North Africa’s Security
Security | Defense | Terrorism
Crisis in Sudan: Meet the Ruthless Warlord Hemedti
Libya has Khalifa Haftar, Sudan has its own ruthless warlord, Mohamed Hamdan Dagolo—better known as Hemedti. Both men have risen to power through armed force and human rights abuses, commanding personal militias that operate outside legal state structures. They secure their authority through violence, control over territory and resources, and a readiness to suppress opposition through fear and brute force. A profile of Sudan’s Hemedti.
SECURITY & DEFENSE
Burkina Faso: Deposed junta leader Colonel Damiba steps down, flees to Togo
By Olympia de Maismont with Pierre Donadieu in Abidjan: Burkina Faso's junta leader agreed to step down on Sunday, religious and community leaders said, two days after army officers announced his ouster in a coup that sparked internal unrest and international...
Libya: Another gruesome mass grave unearthed in city of Sirte
Forty-two bodies have been found in a mass grave in the Libyan city of Sirte, an ex-stronghold of the Islamic State group, the country's missing persons authority said Sunday. Exhumation teams unearthed "42 unidentified bodies" after following up reports of a "mass...
Sahel: Burkina Faso coup leader removed by another coup
By Olympia de Maismont with Pierre Donadieu in Abidjan: Security forces fired tear gas to disperse angry protesters outside the French embassy in Burkina Faso's capital on Sunday, as unrest simmered in the impoverished West African nation following a reported second...
Sahel: Regime in Chad abandons path to democracy, junta leader Deby seeks perpetual reign
Chad on Saturday extended the transition period to democratic elections and agreed junta leader Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno could run on the ballot, despite international opposition. The decisions were made by a national reconciliation dialogue forum, which has been...
Sahel: Uncertainty in Ouagadougou as Burkina Faso descends into chaos
By Olympia de Maismont with Pierre Donadieu in Abidjan: Shots rang out before dawn on Friday around Burkina Faso's presidential palace and headquarters of the military junta, which itself seized power in a coup last January, witnesses told AFP. The government said...
Tunisia: Hundreds of policemen protesting after colleagues were arrested for demanding right to unionize
More than 200 police officers protested in Tunisia's second city of Sfax on Wednesday to demand the release of eight arrested colleagues and defend their right to unionise, an AFP correspondent said. Responding to a call from the SNSI police union, the plainclothes...
Libya: Clashes reignite in coastal town of Zawyah among militias supporting rival governments
Five people were killed and 13 wounded in gun battles in the western Libyan town of Zawiyah, the latest unrest in the troubled North African nation, medics said Monday. Fighting late Sunday broke out between rival forces equipped with heavy weapons, with one group...
Moroccan man who fought against Russia expresses sympathy with Ukrainian people
A Moroccan prisoner of war released as part of an exchange between Moscow and Kyiv said he wanted to draw attention to the "struggle" of Ukraine as he returned home Saturday. "I'm happy to come home after going through very difficult times," said Brahim Saadoun, 21,...
Sahel: Growing pressure on Mali to release detained soldiers from Ivory Coast
The United Nations on Monday urged Mali to free 46 detained Ivorian soldiers, after the junta in Bamako attacked UN chief Antonio Guterres over his comments on the two-month standoff. The UN secretariat in a statement voiced "grave concern" and said it "calls for the...
Libya: Continued foreign meddling in a dangerously divided Libya ($)
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INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
Sahel: Africom commander speaks of ineffective European strategy in the Sahel
Washington, March 10, 2020 - European anti-jihadist efforts in the troubled Sahel region are "insufficient" and "uncoordinated," a senior US military official said Tuesday. "I think that Europe can and should do more before America should do more in this part of the...
Sahel: More killings in Mali
Bamako, March 11, 2020 - Unidentified gunmen killed 10 people and burned down a village in central Mali, local officials said Wednesday, the latest bloodshed in a region wracked by jihadist and inter-ethnic violence. The attackers raided the village of Kourkanda near...
Sahel: US appoints new Sahel representative
Washington, March 8, 2020 - The State Department announced Sunday it had nominated J. Peter Pham, the envoy to Africa's Great Lakes region, as the first US special envoy for the Sahel crisis. Pham's nomination comes amid fears that the jihadist threat in the region is...
Tunisia: Terror attack in Tunis, one dead, five wounded
At 11:20 AM Tunis time this morning (6 March), two men on a motorcycle attempted to breach the checkpoint leading to the US embassy in the Berges du Lac district. This is where the Tunis stock exchange, major embassies and some large businesses are located. In an...
Sahel: US mulling more engagement in the Sahel
Washington, March 3, 2020 - The United States is planning to appoint a special envoy for the Sahel crisis amid fears that the jihadist threat is spreading, a senior official said Tuesday. "That is one area where the situation is getting much worse by the day," said...
Sahel: IED hits army vehicle in Burkina Faso, kills four soldiers
March 4, 2020 - Four Burkina Faso soldiers were killed and eight more wounded when their vehicles hit improvised explosive devices on Tuesday in the restive north of the country, security sources said. Burkina Faso has been battling jihadists in the north as an...
Egypt executes insurgent leader Hisham Ashmawy
Cairo, March 4, 2020 - Egypt executed an ex-special forces officer turned top Islamist militant, Hisham Ashmawy, on Wednesday over involvement in several high-profile attacks, said the army. "The execution by hanging was carried out based on a decision by the...
Sahel: Central Mali riven by communal violence
Mopti, Mali, March 4, 2020 - Less than a year after more than 160 Fulani civilians were massacred at dawn in Ogossagou in central Mali, terror returned to the small village. Eight witnesses gave AFP their account of the latest attack on February 14 in which at least...
Algeria: Soldier and insurgent killed in clash in Tafassour
Critical incident tracking firm MEA Risk LLC said on 2 March, a military sweeping operation in Tafassour, province of Sidi Belabbes, in northwest Algeria, south of the city of Oran, resulted in a clash between an army patrol and insurgents. One soldier and an...
Egypt: Dozens sentenced to death in Egypt over terror attacks
Cairo, March 2, 2020 - (photo of Hisham Ashmawy) An Egyptian court Monday sentenced to death an ex-special forces officer turned Islamist militant and 36 other jihadists over several terror attacks, including an assassination bid on a former interior minister. The...