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Sahel to get $285 million of Covid-19 aid from AfDB
The African Development Bank said Thursday it would provide $285 million in aid to Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad to help them fight the coronavirus pandemic. The aid was being provided within the framework of a $10-billion COVID-19 response facility...
Sahel: Niger hit by devastating floods, nine killed
Niamey, July 21, 2020 - Heavy floods in Niger have claimed nine lives and destroyed more than 2,000 homes , affecting at least 20,000 people, the interior ministry said on Tuesday. The southwestern Dosso region, central-south Maradi and Tahoua and Tillaberi in the...
Sahel braces for more warming and a wetter climate
The annual mean global temperature is likely to be at least one degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels in each of the next five years, the World Meteorological Organization said Thursday. The WMO said there was a 20 percent chance that it will exceed 1.5 C above...
Niger: Environment under attack, four arrested for killing endangered gazelles
Around 40 dorcas gazelles, an endangered species, have been slaughtered by poachers in one of Africa's largest nature reserves, environmental authorities said Tuesday. Forestry officials at the Termit and Tin-Toumma National Nature Reserve, which covers nearly 100,000...
Niger: Insurgents release kidnapped aid workers
Ten Niger humanitarian workers abducted by suspected jihadists as they were distributing food have been released a week after they were taken in the southwest of the country, a local governor said on Thursday. The workers for local group APIS, a partner of the UN...
France’s massive challenges in the Sahel
France is increasingly optimistic about the effectiveness of its anti-jihadist campaign in the Sahel, but experts caution that short-term successes will not by themselves bring lasting victory. President Emmanuel Macron will travel to the Mauritanian capital...
Niger: General Djibo enters the presidential race
General Salou Djibo, former head of Niger's military junta, will contest the 2020 presidential election after being adopted on Sunday as the candidate for the Peace-Justice-Progress (PJP) party. He accepted the candidacy at a ceremony before some 5,000 people at the...
Niger: Humanitarian workers kidnapped in Tillaberi
Niamey, June 25, 2020 - Armed jihadists abducted 10 humanitarian workers as they were distributing food in a village in southwestern Niger, their NGO said Thursday. The assailants drove into the village aboard motorbikes on Wednesday afternoon and told the victims to...
Niger: Concern over fraud in defense purchasing
Niamey, June 23, 2020 - Niger's state prosecutor on Tuesday reported evidence of fraud and other crimes in a military procurement scandal that had cost the poor West African state nearly 50 million euros, although the sum was less than half the amount initially...
Criminality: Drug gang war leaves 10 dead in northern Niger
Niamey, June 22, 2020 - Clashes between rival drug runners left at least 10 dead last week in northern Niger near the borders with Libya and Algeria, a local government official said Monday. The lawless desert region has been a hotbed of trafficking in drugs, weapons...
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 Boko Haram fighters in southeastern Niger last month. The human rights organisation investigated images circulating on social media of two men being...
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 unlawfully killing or forcibly disappearing some 200 people this year, adding that many incidents could amount to war crimes. The rights monitor said that...
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 commander in the West African state of Mali this week (see below). French forces killed Algerian national Abdelmalek Droukdel, the head of al-Qaeda in...
Sahel: Growing concern over soldiers’ misconduct in the Sahel
By Amaury Hauchard: Accusations of alleged forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings are mounting against national armies in the Sahel, worrying their allies in the fight against jihadist insurgents in the semi-desert African region. The Sahel has seen years of...
Insurgency: France claims it killed Al-Qaeda’s Droukdel, arrests ISIS commander
French forces have killed the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Algerian Abdelmalek Droukdel, in northern Mali, France's defence minister said. Droukdel was killed on Thursday near the Algerian border, where the group has bases from which it has carried out...
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 deadly jihadist attack devastated the site, the United Nations said Wednesday. Around 50 jihadists on motorbikes killed three local leaders, abducted a...
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 three civilians, abducting a guard and sabotaging the water supply, the United Nations said Monday. Around 50 jihadists launched a "well-planned...
Burkina Faso kills dozens of alleged insurgents in Kossi province
Ouagadougou, May 20, 2020 - Two Burkina Faso police and 47 "terrorists" died during a major operation in northwestern Burkina Faso on the border with Mali, the West African country's army chief of staff said Wednesday. "Following an anti-terrorist operation waged for...
Africa: Covid-19 is not alone, other diseases intensify health crisis in Africa
Lagos, May 19, 2020 (By Sophie Bouillon) - African nations grappling to contain coronavirus are scrambling to stop the outbreak worsening the impact of other killer diseases. Across the continent, countries regularly face surges from a raft of diseases that flourish...
Niger: Insurgents attack Blabrine base near Diffa town
Niamey, May 19, 2020 - Twelve soldiers have been killed in a Boko Haram attack on a military outpost in Niger's Diffa region, scene of recent clashes with jihadist fighters, the defence ministry said Tuesday. The attack by "Boko Haram terrorists" overnight Monday on...
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