Armed attackers struck the Morila gold mine in southern Mali during the night of January 4 to January 5, 2026, causing material damage to the site, according to multiple sources. The mine is located in the Sikasso region, near Mali’s border with neighboring countries....
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Burkina Faso: Deep Supply Weaknesses in Ouagadougou Amid Seasonal Butane Shortages
Gas shortages in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, have become a recurring issue at the end of each year. The problem now appears regularly between December and January, when demand for butane rises with year-end festivities and cooler harmattan, a dry, dusty...
Sahel: Jihadist Attack Kills Local Prefect in Southwestern Niger
A jihadist attack in Niger targeted the residence of the prefect (governor) of Torodi during the night of Sunday, January 4, into Monday, January 5. Torodi, the last major town before the border with Burkina Faso, lies roughly 30 miles south of Niamey. At least seven...
Flashpoints: How Emirati and Qatari Competition Is Redrawing the Red Sea Map
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...
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...
French Nationals Urged to Leave Mali as Insurgent Attacks Intensify in the Sahel
Faced with a surge of Islamist insurgency and increased boldness, the Defense Ministers of Mali, Burkina Faso, and...
Mali’s Energy Collapse Deepens as Fuel Blockade and Infrastructure Decay Converge
Mali’s capital has grown quieter in the dark. Across Bamako and beyond, entire neighborhoods now spend long nights...
Mali: Bamako Strikes Back as JNIM Expands Its Rule
Over one turbulent weekend in mid‑October 2025, Mali’s army announced a series of airstrikes against jihadist...
Sahel: Doctor working for WHO in Mali abducted
The World Health Organization said Tuesday that one of its doctors had been abducted in Mali, adding that the...
Sahel: Soldiers rescue women and babies abducted by suspected jihadists in N. Burkina Faso
By Armel Baily: Soldiers rescued a group of 62 women and four babies abducted by suspected jihadists last week in...
Sahel: UN peacekeeping mission in Mali at risk amid shortage of troops
By Amélie Bottolier-Depois: The UN peacekeeping mission in Mali is "unsustainable" without more personnel, according...
Sahel: Jihadist violence intensifies in Burkina Faso
Attacks in Burkina Faso have increased since October and now especially target civilians, according to junta leader...
Sahel: Jihadists in Burkina Faso also abduct children and babies
Investigators now believe that last week's raid by suspected jihadists in Burkina Faso led to the abduction of around...
Sahel: Russia strengthens its presence in the Sahel with delivery of warplanes to Mali
Mali's military rulers received more warplanes and helicopters from Russia Thursday, an AFP correspondent noted, the...
Sahel: Jihadists abduct dozens of women in north Burkina Faso
By Hugues Richard Sama: Suspected jihadists have abducted roughly 50 women in insurgency-wracked northern Burkina...
Mali: Security agents remain targets of attacks in Mali, four killed in Segou
Four gendarmes were killed and three others injured on Sunday after being ambushed in western Mali, a region prone to...
Mali: Tear gas fired as influential Malian imam returns
Followers of an influential Malian imam on Sunday called for the country's ruling junta to explain the use of tear gas...
Sahel: Nine killed in mosque attack in Burkina Faso’s Sahel province
Nine people were killed when suspected jihadists attacked a mosque in northeastern Burkina Faso, local sources said ...
Sahel: Troop toll from Mali jihadist clash rises to 14 dead, 31 “terrorists killed”
Fourteen Malian soldiers were killed in a clash with jihadists this week, the army said Thursday, giving a new toll in...
Sahel: Several killed in army-Jihadists confrontation in central Mali
At least 12 soldiers died in clashes with jihadists in central Mali, army and police officers said on Wednesday. The...
Sahel: Mali avoids escalating regional crisis by pardoning jailed Ivorian soldiers
Mali's junta leader on Friday pardoned all 49 Ivorian soldiers whose arrest in July triggered a bitter diplomatic row,...
Sahel: Regime in Chad said it thwarted a coup
The government in Chad said Thursday that it had foiled an "attempted destabilisation" plot by army officers and a...
Mali: Unidentified armed individuals kill five people on Bamako-Segou road
Two firefighters and three civilians were killed on Monday night in an attack in southeastern Mali, the ministry of...
Sahel: Ivory Coast hands down four life terms to 4 Mali nationals for 2016 jihadist attack
A court in Ivory Coast on Wednesday handed down life terms to four Malian men convicted of abetting a jihadist attack...
Sahel: 46 Ivory Coast soldiers detained by Mali get 20 years in prison, setting stage for regional diplomatic crisis
Update: Mali court sentences 46 Ivorian soldiers to 20 years in prison: prosecutor Forty-six Ivorian troops whose...
Sahel: Clash at Niger-Nigeria border leaves five Boko Haram fighters dead
Five Boko Haram jihadist fighters have been killed and two Niger soldiers wounded in clashes in southeast Niger near...
Sahel: Three dead in Niger military helicopter crash
Three people died on Monday when a Nigerien military helicopter crashed on return from a routine training flight, the...
Sahel: Security conditions to worsen in northern Mali as peace deal collapses
Almost all armed groups in Mali that signed a major peace deal in 2015 suspended their participation in the agreement ...
Gambia, another West African nation, headed toward turmoil
The Gambia's government on Wednesday said it had thwarted a coup attempt the previous day and arrested four soldiers....
Sahel: Worker of Doctors without Borders (MSF) kidnapped in north Mali
A worker with the French-based medical charity Doctors without Borders (MSF) has been kidnapped in jihadist-torn...
Sahel: Germany threatens withdrawal of troops from Mali by 2024
German forces will stay in Mali until 2024 only if the junta allows them to operate freely and elections are held,...
Sahel: Burkina Faso-Ghana relations sour over Russian mercenaries
A minister in Burkina Faso on Friday called a claim by Ghana's president that the war-torn Sahel nation has invited in...
Mali: Two UN peacekeepers killed in Timbuktu
Two peacekeepers in Mali were killed and four others wounded in an attack on Friday, the UN mission said, in the...
West Africa to have a common military force
By Serge Daniel and Emmanuel Anule: West African leaders agreed on Sunday to create a regional force to intervene...
Sahel: Jihadist groups target southern Burkina Faso, near Ghana
Six civilians, four of them teachers, were killed in a suspected jihadist attack in southern Burkina Faso close to the...
Sahel: Insurgents make major gains in northeast Mali
By Amaury Hauchard Jihadists aligned with the Islamic State group are advancing in northeastern Mali, prompting...
Sahel: Conflict in Sahel spills over Togo with thousands of displaced by violence
More than 4,000 people have been displaced this year in northern Togo after the security climate worsened following...
Sahel: Rights watchdog urges independent probe into Chad deaths
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged Chad to let outside investigators probe clashes last week between security forces...
Sahel: Deadly year for northern Mali
Armed groups affiliated with the Islamic State group have massacred hundreds of people in northeast Mali this year,...
Sahel: US concerned about worsening crisis in Mali, blames Russia’s Wagner Group
By Portia Crowe Mali's security situation has become "significantly worse" due to the ruling junta's choices,...
Sahel: Insurgents strike in Banibangou Niger, kill dozen civilians
A suspected jihadist attack on three lorries and a motorcycle in western Niger near the border with Mali killed 11...
Burkina Faso coup leader Ibrahim Traore crows himself country’s president
Captain Ibrahim Traore was appointed as president of Burkina Faso on Wednesday, according to an official statement,...
Sahel: Concerned about Russia’s presence in the Sahel, US warns Burkina Faso’s new junta
The United States on Tuesday warned Burkina Faso's junta of the risks of allying with Russia, whose shadowy Wagner...
Burkina Faso: As regime in Ouagadougou collapsed last week, terror attack claimed 37 lives up north
A total of 27 troops and 10 civilians were killed in a suspected jihadist attack in northern Burkina Faso last week,...
Sahel: Russian plane to be delivered to Mali crashes near Gao, pilot killed
A Russian pilot died Tuesday when a plane that Russia had recently delivered to Mali's armed forces crashed near the...
Burkina Faso: Deposed junta leader Colonel Damiba steps down, flees to Togo
By Olympia de Maismont with Pierre Donadieu in Abidjan: Burkina Faso's junta leader agreed to step down on Sunday,...
Sahel: Burkina Faso coup leader removed by another coup
By Olympia de Maismont with Pierre Donadieu in Abidjan: Security forces fired tear gas to disperse angry protesters...
Sahel: Regime in Chad abandons path to democracy, junta leader Deby seeks perpetual reign
Chad on Saturday extended the transition period to democratic elections and agreed junta leader Mahamat Idriss Deby...











