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: Ivory Coast hands down four life terms to 4 Mali nationals for 2016 jihadist attack
A court in Ivory Coast on Wednesday handed down life terms to four Malian men convicted of abetting a jihadist attack on a beach resort that left 19 people dead. The court in Abidjan, the country's commercial hub, found the four "guilty of the deeds for which they...
Egypt: Three policemen killed, others wounded in attack in Suez Canal city
Three Egyptian policemen were killed and four others, including a police officer, wounded Friday in an attack in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia, security and medical sources said. Two cars approached a checkpoint in a residential neighbourhood of the city and two...
Sahel: 46 Ivory Coast soldiers detained by Mali get 20 years in prison, setting stage for regional diplomatic crisis
Update: Mali court sentences 46 Ivorian soldiers to 20 years in prison: prosecutor Forty-six Ivorian troops whose detention in Mali sparked a diplomatic row between the two countries have been sentenced to 20 years in prison, the public prosecutor said Friday. Three...
Sahel: Clash at Niger-Nigeria border leaves five Boko Haram fighters dead
Five Boko Haram jihadist fighters have been killed and two Niger soldiers wounded in clashes in southeast Niger near the Nigerian border, local authorities said Friday. The military clashed with the jihadist fighters in the towns of Bague and Tchoungoua in the Diffa...
Libya: Treating each other as enemies, Libyan leaders carry out prisoner swap
Libya's unity government has carried out a prisoner exchange with rival eastern forces, releasing a pilot captured during strongman Khalifa Haftar's 2019 assault on Tripoli, local media reported Monday. According to the reports and images on social media, pilot Amer...
Gambia, another West African nation, headed toward turmoil
The Gambia's government on Wednesday said it had thwarted a coup attempt the previous day and arrested four soldiers. "The situation is under total control," it added. There was no immediate confirmation of the purported plot from other sources. Scattered witness...
Sahel: Worker of Doctors without Borders (MSF) kidnapped in north Mali
A worker with the French-based medical charity Doctors without Borders (MSF) has been kidnapped in jihadist-torn northern Mali, police and a local official said on Tuesday. The individual was seized by armed men early Monday in Gao, the region's biggest town, a police...
Libya: Mercenaries of Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar accused of war crimes
Amnesty International accused Monday an eastern Libyan armed group of committing war crimes and serious abuses to impose the rule of its leader's father, military strongman Khalifa Haftar. The elite force led by Saddam Haftar is aimed at "crushing any challenge" to...
Libya: Court in Tripoli sentences 17 IS members to death
A Libyan court on Monday sentenced 17 people to death after finding them guilty of joining the Islamic State group and carrying out atrocities in its name, the prosecution said. The Tripoli court also sentenced two people to life in prison and 14 others to lesser jail...
Sahel: Germany threatens withdrawal of troops from Mali by 2024
German forces will stay in Mali until 2024 only if the junta allows them to operate freely and elections are held, Germany's defence minister warned Bamako during a visit Thursday. Lambrecht said Germany's presence depended on being able to "fulfil our operational...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
Mali: War rages near border with Burkina Faso ($)
Bamako, May 15, 2020 - Malian troops have killed some 30 militants in a raid, the army said on Friday, in the latest violence in the war-torn West African state. The country's armed forces said on Twitter that they had killed "about 30 terrorists" near the border with...
Libya: Warlord Haftar’s favorite target: unprotected civilians ($)
Tripoli, May 15, 2020 - Seventeen attacks have been recorded since January against health facilities in Tripoli and its suburbs, the scene of deadly fighting for over a year, the UN mission in Libya said Friday. There have been "17 attacks/shelling on health...
Libya: More civilians, including child, killed in Tripoli by militias of warlord Haftar
Libya's Government of National Accord said at least four civilians, including a child, were killed when rockets rained down on the capital Tripoli and its only working airport Saturday. The UN-recognised GNA blamed the attacks on eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar, who...
Sahel: Bandits on motorbikes sow terror in Niger’s Tillaberi region
Bandits riding motorbikes killed 20 villagers in a string of attacks in Niger's western region of Tillaberi, the governor there told AFP on Sunday. An unknown number of "armed bandits" attacked three villages on Sunday at around 5:30 pm local time (1630 GMT), said...
Sahel: Three Chadian UN troops killed in restive Kidal, Mali
Three UN troops were killed and four more wounded when their convoy hit a roadside bomb early Sunday, officials said, in the latest violence to hit the war-torn West African state. UN chief Antonio Guterres condemned the attack and called on the perpetrators to be...
Egypt: Despite collapsing economy, a pandemic, and dismal human rights records, Egypt to get attack helicopters
The United States has approved a $2.3 billion deal on attack helicopters for Egypt, but an official insisted Friday that Washington was still pressing on human rights concerns. President Donald Trump's administration informed Congress on Thursday that it has given the...
Sahel: Terror groups in Sahel exploit Covid-19 to step up attacks
United Nations, United States, May 8, 2020 - UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres has warned that jihadist groups in the Sahel area of North Africa are exploiting the coronavirus pandemic to step up attacks, according to documents seen by AFP. The United Nations...
Sahel: Boko Haram attacks Diffa in Niger
Niamey, May 5, 2020 - Boko Haram fighters clashed with government forces on Sunday in Diffa, the largest city in southwestern Niger, in what the jihadists said was a successful attack on a military camp. Conflicting versions of the outcome emerged on Tuesday, with the...
Tunisia: Partial easing of lockdown measures revealed
Tunis, April 29, 2020 - Tunisian officials on Wednesday announced a partial easing of lockdown measures in place to curb the spread of novel coronavirus, although schools will largely remain closed until September. Education Minister Mohamed Hamdi, Health Minister...
Sahel: Mali and Niger troops accused of extra-judicial killings
Bamako, April 30, 2020 - The UN mission in Mali on Thursday blamed Malian and Niger troops for scores of extra-judicial killings between January and March. According to a quarterly MINUSMA report, Malian forces carried out 101 executions and Niger forces 34 more...