contain Them
Al-Qaeda’s Sahel branch, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM or GNIM in French) is now emerging as the region’s...
Mali Keeps Pressuring Algeria, Accusing it of Interference
Mali has accused Algeria of interference and supporting terrorist groups after top Algerian diplomat criticized its...
Sahel: France Concludes Military Presence in Chad
France has officially ended its military presence in Chad, returning the Kossei base to the Chadian government. This...
Sahel: French forces intensify their operations in the Sahel, report killing Al Qaeda’s Ba Ag Moussa
France announced Friday that its anti-jihadist force in Mali had killed the military commander of an Al-Qaeda-aligned...
Sahel: Mali politics sinking to new low with military’s attempt at power grab
A leading opposition group on Wednesday warned of a military stranglehold on Mali's post-coup government and called...
Sahel: France drags European troops into a conflict they cannot win
Inside a military base in northern Mali, a concrete bollard emblazoned with French, Estonian and Swedish flags marks a...
Sahel: As expected, France opposes dialogue in the Sahel
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, on a trip to Mali on Monday, ruled out dialogue with jihadists driving an...
Sahel: UN chief signals potential for dialogue with insurgents in the Sahel, but Paris won’t allow it
Editor's commentary by Arezki Daoud: France won’t let it happen Perhaps this is another opportunity for the world and...
Sahel: Another massacre in Mali, 12 civilian killed in Mopti
Twelve civilians were killed in volatile central Mali on Tuesday morning in addition to 12 soldiers who died in a twin...
Infighting inside the Sahel’s Jihadi movement
To the uninitiated, Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) group may be pursuing the same long-term goal of spreading...
Sahel: Mali braces for potential release of hostages by Jihadis
[Photo of French hostage Sophie Petronin] - A second batch of jihadists has been freed in Mali, sources said Tuesday,...
Sahel: Boko Haram ambushes Chad soldiers, kills ten
Ten Chadian soldiers were killed while attacking a base of the Boko Haram Islamist group in the Lake Chad region, the...
Sahel: French and US forces assess their cooperation on the Sahel as Trump remains uncommitted
The senior US commander for Africa met France's top general on Thursday to discuss the fight against militant groups...
Mali: Military junta wants to appoint its own president
Experts appointed by Mali's military junta on Friday proposed a two-year transitional government led by a president...
Mali: Ambush claims lives of 10 soldiers in Koulioro
At least 10 Malian soldiers were killed in an overnight ambush in a central region near the Mauritanian border where...
Mali: Reshuffle in Mali’s defense and security establishment
Bamako, Sept 2, 2020 - Mali's junta has named a new army chief of staff and appointed people to other key army and...
Mali: Civilian killed by French forces near Gao
Paris, Sept 1, 2020 - French anti-jihadist troops in Mali killed a civilian Tuesday and injured two others after a bus...
Mali: Negotiators fail to reach agreement on civilian rule
Bamako - Talks between West African envoys and Mali's new military rulers on Monday failed to yield an agreement on...
Mali: Coup leaders insist on military rule over the coming years
Four Mali soldiers killed in bomb blast: military source Aug 22, 2020 - Four Malian soldiers were killed and one...
Mali: Ousted Malian president “looks tired but relaxed.”
Bamako, Aug 21, 2020 - The United Nations said Friday it had gained access to Mali's ousted president while rebel...
Mali: While Mali people want their President out for incompetence, world leaders run to his rescue
Coup leaders in Mali faced a wave of international pressure on Wednesday, a day after they forced out a president...
Mali: The military is now in charge
Bamako, Aug 19, 2020 - Mali awoke on Wednesday to a new chapter in its troubled history after rebel military leaders...
Breaking: Mutiny leaders announce arrest of president and Prime Minister
Developing story: Mutineering soldiers in Mali on Tuesday detained President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Prime Minister...
Sahel: The unfolding Malian crisis
Aug 18, 2020 - Mali has been gripped for months by a political crisis that has sparked the country's worst unrest in...
Sahel: Fears of a soldiers’ mutiny in Mali as political crisis lingers
Bamako, Aug 18, 2020 - Gunfire broke out at a key army base near Mali's capital Bamako on Tuesday, officials and...
Niger: Dozen captives freed from Boko Haram
Niamey, Aug 17, 2020 - Troops from Niger have freed 11 villagers, four of them children, who had been seized by Boko...
Mali: How Mali security services sabotaged peace
Aug 14, 2020 - United Nations experts have accused senior army and intelligence officials in Mali of deliberately...
Niger: Intense counter-insurgency operation underway in southern Niger
Koure, Niger, Aug 10, 2020 - Troops in Niger backed by French air power launched a hunt Monday for the killers of...
Sahel: Chad army unable to contain Boko Haram in Lake Chad
Chad's President Idriss Deby said Saturday that Boko Haram jihadists would continue to wreak havoc in the Lake Chad...
Mali braces for more political turmoil, as calls for protests build up
Mali's opposition vowed to stage nationwide protests Tuesday seeking embattled President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita's...
Sahel: Government of Chad slows Internet access to a trickle
N'Djamena, Aug 4, 2020 - Chad says it has cut back the speed of the internet to crimp the spread of messages "inciting...
Mali: Opposition rejects compromise by West African leaders, insists president must leave
Mali's opposition on Wednesday reiterated calls for President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to resign, again spurning a...
Sahel: Five West African presidents gather in Mali to save it from complete collapse
Bamako, July 23, 2020 - West African leaders gathered in Bamako on Thursday in a fresh push to end an escalating...
Sahel: Regional initiative to ease tension in Mali
[Photo: Ex-Nigeria president Goodluck Johnathan leads ECOWAS delegation to mediate in Mali crisis]: Envoys from Mali's...
International court takes up case of Malian man accused of war crimes
The Hague, July 14, 2020 - A Malian jihadist police chief committed "unimaginable crimes" during a reign of terror in...
Burkina Faso government under pressure over extrajudicial killings
The United States on Wednesday called on Burkina Faso's government to investigate reports that 180 men were...
Mali: New massacre in Mopti’s Bandiagara region
Unidentified armed men massacred 31 civilians in simultaneous attacks on several Mali villages this week, then killed...
Niger: Insurgents release kidnapped aid workers
Ten Niger humanitarian workers abducted by suspected jihadists as they were distributing food have been released a...
France’s massive challenges in the Sahel
France is increasingly optimistic about the effectiveness of its anti-jihadist campaign in the Sahel, but experts...
Burkina Faso: From favored tourist destination to a hotbed of terrorism
By Armel Baily with Patrick Fort in Abidjan: Little more than five years ago, Burkina Faso was on the up, priding...
Sahel: Civilian death toll from central Mali’s crises nears 600 so far this year
Geneva, June 26, 2020 - Unrest in central Mali, plagued by jihadist attacks and inter-community violence, has killed...
Burkina Faso army raids insurgent locations near border with Ivory Coast
Ouagadougou, June 23, 2020 - Burkina Faso's security forces said on Tuesday they had destroyed two jihadist bases in...
Niger: Concern over fraud in defense purchasing
Niamey, June 23, 2020 - Niger's state prosecutor on Tuesday reported evidence of fraud and other crimes in a military...