North Africa’s Security
Security | Defense | Terrorism
Mali: Gold Mining Site in Sikasso Region Hit by Armed Group
An armed attack on the Morila gold mine in southern Mali caused material damage and forced a temporary suspension of operations. Security forces were deployed to regain control of the site, and employees held during the incident were released unharmed. The attack highlights ongoing security risks facing economic infrastructure across the Sahel.
SECURITY & DEFENSE
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...
West Africa to have a common military force
By Serge Daniel and Emmanuel Anule: West African leaders agreed on Sunday to create a regional force to intervene against jihadism and in the event of coups, a senior official said. Leaders of the Economic Community of West African States had decided to act to "take...
Sahel: Jihadist groups target southern Burkina Faso, near Ghana
Six civilians, four of them teachers, were killed in a suspected jihadist attack in southern Burkina Faso close to the border with Ghana, security officials and local sources said on Monday. Gunmen "opened fire on a group" in the town of Bittou on Sunday, a security...
Sahel: Insurgents make major gains in northeast Mali
By Amaury Hauchard Jihadists aligned with the Islamic State group are advancing in northeastern Mali, prompting terrified citizens to flee their homes, sources there say. The Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) launched an offensive in the Gao and Menaka...
Western Sahara: As conflict persists, UN urges new talks
The UN Security Council called Thursday on the parties to the conflict over the disputed Western Sahara to resume negotiations toward a settlement. The vote on the US-drafted resolution was 13 in favor with abstentions by Kenya and Russia. Western Sahara, a Spanish...
Sahel: Deadly year for northern Mali
Armed groups affiliated with the Islamic State group have massacred hundreds of people in northeast Mali this year, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Thursday, adding the state was not doing enough to protect civilians. Tens of thousands of villagers from the Menaka and...
Major rift between Africa and west over Russia’s war on Ukraine
France urges Africa to break its neutrality in Russia-Ukraine conflict France is calling on African nations to show "solidarity" with Europe after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a French minister told a gathering of regional leaders on Monday. The war has divided...
Sahel: US concerned about worsening crisis in Mali, blames Russia’s Wagner Group
By Portia Crowe Mali's security situation has become "significantly worse" due to the ruling junta's choices, including an alleged decision to partner with Wagner, a Russian private security firm, a senior US official said Wednesday. Mali's ruling junta, which seized...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
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...
Libya: Khalifa Haftar’s forces cut off water supply to Tripoli, millions of civilians at risk
Tripoli, April 11, 2020 - Water has been cut off to millions of Libyans living in and around the capital Tripoli, the UN humanitarian coordinator for the country said, condemning its use as a "weapon of war". "More than two million people, including 600,000 children,...
Sahel: Chad announces new measures to confront Boko Haram in Lake area
N'Djamena, March 27, 2020 (AFP) - Chad has declared two departments near Lake Chad a "war zone", giving local authorities more powers as they respond to an attack by Boko Haram jihadists that killed nearly 100 soldiers earlier this week. In the Lake Chad region where...
Sahel: Massacre in Chad
N'Djamena, March 24, 2020 - Ninety-two Chadian soldiers have been killed in the deadliest attack ever by Bok o Haram jihadists on armed forces in the country, President Idriss Deby Itno said Tuesday. The attack is part of an expanding jihadist campaign in the vast,...
Sahel: More insurgent attacks across the Sahel
March 25, 2020 - Two soldiers in Mali and three civilians in Burkina Faso died in suspected jihadist attacks in the Sahel on Tuesday, a day after Islamist rebels killed scores of troops in Chad, security sources said. The two soldiers were killed and three others were...
Sahel: The Norwegians want nothing to do with the crisis in Mali, and they are right!
Opinion by Arezki Daoud: Unlike their Swedish neighbors, the Norwegian people told France that they will not send more troops to Mali. And the Norwegians are right. The Sahel does not need more troops, it needs a political solution first that will then be worth...
Nigeria: Dozens of soldiers killed in insurgents’ RPG attack in Borno
Kano, Nigeria, March 24, 2020 - At least 70 Nigerian soldiers were killed in an ambush on their convoy by jihadist fighters in the restive northeast, military and security sources said on Tuesday. Insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades at a lorry carrying troops...
Libya: Troops of warlord Khalifa Haftar kill civilians in Tripoli
Tripoli, March 19, 2020 (AFP) - Libya's unity government said Thursday that five women were killed and five civilians wounded in Tripoli the previous day in bombardment by the forces of eastern-based military strongman Khalifa Haftar. Amine Al-Hachemi, spokesman for...
Sahel: Niger hits Boko Haram hard, kills dozens of insurgents
Niamey, March 16, 2020 - Fifty fighters of Nigeria's Islamist group Boko Haram were "neutralised" during an overnight clash in the southeast of neighbouring Niger, the government said on Monday. The defence ministry said "heavily armed terrorist elements of Boko Haram...