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Chad: Hunt of alleged killers of president Deby expands to Niger
Chad's new ruling junta on Sunday vowed to root out a rebel leader accused of "war crimes", seeking help from neighbouring Niger to track him down along with his fighters. The army has "located the enemy spread out in small groups, now regrouping in Niger territory,"...
Sahel: West Niger gripped by deadly violence
Nineteen civilians were killed when armed men raided a village in west Niger close to the border with Mali, a local official told AFP on Sunday, in the latest bloodshed in the troubled region. "For the moment, the number of dead stands at 19 and two people have been...
Niger’s new president term starts amid intense violence
Niger's defence ministry said Sunday that four of its soldiers had been killed the day before in twin "terrorist" attacks in the country's southeast, the day after President Mohamed Bazoum was sworn in. "Several terrorists" had been killed in the simultaneous Saturday...
Africa: With terror groups intensely fixated on Africa, security outlook feels gloomy
By Didier Lauras - From the arid expanses of the Sahel into the Sinai Peninsula and now Mozambique, Africa is proving fertile ground for jihadist groups looking to bolster their notoriety by exploiting conflicts that have often festered for years. The fighters who...
Sahel: Violence in Niger as country prepares to inaugurate a new president
By Boureima Hama - Elite troops in Niger thwarted an "attempted coup" early Wednesday, a security source said, just two days before the historic inauguration of Mohamed Bazoum as president of the chronically unstable Sahel nation. Residents earlier reported hearing...
Sahel: Attacks on Niger targets continue
Eleven people were killed on Wednesday in western Niger, a flashpoint for jihadist attacks, when armed men on motorbikes raided three villages near the Malian border, local officials said. "The assailants arrived on several motorbikes at around 5pm. They killed three...
Sahel: Niger’s Tahoua region targeted by terror groups, dozens killed in fresh raids
Scores of people have died in the deadliest suspected jihadist massacre ever to hit Niger, the government said Monday, underscoring the huge security challenge facing new President Mohamed Bazoum. Government spokesman Zakaria Abdourahamane said 137 people had died in...
Sahel: Mass killings continue, another deadly week in Mali and Niger
Mali: Raids on army post near Ansongo claim lives of 33 soldiers By Serge Daniel - At least 33 soldiers were killed in an attack in northern Mali this week, an army officer aid, after one of two devastating attacks in the Sahel region since Monday. Dozens of...
Sahel: Unfolding humanitarian crisis in Niger with growing masses of refugees from Nigeria and from within
The United Nations warned Tuesday that bloodshed in northwestern Nigeria was fuelling an exodus into neighbouring Niger, where violence was also rising. The UN Refugee Agency said fear of armed groups and communal clashes in Nigeria had sent nearly 7,700 Nigerian...
Sahel: Profile of Niger’s new president, Mohamed Bazoum
By Boureima Hama - Mohamed Bazoum, named the winner of Niger's presidential election, worked for years as the right-hand man of outgoing president Mahamadou Issoufou, often doing tough or tedious jobs that earned him little prominence. But that seemingly thankless...
Niger: Former interior minister wins presidential elections, violence ensues
By Amaury Hauchard - Former interior minister Mohamed Bazoum won Niger's presidential elections, according to provisional results issued on Tuesday, as the opposition cried foul and clashes erupted. Bazoum, the ruling party's candidate, picked up 55.75 percent of...
Sahel: People of Niger vote for a new president
By Boureima Hama and Amaury Hauchard - Niger voted Sunday in a presidential run-off between two political heavyweights that is set to bring about the first democratic transition of power in the coup-prone country's history. But the balloting was marred by the death...
Sahel: No French troop drawdown from the Sahel, Macron announces escalation ahead
Macron says France to “decapitate” Al-Qaeda in the Sahel France will intensify its efforts to help "decapitate" Qaeda-linked groups in the Sahel, President Emmanuel Macron told regional leaders via video conference on Tuesday, according to AFP. Macron said the efforts...
Sahel: Bad governance, terrorism and foreign meddling cause displacement of two million people in the Sahel
More than two million people have been forced to flee their homes within their own countries' borders owing to violence engulfing Africa's Sahel region, the United Nations said on Friday. The humanitarian response is "dangerously overstretched" in an area covering...
Sahel: Armed confrontations escalate in Niger and Mali
More troops killed by roadside bomb in central Mali Three Malian troops were killed and five wounded by a roadside bomb in the centre of the country Thursday, military sources said, in the latest attack in the Sahel state. The three -- members of the National Guard, a...
Sahel: Roadside bomb kills soldiers in south Niger
Four soldiers were killed and eight others seriously injured by a roadside bomb in southeastern Niger, a region hit by jihadist attacks, the government said. The troops were pursuing "terrorists" on Monday following an attack the previous day on a military position in...
Sahel: Massacre in west Niger, hundred killed in ‘terror’ attacks
"Terrorists" killed around 100 people in two villages in western Niger, the latest in a string of civilian massacres that have rocked the jihadist-plagued Tillaberi region, a local mayor said Sunday. The attacks on the villages of Tchoma Bangou and Zaroumadareye...
Sahel: Can Niger manage its first peaceful handover of presidential power?
Voters went to the polls in Niger on Sunday for an election that could seal a first peaceful handover between elected presidents, against the backdrop of a bloody jihadist insurgency. The West African country, unstable since gaining independence from France 60 years...
Sahel: France signals willingness to allow talks with Jihadists in the Sahel
France could back talks with some jihadist elements in Africa's restive Sahel region, a source in President Emmanuel Macron's office said on Monday. A dialogue with some elements of the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM) would be "possible", the source said,...
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 gold mining -- a new source of funding for armed groups in the Sahel -- were seized in a joint operation with the UN, Interpol said on Monday. Jointly...
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