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Sahel: Why the G5 Sahel force remains completely ineffective
Three years ago West African nations launched a joint force touted as a giant's stride in the fight against Islamist militants sweeping across the Sahel. But lack of equipment, funds and training, together with problems in deployment and coordination on the ground,...
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 neighbouring Niger that left 27 dead. More people were wounded and some reported missing in the assault on Saturday evening on Toumour in the Diffa region, said...
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 Niger, the first in the region in almost a year, sources said. "Assailants targeted a position of the Nigerien armed forces and the water and forestry...
Sahel: Fragile calm in northern Mali town of Menaka
After years of violence and lawlessness during which the Malian town of Menaka changed hands between rebels and Islamists, a fragile calm has finally returned due to joint patrols by federal troops, militiamen and UN peacekeepers. Situated in the desert northeast of...
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 American, described as the son of a missionary living in Niger, was abducted by six men armed with Kalashnikovs on the outskirts of Massalata, a village...
Sahel: UN chief signals potential for dialogue with insurgents in the Sahel, but Paris won’t allow it
Editor's commentary by Arezki Daoud: France won’t let it happen Perhaps this is another opportunity for the world and regional powers, as well as to the Malians themselves to recognize a number of key facts. That starts with the idea that a central government in...
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 Islamic law through territorial expansion and deadly violence. But actually, their ideology and methods differ so fundamentally that they are...
Niger frees campaigners detained in protests over military contracts
Niger's judicial system has ordered the release of three campaigners held for more than six months after staging protests over a military procurement scam, one of their lawyers said Wednesday. Their cause was taken up by human rights groups, including Amnesty...
Sahel: French and US forces assess their cooperation on the Sahel as Trump remains uncommitted
The senior US commander for Africa met France's top general on Thursday to discuss the fight against militant groups in the region, as uncertainty persists over whether President Donald Trump will maintain American troop levels on the continent. General Stephen...
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 local guides while they were visiting a nature reserve in the West African country of Niger. The six French humanitarian workers, aged between 25 and...
Niger: Dozens of migrants saved in Niger desert after they were abandoned by smugglers
Eighty-three migrants were saved last week after their smugglers abandoned them in the Sahara desert in northern Niger, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday. A team from the IOM and Niger's Civil Protection service found the group 230...
Niger to drive UN talks on post Covid-19
United Nations, United States, Sept 1, 2020 - Niger, the current president of the UN Security Council, said Tuesday it will organize a September 24 videoconference between heads of state to discuss the future of global governance following the coronavirus pandemic....
Niger: Death toll in Niamey’s floods reaches 45
Niamey, Aug 27, 2020 - Several areas of the Niger capital Niamey remained under water on Thursday as the death toll in recent floods that have displaced over 225,000 people rose to 45, authorities said. Around 25,000 households had been hit by the floods, a statement...
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 Haram jihadists and taken across the border into Nigeria, local officials said Monday. "The hostages were freed by our troops on the Nigerian side of...
Niger: Floods kill dozens, 80,000 people affected
Abidjan, Aug 13, 2020 - Thirty-three people in Niger have died and more than 80,000 have been affected by floods caused by heavy rains, the country's emergency services said on Thursday. The worst-hit regions are Maradi in south-central Niger, Tahoua and Tillaberi in...
Niger: Intense counter-insurgency operation underway in southern Niger
Koure, Niger, Aug 10, 2020 - Troops in Niger backed by French air power launched a hunt Monday for the killers of eight people, six of them French nationals, as prosecutors in Paris announced a terror investigation into their deaths. "Search operations with our...
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 motorcycles in an area of southwestern Niger that is home to the last West African giraffes, officials said. It is believed to be the first such attack on...
Niger confronted with multiple natural disasters
Heavy rains that have struck Niger since June have claimed 19 lives and inflicted economic harm on tens of thousands more, the government said on Friday, while the impoverished Sahel state faces a "major threat" of invasion by locusts. Of the 19 believed killed by...
Environment: The sad ending of a giraffe, killed by Niger’s heavy rains
Niamey, Aug 6, 2020 - An aged giraffe drowned after heavy rains in southwestern Niger while more than 30 others survived thanks to rescue efforts by locals, officials said Thursday. It rained a lot, and the waters invaded a valley where the giraffes sought refuge...
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 where they will be safer from jihadist attacks, the United Nations announced for the first time on Wednesday. "The closure of the camps in December 2019...
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