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...
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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...
Irregular Migration to Spain Falls Sharply in 2025 With Decline in Atlantic Crossings
After reaching a historic high in 2024, irregular migration to Spain fell sharply in 2025. Official data show a decline of more than 40% compared with the previous year, driven largely by a collapse in arrivals via the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands. Spanish...
Niger Dissolves Hundreds of Private Security Firms in Major Industry Overhaul
Niger’s government has shuttered 400 private security companies by ministerial decree, implementing a sweeping...
Sahel: Drone Incident Escalates Diplomatic Rift on Algeria–Mali Border
The diplomatic crisis between Algeria and Mali, long simmering over border security and regional influence, escalated...
Niger Deepens Strategic Ties with Russia After Break from France
Civil nuclear cooperation and uranium development signal a shift in Niamey's global posture In a development that...
Niger: Unable to get protection from the government, Niger villagers are now forming militia groups
By Boureima Hama Abdoulaye casts a questioning eye over the passengers of a car that has pulled up at the entrance to...
Burkina Faso: 14 killed in army-jihadists clash in Thiou
Three soldiers and 11 suspected jihadists were killed when an army unit came under fire in northern Burkina Faso, the...
Mali: West African block seeks to isolate Mali’s junta
West African bloc ECOWAS issued sanctions against members of Mali's transitional government, including its prime...
Security: As Russia’s influence in Africa grows, EU wants to impose sanctions on Russian mercenaries Wagner
EU foreign ministers agreed Monday to draw up more sanctions on shadowy Russian mercenary group Wagner over its...
Sahel: New Jihadist attacks in Mali and Burkina Faso
Four Malian soldiers were killed by suspected jihadists Sunday and several others wounded in an attack northeast of...
Sahel: Jihadists strike in Niger’s Tillaberi region
A jihadist attack in Niger's volatile "tri-border" zone with Burkina Faso and Mali has killed dozens of members of a...
Sahel: Chad rebels claim they want political solution and dialogue with military junta
Chad's main rebel groups said Tuesday they were conditionally willing to take part in national talks aimed at leading...
Sahel: Mali expels ECOWAS representative
Mali's interim government has expelled the representative of West African bloc ECOWAS from the conflict-ridden and...
Sahel: Niger opens first military school in Niamey
Facing a spate of jihadist attacks, Niger on Friday opened its first military school in the capital Niamey to train...
Sahel: UN and NATO mulling over support to Sahelian armies in combating militant groups
NATO is studying options to bolster support for the multinational G5 Sahel force in the troubled three-borders region...
Sahel: IED kills 16 soldiers between Koro et Bandiagara in Mali
Sixteen soldiers were killed and 10 wounded in an attack in central Mali on Wednesday, security and health officials...
Sahel: Russia’s entry into the Sahel raises concern in the region
Chad's foreign minister warned against outside interference on Thursday, referencing Russian paramilitaries operating...
Sahel: 16 soldiers killed in jihadist-hit southeast Niger
An attack by hundreds of Boko Haram fighters on a town in Niger's jihadist-plagued southeast killed 16 soldiers and...
Sahel: Violence in the Sahel continues to escalate with no end in sight
Deadly competition between two insurgent groups spreads terror in Lake Chad Here is a factfile on Boko Haram and its...
Niger: 18 civilian killed in terror attack in Banibangou
A fresh attack in western Niger near the border with Mali has left 18 civilians dead, a local elected official said...
Sahel: Insurgency is destabilizing Burkina Faso, with mass population displacement
Record numbers of people in Burkina Faso have become internally displaced or fled abroad as a result of jihadist...
Sahel: French troops kill two ISGS regional leaders in Mali
France said Friday that its forces had killed two senior leaders of the Islamic State in Greater Sahara (ISGS) group...
Sahel: French warplane crashes in central Mali
A French Mirage warplane crashed in an uninhabited area of central Mali on Tuesday after suffering a technical...
Sahel: Failed assassination attempt on Mali’s interim president
Assimi Goita’s Profile By Amaury Hauchard with Laurent Lozano in Dakar An enigmatic special forces commander, Mali's...
Burkina Faso: Quarter million people forced to abandon their homes so far this year
More than 237,000 people have been forced to abandon their homes in the past six months in Burkina Faso, a country...
Burkina Faso: Attack on Niha-Mossi village leaves 10 dead
Ten people were killed in northern Burkina Faso, seven of them members of a civilian defence force, security sources...
Niger: Civilians, soldiers and armed attackers killed in Tillaberi clash
Five civilians, four soldiers and 40 armed attackers were killed Sunday in a clash in Niger's restive southwest region...
Burkina Faso: Mass casualty in ambush on policemen near Barsalogho
Around 10 policemen have been killed in an ambush by suspected jihadists in northern Burkina Faso and several more...
Sahel: Mali Church officials report kidnapping of Catholics in Mopti
Armed men in central Mali have abducted five Catholics, including an abbot, Church officials said Tuesday, in the...
Sahel: France announces arrest of ISGS’ Abou Dardar
By Didier Lauras with Amaury Hauchard in Bamako French forces in Mali have captured a man they describe as a...
Sahel: Burkina Faso army raids jihadist bases, kills nearly dozen militants
Burkina Faso soldiers killed 11 jihadists and destroyed three "terrorist" bases last week in security operations after...
Sahel: Burkina Faso holds talks on security crisis
Burkina Faso on Thursday launched a two-day huddle gathering governing and opposition parties to discuss the country's...
Sahel: Soldiers killed, UN troops wounded in Mali
Two soldiers have been killed in an ambush by suspected jihadists and eight United Nations troops wounded by a...
Sahel: France to announce withdrawal of troops from Sahel as region slides into uncontrollable violence
By Daphné Benoit French President Emmanuel Macron is set to announce Thursday a partial withdrawal of French troops...
Benin: Growing risk of Jihad contagion from the Sahel in West Africa’s Benin
Jihadists operating near Benin's borders with Burkina Faso and Niger may coopt intensifying communal conflicts in the...
Niger: Two Chinese workers kidnapped in Mbanga
Armed men have kidnapped two Chinese employees of a mining company in a volatile area near western Niger's borders...
Sahel: Death toll in latest terror attack on Solhan in Burkina Faso updated to 160
Details of the massacre Suspected jihadists killed 160 people -- including 20 children -- in the village of Solhan in...
Sahel: Six Chad soldiers killed at border with Central African Republic
Chad has sent men and material to reinforce the border with the Central African Republic despite agreeing to jointly...
Sahel: Massacre in northern Burkina Faso
UN chief Antonio Guterres is "outraged" over the massacre of civilians in Burkina Faso's volatile north, his spokesman...
Sahel: France losing grip of Mali and issues threats after army-man Goita took over power
New Mali leader meets Touareg representatives in a necessary move to bring peace to the country AFP - Malian strongman...
Sahel: Mali descends into chaos with second coup in the offing
The Real Problem in the Sahel: Editor’s Opinion The chaos in Mali has provided further evidence that the former...
Sahel: Jihadists in Mali resorting in gruesome practice of amputating hands and feet of suspected thieves
UN peacekeepers in Mali on Thursday offered to help bring to justice jihadists behind the amputation of suspected...
Sahel: No break during the Eid holiday: Five villagers killed in Niger’s Tillaberi region
Five people were killed on Wednesday in an attack on a village in the western Tillaberi region of Niger, near the...
Sahel: Chad military junta said it defeated FACT insurgents
Chad's military junta on Sunday declared victory after a month-long operation against rebels in the northwest of the...
Sahel: French journalist Olivier Dubois kidnapped in Mali
By Serge Daniel, Amaury Hauchard in N'Djamena - Missing French journalist Olivier Dubois says he has been kidnapped in...