North Africa’s Security
Security | Defense | Terrorism
Southern Libya Boils Over: Three Haftar Soldiers Killed in Border Raid Near Niger
Three soldiers loyal to Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar were killed and several others captured in coordinated attacks on border posts near Niger, underscoring how southern Libya has become a key fault line in the country’s fractured security landscape. Fighters claiming to represent “revolutionaries of the South” say they are targeting Haftar’s forces over dire living conditions and alleged resource plunder, as cross-border armed groups test the limits of state control from Al-Tum to the Salvador Pass.
SECURITY & DEFENSE
Close advisor to Vladimir Putin, Nikolai Patrushev, in official visit to Algeria
The head of Algeria's army hosted Russia's top security official on Monday to discuss boosting their military ties, the defence ministry in Algiers said. General Said Chengriha said the visit of National Security Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev reflected both...
France to scale back military presence in Africa
By Valerie Leroux: President Emmanuel Macron on Monday announced a "noticeable reduction" of French troop presence in Africa, where anti-French sentiment is running high in some former colonies. He was speaking in Paris ahead of a four-nation tour of central African...
Russian soldiers in the Algerian Sahara ($)
Algeria has apparently taken a distance from Russia, largely under pressure from the west, but also due to factions of the regime being influenced by France. But Algeria is almost exclusively dependent on Russia for its military equipment and is therefore not able to...
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...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
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...
Sahel: Boko Haram hits village in Chad, kills residents
Boko Haram jihadists killed at least 10 civilians and kidnapped seven others in an attack on a village in the troubled Lake Chad region on Friday, an army officer and local official said. "At around 3 am (0200 GMT), Boko Haram fighters attacked the Tenana village...
International court takes up case of Malian man accused of war crimes
The Hague, July 14, 2020 - A Malian jihadist police chief committed "unimaginable crimes" during a reign of terror in the fabled shrine city of Timbuktu, prosecutors told the International Criminal Court at the start of his trial Tuesday. Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag...
Morocco: Four arrested in Nador on suspicion of terrorism
Rabat, July 7, 2020 - Morocco on Tuesday arrested four alleged members of a "terrorist cell" linked to the Islamic State group who had plotted to attack "sensitive sites" in the kingdom, the interior ministry said. The men, aged between 21 and 26, were arrested in...
Mali: New massacre in Mopti’s Bandiagara region
Unidentified armed men massacred 31 civilians in simultaneous attacks on several Mali villages this week, then killed nine soldiers responding to the assault as violence surges in the country's conflict-wracked centre. An Islamist insurgency that erupted in the north...
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...
Algeria: Two more troops killed in counterinsurgency sweep in Medea
Algiers, June 28, 2020 - Two Algerian soldiers, including an officer, were killed when a bomb exploded during an army operation in the north of the country, the defence ministry said Sunday. Captain Fateh Bensmail and Sergeant Zakaria Khaldi were killed Saturday...