Gunmen have attacked two villages in Niger's vast Tillaberi border region, killing a dozen people working in the fields, security and local sources told AFP on Friday. "There were 12 deaths following the attack on Thursday afternoon by armed men," a municipal official...

Germany and Mali agreed Thursday to pursue a "smooth withdrawal" of German troops from the troubled African nation after the UN decided to end its decade-old peacekeeping mission there, Berlin said. Mali's defence minister Sadio Camara assured his German counterpart...

The departure of the French forces and the forthcoming exit from Mali of the UN peacekeeping mission known as MINUSMO, are creating a new set of problems for the Sahelian nation of Mali. In particular, the northern political elite representing the Touareg nation are experiencing a major leadership crisis. There is a lack of consensus among Tuareg leaders as to the way forward, but all of them anticipate the central government in Bamako to take advantage of the absence of foreign observers to launch an offensive against the populations of the north.

Military regimes now dominate the governments of the Sahel nations. The countries in the region have experienced a series of coups that enabled soldiers to take over power.