Algeria and Niger have formally reset strained bilateral relations and announced the operational relaunch of the long-delayed Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline project, signaling a significant geopolitical and energy shift across North and West Africa. During an official...
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Niger: Roadside Bomb Kills Civilians Near Baroua in Diffa Region
An improvised explosive device struck a mixed transport vehicle near Baroua in Niger’s Diffa region at around 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, February 10, killing at least eight people at the scene and injuring others, according to local accounts. The blast destroyed the...
Flashpoints: In Southern Chad, A Local Clash Reveals Deeper Fragility
Clashes in southern Chad between government forces and a little‑known rebel movement offer a window into how local conflicts feed into the continent’s broader instability, far from the headlines that dominate global coverage. On January 13, 2026, at least six people...
Local Conflicts: State-Imposed Land Pact Struggles to Calm Tensions in Brakna, Mauritania
Authorities in Mauritania’s Brakna region have brokered a fragile peace deal aimed at ending a violent land dispute between neighboring farming communities, but deep political mistrust and unresolved questions about land rights suggest the crisis is far from over. The...
Niger Airport Attack Deepens Sahel’s Security and Diplomatic Strains
An overnight assault on Niger’s main international airport has prompted a partial drawdown of U.S. diplomatic staff from Niamey and renewed scrutiny of the country’s security trajectory and external partnerships. Shortly before midnight on January 29, 2026, armed...
Defense: Mauritania and Spain Use Naval Exercises to Bolster Atlantic Maritime Security
Mauritanian and Spanish naval forces have conducted joint exercises off the coast of Nouadhibou, underscoring a growing security partnership in a stretch of Atlantic waters that has become central to migration control and maritime surveillance. The drills show how...
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: Three Sahel States Join Forces in Northern Mali Offensive
Joint counterterrorism forces from the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) have carried out a precision operation in...
Africa: New Warning of Evolving Hybrid Threats Linking Terrorism, Crime, and Climate Pressures Across Africa
At a recent Mediterranean Dialogues Forum in Naples, Mauritania’s Foreign Minister Mohamed Salem Ould Merzoug...
Sahel: Funding the insurgency with illegally acquired gold
Several "suspected terrorists" were arrested and more than 40,000 sticks of dynamite and detonator cords for illegal...
Sahel: Boko Haram raids village in southern Niger, kills 27
Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamist group on Monday claimed responsibility for the weekend attack on a village in...
Sahel: New terror attack in La Tapoa, Niger
Two forestry workers were killed and two soldiers were reported missing after an attack early Friday in southwestern...
Sahel: Military posts in northern Mali attacked
Suspected militants attacked several Malian and foreign military bases with mortars and rockets in the north of the...
Sahel: French forces intensify their operations in the Sahel, report killing Al Qaeda’s Ba Ag Moussa
France announced Friday that its anti-jihadist force in Mali had killed the military commander of an Al-Qaeda-aligned...
Sahel: Gunmen ambush bus in Mali, kill eight people
Gunmen have killed eight people in central Mali, a local official and security ministry staffer said Wednesday, in...
Niger: US national kidnapped in Tahoua
An American citizen has been kidnapped by gunmen in southern Niger, a senior official told AFP on Tuesday. The...
Sahel: As expected, France opposes dialogue in the Sahel
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, on a trip to Mali on Monday, ruled out dialogue with jihadists driving an...
Sahel: Another massacre in Mali, 12 civilian killed in Mopti
Twelve civilians were killed in volatile central Mali on Tuesday morning in addition to 12 soldiers who died in a twin...
Mali: Attack on base in Mopti leaves dozen troops dead
Twelve Malian soldiers were killed in attacks on their base in the volatile centre of the country, the army said...
Infighting inside the Sahel’s Jihadi movement
To the uninitiated, Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) group may be pursuing the same long-term goal of spreading...
Sahel: Boko Haram ambushes Chad soldiers, kills ten
Ten Chadian soldiers were killed while attacking a base of the Boko Haram Islamist group in the Lake Chad region, the...
Niger: Daesh says it killed French aid workers in Koure on 9 August
The Islamic State extremist group on Thursday claimed the killing in August of six French aid workers and their two...
Mali: Ambush claims lives of 10 soldiers in Koulioro
At least 10 Malian soldiers were killed in an overnight ambush in a central region near the Mauritanian border where...
Mali: Four soldiers killed near Mopti
Bamako, Aug 27, 2020 - Four troops were killed and 12 were wounded on Thursday in an ambush in central Mali, the army...
Niger: Dozen captives freed from Boko Haram
Niamey, Aug 17, 2020 - Troops from Niger have freed 11 villagers, four of them children, who had been seized by Boko...
Sahel: Chad army unable to contain Boko Haram in Lake Chad
Chad's President Idriss Deby said Saturday that Boko Haram jihadists would continue to wreak havoc in the Lake Chad...
Niger: Gunmen kill French tourists in Kouré
Niamey, Aug 9, 2020 - Six French tourists and their local guide and driver were killed Sunday by gunmen riding...
Sahel: UN seeks to integrate Mali refugees in Niger population
Some 15,000 Malians were moved out of two large refugee camps in western Niger in late 2019 to live in nearby towns...
Sahel: Boko Haram hits village in Chad, kills residents
Boko Haram jihadists killed at least 10 civilians and kidnapped seven others in an attack on a village in the troubled...
Burkina Faso government under pressure over extrajudicial killings
The United States on Wednesday called on Burkina Faso's government to investigate reports that 180 men were...
Mali: New massacre in Mopti’s Bandiagara region
Unidentified armed men massacred 31 civilians in simultaneous attacks on several Mali villages this week, then killed...
Niger: Insurgents release kidnapped aid workers
Ten Niger humanitarian workers abducted by suspected jihadists as they were distributing food have been released a...
France’s massive challenges in the Sahel
France is increasingly optimistic about the effectiveness of its anti-jihadist campaign in the Sahel, but experts...
Burkina Faso: From favored tourist destination to a hotbed of terrorism
By Armel Baily with Patrick Fort in Abidjan: Little more than five years ago, Burkina Faso was on the up, priding...
Sahel: Civilian death toll from central Mali’s crises nears 600 so far this year
Geneva, June 26, 2020 - Unrest in central Mali, plagued by jihadist attacks and inter-community violence, has killed...
Niger: Humanitarian workers kidnapped in Tillaberi
Niamey, June 25, 2020 - Armed jihadists abducted 10 humanitarian workers as they were distributing food in a village...
Sahel: Rights group accuses Niger of ‘war crime’ in the execution of alleged Boko Haram fighters
Abidjan, June 12, 2020 - Human Rights Watch on Friday described as a "war crime" the summary execution of two alleged...
Mali: Two UN troops killed in attack in Tarkint
Bamako, June 14, 2020 - Gunmen have killed two UN peacekeepers in a region of northwestern Mali wracked by jihadist...
Sahel: Week after death of Jihadist leader, insurgents ambush troops in central Mali, kill dozens
Bamako, June 15, 2020 - Around 40 Malian troops were dead or listed as missing after their convoy was ambushed in...
Insurgencies: New details on the elimination of AQIM’s leader
Paris, June 11, 2020 (By Didier Lauras) (Photo: Wikipedia fair use) - In a desert wilderness in Mali, close to the...
Beyond the Sahel: Jihadi contagion spreads to the Ivory Coast
Korhogo, Ivory Coast, June 11, 2020 - Dozens of suspected jihadists attacked a frontier post on Ivory Coast's border...
Sahel: Government forces sowing terror in the Sahel
Bamako, June 10, 2020 - Amnesty International on Wednesday accused armies in Africa's sprawling Sahel region of...
Sahel: The who’s who of foreign forces in the Sahel
French troops who killed senior Al Qaeda leader Abdelmalek Droukdel in the Sahel region of Africa this week work...
Sahel: With Droukdel dead, here’s Al-Qaeda/IS’ trio of leaders to watch
Three leaders have been left dominating the jihadist insurgency in the Sahel, following the death of a top al-Qaeda...
Niger: Attack on IDP camp in west Niger prompts thousands of refugees to flee
Niamey, June 3, 2020 - Thousands of people have fled a camp hosting 20,000 Malian refugees in western Niger after a...
Burkina Faso: Insurgents ambush vendors in Loroum, kill 15
At least 15 civilians have been killed in northern Burkina Faso during an attack attributed to jihadists, the...
Niger: Refugee camp in the Tahoua attacked, three killed
Jihadists carried out a coordinated attack on a camp housing thousands of Malian refugees in western Niger, killing...
Sahel Podcast: Covid-19, the insurgency and the brutality of government forces
In this latest brief podcast, MEA Risk's Arezki Daoud addresses the issues of instability and security in the Sahel,...
Burkina Faso: More violence in Houet, two gendarmes killed
Ouagadougou, May 25, 2020 - Two policemen have been killed in a fresh attack in the Sahel state of Burkina Faso, which...


































