Saudi–Emirati tensions over Yemen open a wider question: to what extent is the UAE using proxy actors, media leverage, and selective alliances to reshape crisis zones from Libya and Sudan to the Western Sahara file, often in ways that cut across Algerian and broader...
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Sahel: Niger Declares General Mobilization Amid Escalating Jihadist Violence
Niger’s military-led authorities have announced a nationwide general mobilization that allows for the requisitioning of people, property, and services as part of their campaign against armed jihadist groups operating across the country. The decision comes amid...
Nigeria’s Conflict Goes Global With Washington Entering the Fight
The United States’ Christmas Day airstrikes in northwestern Nigeria mark a rare but consequential shift in the internationalization of Nigeria’s long-running security crisis. While the Nigerian military has conducts on the regular basis aerial bombardments against...
Sahel: Violence in Northern Mali Drives New Wave of Displacement Into Mauritania
More than 3,300 people have fled northern Mali over the past month, crossing into Mauritania to escape escalating violence and severe disruptions to daily life. The displacement highlights the continued deterioration of security conditions in Mali’s northern regions...
Mauritania Arrests Anti‑Corruption Figure Mohamed Ould Gadda
Mauritanian authorities have arrested former senator Mohamed Ould Gadda, now heading the anti‑corruption NGO “Transparence Totale,” in a move that has drawn criticism from parliamentarians and opposition figures over due‑process guarantees and the treatment of...
Sahel: French Special Forces Accused of Direct Role in Benin Coup Response
A recent account by the head of Benin’s Republican Guard alleged that France played a role in an attempted coup in Benin, triggering a legal and political debate in Paris. In an interview with Radio France Internationale (RFI), Colonel Dieudonné Djimon Tévoédjrè...
While the Sahel Faces Worsening Security Climate, Juntas Leverage Regional Integration to Consolidate Power
The demise of the Bachar Al-Assad regime in Syria is giving the Sahelian juntas of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso second...
The US Africa Policy: Don’t Expect Anything New
Africa has been a low priority for virtually all US administrations, be they republicans or democrats. It is true that...
Mali: JNIM raids Bamako in direct threat to military junta
On Tuesday, 17 September 2024, Bamako, the capital of Mali, was the target of coordinated attacks claimed by the JNIM....
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...
Insurgencies: New details on the elimination of AQIM’s leader
Paris, June 11, 2020 (By Didier Lauras) (Photo: Wikipedia fair use) - In a desert wilderness in Mali, close to the...
Sahel: The who’s who of foreign forces in the Sahel
French troops who killed senior Al Qaeda leader Abdelmalek Droukdel in the Sahel region of Africa this week work...
Chad: French troops wounded in N’Djamena shooting
Paris, June 9, 2020 - Two French soldiers were shot and wounded Tuesday near the Chadian presidential palace in the...
Insurgency: France claims it killed Al-Qaeda’s Droukdel, arrests ISIS commander
French forces have killed the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Algerian Abdelmalek Droukdel, in northern...