North Africa’s Security
Security | Defense | Terrorism
Sahel: Rising Attacks on Military and Economic Targets Deepen Mali’s Instability
Mali is closing the year under mounting security strain as jihadist groups expand attacks on military convoys, fuel supply routes, and foreign-linked economic assets. Recent operations near the Guinean border and across central regions highlight a shift toward economic disruption and targeted abductions, raising concerns about stability and investment risks heading into 2026.
SECURITY & DEFENSE
Niger: Soldiers sent to prison for attempted coup
A Niger court on Friday handed prison terms ranging from two to 20 years to several soldiers accused of attempting to carry out a coup in 2021. In March, Niger's government said it had arrested several people for participating in a coup attempt, two days before...
Sahel: Burkina Faso to raise troop level to intensify war against insurgents
Burkina Faso announced Thursday a recruitment drive for 5,000 soldiers to serve in the army for at least five years to aid the country in its fight against jihadists. The country, one of the world's poorest, has been battling a deadly insurgency since 2015. "An...
Sahel: Nearly 70 troops killed in two jihadist attacks in troubled Burkina
By Armel Baily: Suspected jihadists killed at least 15 soldiers in troubled northern Burkina Faso, just three days after an ambush that claimed the lives of 51 troops, security sources said Tuesday. A unit in Tin-Akoff in Oudalan province near the border with Mali...
Sahel: IED kills three UN soldiers, injures five others in central Mali
Three United Nations peacekeepers were killed and five were seriously injured on Tuesday when their convoy struck a roadside bomb in central Mali, the UN mission said. "A MINUSMA Force convoy hit an Improvised Explosive Device #IED today," it said in a tweet that...
Sahel: Intense fight in northern Burkina Faso claims dozens of lives
At least 51 soldiers were killed in an ambush by suspected jihadists in northern Burkina Faso, the army said on Monday, adding that 160 of the assailants died during counter-attacks. The ambush took place on Friday in Oudalan province near the restive frontier with...
Africa security: Gulf of Guinea facing growing threat of instability
Criminals in northern Ghana tried to blow up a bridge using explosives for the first time in a region where the government fears growing violent spillover from a jihadist war across the border in Burkina Faso, a top official said. Ghana along with Gulf of Guinea...
Sahel: Ministers of three countries controlled by juntas meet after visit of Russia’s Lavrov
Foreign ministers from three West African countries that have undergone military coups met in Burkina Faso on Thursday on the heels of a trip to the region by Russian envoy Sergei Lavrov. The talks brought together ministers from Mali, Guinea and Burkina -- countries...
Burkina Faso: New terror attack in Sahel province kills 18 people
At least 18 people have been killed in two attacks in Burkina Faso, sources briefed on the incidents told AFP on Sunday, as violence rages in the Sahel nation. The country faces a jihadist insurgency that swept in from neighbouring Mali in 2015, with thousands of...
How the insurgents are expanding the Jihadist frontline to West Africa
By Patrick Markey and Kent Mensha: Standing near the dried river bed that marks Ghana's northern border, Alima can see her hamlet, lying in Burkina Faso less than two kilometres (1.2 miles) away. Even though her home is just a short walk away, she says she will never...
Sahel: Russia looks to deepen influence in the Sahel with foreign minister’s visit to Mali
Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov arrives in Mali late Monday for talks with its junta leaders seeking Moscow's help in battling an Islamist insurgency that remains entrenched despite years of fighting. The visit of less than 24 hours will be Lavrov's third trip...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
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 the latest violence to hit the war-torn Sahel state. Militants attacked a minibus Tuesday, the officials said, which was travelling between the towns of...
Security: France in Al-Qaeda’s crosshairs
Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb urged its followers Monday to kill anyone insulting the Prophet Mohammed and threatened French President Emmanuel Macron over his remarks on Islam. Last month Macron defended the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed on...
Morocco: IS-linked inmate kills guard at Tiflet prison
A Moroccan prison guard was killed by an inmate who was in jail for belonging to a militant cell linked to the Islamic State group, prosecutors said Wednesday. The detainee on Tuesday "took captive an employee in his cell and assaulted him with a metal object" at...
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...
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 Tuesday, in the latest violence to hit the West African state. In a statement, Mali's military said an army outpost in the central Mopti region was...
Tunisia announces arrest of two Islamic State insurgents in Jandouba and Kebili
Tunisia on Tuesday arrested two men allegedly linked to the Islamic State group who were plotting "terrorist operations" in the North African nation, the interior ministry said. One was arrested in Jendouba, in northwest Tunisia, and the other in Kebili, in the south....
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...
Tunisia: Knife attack kills policeman in Sousse, Islamic State claims responsibility
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility on Monday for a knife attack in Tunisia which killed one National Guard officer and wounded another, as security forces rounded up more suspects. The attack on Sunday morning in a tourist district of the coastal city of...
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...
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 region despite a huge military offensive against the group earlier this year. Lake Chad -- a marshy region dotted with islands near the border of Niger,...