North Africa’s Security
Security | Defense | Terrorism
Mali: Gold Mining Site in Sikasso Region Hit by Armed Group
An armed attack on the Morila gold mine in southern Mali caused material damage and forced a temporary suspension of operations. Security forces were deployed to regain control of the site, and employees held during the incident were released unharmed. The attack highlights ongoing security risks facing economic infrastructure across the Sahel.
SECURITY & DEFENSE
Mali: Government of Mali confronted with accusations of “summary executions, rape and torture”
The Malian army and foreign fighters executed at least 500 people during an anti-jihadist operation in Mali in March 2022, according to a much-awaited UN report released on Friday. The figures by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) amount to the worst...
Tunisia: Five killed in terror attack on Jewish community in Djerba
By Fethi Belaid and Akim Rezgui: Tunisia's small Jewish community was in shock and mourning Wednesday after a bloody shooting rampage in which a police officer killed five people outside Africa's oldest synagogue. The shooting Tuesday sparked mass panic during an...
The collapsing Sudan
The UN on Monday warned more than 800,000 people could flee fighting and dire conditions in Sudan, where explosions again shook the capital in violation of the latest truce extension agreed by warring generals. The chaos and bloodshed, now in their third week, have...
Sahel: Chief of staff of Mali junta leader killed in ambush near Mauritania
A key figure in Mali's ruling junta died when an official convoy came under attack in the jihadist-hit north of the country, a document from the presidency said Thursday. Oumar Traore -- chief of staff of Colonel Assimi Goita, the Sahel country's transitional...
Sudan: As military-men fight over power, Khartoum falls into chaos
Thousands of residents on Wednesday fled Sudan's capital, where witnesses said bodies lay in the street from fighting between the army and paramilitaries after a 24-hour truce failed to take hold. Five days of fighting in Khartoum and elsewhere in the northeast...
Sahel: Despite closing its borders, Chad sees hundreds of Sudanese soldiers flee into its territory
Around 320 Sudanese soldiers have fled the fighting raging in their country to neighbouring Chad, the country's defence minister said Wednesday. "They arrived in our territory, were disarmed and detained" on Sunday, General Daoud Yaya Brahim told a press conference,...
Tunisia arrests opposition leader Ghannouchi, shuts offices of Ennahdha party
Tunisian authorities closed the offices of Islamist-inspired opposition party Ennahdha on Tuesday, a day after arresting its leader Rached Ghannouchi, a senior party official said. [Read Ghannouchi's profile here] "A police unit showed up at the party's main...
Rwanda promises help to Benin in fighting terrorism
Rwanda's President Paul Kagame met Saturday with his Benin counterpart Patrice Talon, promising military support to help the country contain spillover from jihadist conflict across its northern border with Burkina Faso. West Africa coastal nations Benin, Togo, Ghana...
Sahel: Crisis in Sudan forces Chad to close border
Chad's government announced Saturday it was closing its border with Sudan after battles erupted between rival military factions in the neighbouring country. Sudan's army carried out airstrikes against the bases of a paramilitary force, as weeks of tensions between two...
Sahel: Clashes between Niger army and Boko Haram continue along border with Nigeria
Niger's army said its troops had killed around 20 jihadists and arrested 83 others in an operation against militants on its southeastern border with Nigeria. Troops supported by air power attacked jihadists who have been using Matari forest in Nigeria as a rear base...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
Algeria: Nine killed in army-insurgent clashes in Tipaza, including three soldiers
Another clash on Sunday claims life of third soldier Another soldier and two more jihadists were killed Sunday afternoon during an "anti-terror" operation in the Tipaza region of Western Algeria, the defence ministry said. The second clash in the region within 24...
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...
Mali: Two more French soldiers killed in IED explosion in Menaka
Two French soldiers died when their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in northeastern Mali on Saturday, just days after three others were killed in similar fashion. Their deaths brought to 50 the number of French soldiers killed in the West African nation...
Sahel: Three French troops killed by EID in Hombori, Mali
Three French soldiers were killed Monday in Mali when their armoured vehicle struck an explosive device in the Hombori region in the centre of the poor Sahel state, the French presidency said. The deaths brought to 47 the number of French soldiers killed in Mali since...
Algeria alleges ransom money paid to Jihadists in Mali making its way into Algeria
Algeria's army has retrieved a "slice of the ransom" cash paid out to free hostages held by "terrorist groups" in the troubled Sahel region, the defence ministry has said. Soldiers "recovered the sum of 80,000 euros" ($97,900) during an operation in Algeria's...
Libya: Despite series of talks to bring peace in Libya, warlord Haftar threatens more violence
Turkey tells Haftar to back off Turkey's defence minister said that any attack by eastern Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar on its personnel in the North African country would be met with force. "A war criminal, murderer Haftar and his supporters must know that they...
Egypt: More unrest in Egypt with explosion of gas pipeline supplying El Arish
A blast hit a gas pipeline in Egypt's restive North Sinai region Thursday, a security source told AFP. "An explosion occurred (Thursday) evening along the main gas pipeline supplying the city of El-Arish," the source said, referring to the provincial capital. The...
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...
Tunisia: Shepherd in Kasserine beheaded, authorities say attackers are terrorists
The decapitated body of a young man has been found in Tunisia's central Kasserine region, in a probable "terrorist" attack, a justice official said. "The decapitated body of a young man has been found... and it is probable that a terrorist group was behind the...
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...