North Africa’s Security
Security | Defense | Terrorism
Niger Moves Uranium From SOMAÏR Mine Despite Arbitration Ruling
Niger’s military authorities have authorized the removal and transport of uranium from the SOMAÏR mine at Arlit without the involvement of longtime operator Orano, prompting the French nuclear group to denounce the shipment as illegal and in breach of a September 2025 World Bank–linked arbitration ruling. While Niamey signals plans to sell the stock on the open market as an assertion of resource sovereignty, the move raises legal, safety, and security concerns as uranium travels by road through conflict‑affected Sahel corridors.
SECURITY & DEFENSE
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...
Security: Escalation of Russia-Ukraine war could transform crisis into global conflict
By Amélie Bottolier-Depois: UN chief Antonio Guterres warned nations Monday that he fears the likelihood of further escalation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict means the world is heading towards a "wider war." The secretary-general laid out his priorities for the year...
Mali: New terror attack kills two in the Segou region
A policeman and a civilian were killed and seven were wounded in an attack in jihadist-torn eastern Mali, officials said Wednesday. The attack occurred Tuesday evening at a checkpoint in San, a town some 400 kilometres (250 miles) east of the capital Bamako and about...
Sahel: Mali court convicts unnamed person in killing of UN peacekeepers, issues death sentence
A Malian court has sentenced a man to death over the 2019 killing of three peacekeepers in the south of the country, the UN mission in Mali said on Wednesday. The Bamako criminal court convicted the accused -- who was not named -- on Tuesday of acts of terrorism,...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
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,...
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...