North Africa’s Security
Security | Defense | Terrorism
Flashpoints: How Emirati and Qatari Competition Is Redrawing the Red Sea Map
A low-profile but consequential rivalry between the United Arab Emirates and Qatar is reshaping access to the Red Sea. Through competing alliances, port investments, and security partnerships, both Gulf states are extending their influence across the Horn of Africa. At the center of this struggle lies Somaliland, whose strategic coastline, port infrastructure, and political status have become critical factors in a broader contest involving regional and extra-regional powers.
SECURITY & DEFENSE
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...
Sahel: Burkina Faso-Ghana relations sour over Russian mercenaries
A minister in Burkina Faso on Friday called a claim by Ghana's president that the war-torn Sahel nation has invited in Russian mercenaries "very serious" amid a worsening row between the neighbours. Burkina had earlier called in Ghana's ambassador in protest, the...
Mali: Two UN peacekeepers killed in Timbuktu
Two peacekeepers in Mali were killed and four others wounded in an attack on Friday, the UN mission said, in the latest blow to the international operation. Unidentified assailants opened fire on the police patrol in Timbuktu, according to the UN mission, known as...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
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...
Libya: After his forces suffered major losses, warlord Haftar wants a truce ($)
April 30, 2020 - Libya's UN-recognised government on Thursday rejected a truce unilaterally called the day before by military strongman Khalifa Haftar, saying it "did not trust" its eastern-based rival. The move follows successes on the ground for forces loyal to the...
Egypt: Insurgents strike in north Sinai, kill 10 Egyptian troops
Cairo, April 30, 2020 - Egypt's army said on Thursday that 10 soldiers were either killed or wounded in a blast targeting an armoured vehicle in the restive northern Sinai. The attack occurred south the city of Bir al-Abed in the troubled North Sinai region, the...
Week-in-review podcast: Lockdowns, curfews and government abuse
This is a retrospect on North Africa and the Sahel region, for the week ending 24 April. The review, which focuses on the latest on Covid-19 in the Maghreb, Egypt and the Sahel, is presented by MEA Risk analyst Arezki Daoud. The transcripted text is below. You can...
Sahel: Gunmen attack villages in Mali’s Mopti region, kill dozen civilians
Bamako, April 23, 2020 - At least twelve people have been killed in an attack on several villages in central Mali, a local official said Thursday, in the latest violence to hit the war-torn country. Gunmen on motorbikes struck several villages near the town of...
Sahel: After Chad captured 58 Boko Haram suspects, 44 die mysteriously
By Ali Abba Kaya, Djimet Wiche, and Camille Malplat in Libreville: The deaths by apparent poisoning of 44 suspected Boko Haram jihadists in a Chad prison were shrouded in mystery on Sunday, with observers wondering whether they were murdered or had committed...
Sahel: Extrajudicial killing of civilians in Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso's security forces allegedly executed 31 unarmed detainees in the northern town of Djibo, Human Rights Watch said Monday, calling for an immediate investigation. The men, all from the Fulani ethnic group, were allegedly killed just hours after being...
Egypt: Insurgents strike in Cairo, killing one soldier and wounding others
Cairo, April 14, 2020 - An Egyptian policeman was killed and three others wounded in a shootout Tuesday with armed militants in Cairo, the interior ministry said in a statement. A "terrorist cell" was intending to attack Christians in southern and eastern Cairo during...
Libya: Warlord Khalifa Haftar unleashes terror on Tripoli population
Tripoli, April 14, 2020 - The forces of Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar rained rockets on the capital Tripoli early Tuesday after being ousted by government loyalists from a string of towns to its west. Salvo after salvo of rockets caused loud explosions...
Egypt: Policeman killed in shoot out with militants in Cairo
Cairo, April 14, 2020 - An Egyptian policeman was killed and another wounded in a shootout Tuesday with armed militants in Cairo, a security source said. "National security received a tip-off that there was an apartment full of terrorists... An exchange of gunfire...