Security

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Mauritania: Medical Equipment Contract Controversy Deepens in Mauritania$

A medical procurement deal in Mauritania has turned into a governance controversy, after an investigation by independent outlet Alakhbar alleged serious irregularities in how the military managed a multimillion‑euro contract to equip public hospitals. Instead of...

Mauritania Confronts Concentrated Desert Locust Outbreak With Regional Spillover Risk$

Mauritania is facing a concentrated desert locust outbreak in several western and northern regions, prompting intensified surveillance and control operations as ecological conditions continue to favor breeding. While the current wave of activity remains primarily...

West Africa: Allegations of Staged Military Takeover Cloud Guinea-Bissau’s Electoral Crisis$

Guinea-Bissau, a small West African nation of 2.2 million people sandwiched between Senegal and Guinea, has been thrust into political turmoil following a military takeover that prominent regional figures allege may have been staged. The November 26 seizure of power...

Mauritania: New Rescue Off Nouadhibou as Regional Migration Pressures Intensify$

Mauritanian authorities and local rescue teams recovered a pirogue carrying 156 migrants on Monday off the coast of Nouadhibou, ending a ten-day drift that left the passengers in severe physical distress. The operation adds to a growing number of maritime incidents...

Mauritania’s Former President Loses Final Appeal, Will Serve 15 Years$

Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who led Mauritania from 2009 to 2019, has lost his final appeal and will serve 15 years in prison. The Supreme Court of Mauritania upheld his conviction for illicit enrichment and money laundering, following a years-long legal process that saw...

Sahel: Community Mourns Mariam Cissé, Killed by Militants in Northern Mali$

Mariam Cissé, a well-known content creator from the town of Tonka in northern Mali, was abducted on November 6, 2025, at a weekly fair in Echel, roughly twenty kilometers northwest of her hometown. The following day, she was executed in public in an area under the...

Gabon: People waiting for junta to announce plan in coup aftermathF

People in the central African state of Gabon awaited a steer on their future on Thursday after rebel army officers brought the curtain down on 55 years of rule by the Bongo family. President Ali Bongo Ondimba, whose father Omar had ruled for more than four decades,...

Gabon: Another domino in the French sphere falls, Gabon army ousts Ali BongoF

Rebel officers in Gabon announced Wednesday they had seized power following disputed elections in which President Ali Bongo Ondimba, whose family has ruled the oil-rich state for more than 55 years, had been declared winner. The claimed takeover sparked condemnation...

Sudan: Deadly violence grips DarfurF

Sudan's army chief on Tuesday visited Egypt on his first trip abroad since the outbreak of war in April, with the latest violence killing dozens of civilians in battle-scarred Darfur. As Abdel Fattah al-Burhan headed for talks with key ally Egyptian President Abdel...

Sahel: Mounting tensions in northern Mali, as army strikes positions of ethnic TuaregsF

Former rebels in northern Mali on Tuesday accused the armed forces of carrying out new strikes on their positions, reflecting mounting tensions in the flashpoint region. A spokesman for the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) told an AFP reporter that the armed...