West Africa's economic grouping, ECOWAS, faces a new crisis as former chairman and Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo refuses to step down despite his mandate ending on February 27, 2025. Embalo, who once criticized Sahelian coup leaders on behalf of...
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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 dominant jihadist force. Even the brutal Islamic State has been largely unable to contain JNIM's expansion, which has been expanding its control...
Brief: Fifteen Migrants Found Dead in a Boat off the Coast of Nouadhibou, Mauritania
Fifteen undocumented migrants, including one Mauritanian, have died off the coast of Nouadhibou, according to a Sahara Media. Authorities in Nouadhibou discovered a boat carrying 39 migrants, among whom nine were found dead, and ten others were in critical condition....
Mali Keeps Pressuring Algeria, Accusing it of Interference
Mali has accused Algeria of interference and supporting terrorist groups after top Algerian diplomat criticized its counter-terrorism strategy. Bamako alleges Algeria maintains ties to insurgent groups, a reference to the Toureg tribes, [am4show have='g1;'...
Sahel: Mali and Canadian mining firm Barrick are talking again
Mali’s junta and Canadian gold mining firm Barrick Gold went back to the negotiating table to find a compromise in their ongoing feud. The two spent months fighting over the Loulo-Gounkoto gold mine, where the Malian authorities recently seized nearly three tons of...
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 marks the end of a long-standing French military footprint in the Sahel after similar exits from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. [am4show have='g1;'...
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: French forces are leaving Niger this week
France said Thursday that it would start withdrawing its troops from Niger this week after a falling-out with the...
Sahel: 29 Niger soldiers killed by suspected jihadists
Twenty-nine soldiers were killed in western Niger in an attack by suspected jihadists, the defence ministry said on...
Sahel: Niger considering Algeria’s mediation offer and a transition period
Niger began three days of national mourning Tuesday after 29 soldiers were killed in a suspected jihadist attack, the...
Mali preparing offensive against Tuareg fighters in north of the country
A Malian army convoy was moving closer towards the northern rebel stronghold Kidal on Tuesday, following a resumption...
Niger: Dozen soldiers killed in Jihadist attack in Tijane
A terrorist attack took place in the Tijiane region, Niger, on September 29, 2023, resulting in the death of 13...
Sahel: Full-blown war in central and north Mali
Tuareg-dominated separatist groups said on Saturday that they had inflicted heavy losses on the Malian military in an...
Mali: Al-Qaeda offshoot intensifies attacks on Mali army
@northafricajournalMali #Lere: An attack on two #military camps in northern #Mali claimed by #Touaregs killed five...
Sahel: Mali buries officer killed crash
Mali's ruling junta on Wednesday paid tribute to a lieutenant colonel who relatives say was killed aboard a plane that...
Sahel: Mali warns ECOWAS against military action in Niger
Mali "will not stand idly by" if foreign governments intervene in neighouring Niger, Bamako's top diplomat warned the...
Sahel: Niger bans French aircraft from its airspace
Niger's military rulers have banned "French aircraft" from flying over the country's airspace, according to the Agency...
Mali: Tuaregs say they shot down two military planes, captured soldiers in intensifying conflict
An alliance of armed groups in northern Mali said it has taken several soldiers prisoner and killed a dozen others,...
Sahel: The demise of the ancient city of Timbuktu
When jihadists in Mali announced they would blockade the ancient city of Timbuktu, residents thought it was just...
Niger and ECOWAS: The cost of collective punishment
Lines of hundreds of trucks stretch back many kilometres close to Benin's northern border with Niger, their cargo...
Sahel: Growing tension between Niger and Benin
Niger’s junta dispatched army reinforcements in Gaya, a town located on the border with Benin, some 300 km from...
Mali: Touareg group kills five army soldiers in Léré
An attack on two military camps in northern Mali claimed by armed rebel groups killed five soldiers, while 11 others...
Sahel: US military resumes surveillance flights over Niger
The United States has resumed surveillance flights over Niger that were halted in the wake of the military takeover...
Sahel: Army-Tuareg war reignites in north Mali
Opinion by Arezki Daoud: The military junta in Mali is now confronted with the realities of war. It is battling on...
Niger says France is planning to intervene to launch counter-coup
Niger's military regime, which took power in July, accused France of deploying forces in several West African...
Sahel: Deadly week in Mali
A suicide attack targeted a military base in northern Mali on Friday, the army said, a day after deadly strikes on an...
Sahel: Suspected GSIM militants attack boat on the Niger River in Mali
A passenger boat on the Niger River in northern Mali was attacked on Thursday by suspected jihadists, the Malian army...
Sahel: Protests after Chadian soldier dies in attack at French base
An army nurse at a French military base in northern Chad shot dead a Chadian soldier who had attacked him, triggering...
Sahel: Mali junta carries out air strikes on ‘terrorists’
Mali's military junta said it carried out air strikes on Wednesday against "terrorist groups" that were planning...
Sahel: Dozens dead in clash in north Burkina Faso
The general staff of the Burkina Faso military said 53 people died in Koumbri, near Ouahigouya in the north of the...
Leaders of Francophone Africa gripped by fear, strengthen their own security
By Arezki Daoud: Leaders of Francophone Africa are in state of panic following a series of coups that toppled their...
Mali: Three wounded in attack near capital Bamako
A policeman and two civilians were wounded when Mali's security forces repelled an attack near the capital Bamako on...
Gabon: People waiting for junta to announce plan in coup aftermath
People in the central African state of Gabon awaited a steer on their future on Thursday after rebel army officers...
Gabon: Another domino in the French sphere falls, Gabon army ousts Ali Bongo
Rebel officers in Gabon announced Wednesday they had seized power following disputed elections in which President Ali...
Sudan: Deadly violence grips Darfur
Sudan's army chief on Tuesday visited Egypt on his first trip abroad since the outbreak of war in April, with the...
Sahel: Mounting tensions in northern Mali, as army strikes positions of ethnic Tuaregs
Former rebels in northern Mali on Tuesday accused the armed forces of carrying out new strikes on their positions,...
Don’t expect Wagner to abandon Africa after Prigozhin’s announced death
Despite the reported death of the Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, Moscow has every interest in continuing...
How Sudan is imploding
War and hunger threaten to "consume" all of Sudan, where hundreds of thousands of malnourished children are at risk of...
Sahel: Political situation in Niger worsens with African Union suspending membership
By Aymeric Vincenot: The African Union said Tuesday that it had suspended Niger's membership in the wake of a military...
Sahel: Boko Haram strikes in Konduga, Nigeria, killing 13
Suspected Boko Haram jihadists have killed 13 people including three soldiers in two separate attacks in northeast...
Sahel: Mali government troops and their Wagner allies are now attacking the ethnic Touaregs
By Arezki Daoud: As I have been saying for a while, the Malian junta is leveraging its honeymoon period with Russia's...
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: 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 crisis: Algeria opposes military intervention in Niger
Abdelmadjid Tebboune, the prsident of Niger's northern neighbor Algeria, told reporters on Saturday August 5, 2023,...
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...
Sahel: Chad acquires military vehicles and security gear from the UAE
The United Arab Emirates has sent military vehicles and other security gear to Chad in support of anti-"terrorism"...