North Africa’s Security
Security | Defense | Terrorism
Sahel: Jihadist Attack Kills Local Prefect in Southwestern Niger
A jihadist attack in southwestern Niger has killed the prefect of Torodi along with several members of his family, marking the first time a sitting prefect has been killed in an assault in his own district. The attack underscores growing insecurity near the border with Burkina Faso, where violence has led to school closures, population displacement, and a prolonged state of emergency.
SECURITY & DEFENSE
Libya: Tripoli-based government inks controversial defense agreements with Turkey
Libya's Tripoli-based prime minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah signed two deals with Turkey's defence minister on Tuesday, building on a 2019 agreement that angered European nations. Dbeibah's administration posted a statement saying the deals included "implementation...
Sahel: Insurgents strike in Banibangou Niger, kill dozen civilians
A suspected jihadist attack on three lorries and a motorcycle in western Niger near the border with Mali killed 11 people, local sources told AFP on Sunday. The attack took place on a remote road in the so-called "three borders" region between Niger, Mali and Burkina...
Defense: Algeria-Russia start join military drills in the Mediterranean Sea, as Morocco set defense budget to US$11bil.
Algeria and Russia are to begin military maneuvers in the Mediterranean on Saturday, 22 October 2022. The drills will last four days in what appears to be a new sign of rapprochement between the two countries. In a press release, the Algerian Ministry of Defense...
Morocco: Spanish court OKs deportation of alleged Salafist personality to Morocco
A court in Spain has approved the deportation of Moroccan Muslim activist, who is accused of being one of the "main advocates" in Spain of the Salafist movement of ultra-conservative Islamism. Police arrested Mohamed Said Badaoui on Tuesday in the northeastern...
Sahel: 50 civilians killed in anti-junta protests in Chad
Djimet Wiche: Tensions eased in Chad on Friday following a day of unprecedented violence at protests that left around 50 people dead across the country. Chad's government had on Thursday announced an overnight curfew after the deadly clashes between police and...
Libya: 15 bodies found on Sabratha beach
Fifteen bodies were found on a beach near the Libyan city of Sabratha, some of them burned, the Libyan Red Crescent said Friday. The group did not identify the dead or say how they had died, but human rights groups said they were likely migrants. After being notified...
Sahel: Unstable Sahel creates new opportunities for insurgent groups
By Didier Laura: Burkina Faso's new rulers say they seized power to better fight jihadists, but history in the Sahel suggests the coup will merely stoke turbulence and division, benefiting the insurgents, analysts say. The poor, arid region has been wracked by...
Burkina Faso coup leader Ibrahim Traore crows himself country’s president
Captain Ibrahim Traore was appointed as president of Burkina Faso on Wednesday, according to an official statement, after the West African country's second coup in less than nine months. Traore has been appointed as "Head of State, Supreme Head of the Armed Forces",...
Sahel: Concerned about Russia’s presence in the Sahel, US warns Burkina Faso’s new junta
The United States on Tuesday warned Burkina Faso's junta of the risks of allying with Russia, whose shadowy Wagner paramilitary group has voiced robust support for the latest coup. "Countries where the group has been deployed find themselves weaker and less secure,...
Burkina Faso: As regime in Ouagadougou collapsed last week, terror attack claimed 37 lives up north
A total of 27 troops and 10 civilians were killed in a suspected jihadist attack in northern Burkina Faso last week, the military said on Wednesday. Military search operations carried out since the attack on September 26 "have made it possible to establish the death...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
Sahel: Swedish soldiers headed to Mali in yet another French operation
Stockholm, March 16, 2020 - The Swedish government plans to send up to 150 soldiers to Mali to support a French military initiative combining special force troops from different countries. "The government has decided to put a bill to parliament... for Swedish...
Egypt: Six suspected insurgents killed in Sinai
Cairo, March 16, 2020 - Egyptian police have killed six militants in a shootout in the restive northern Sinai region, the interior ministry said Monday. The firefight broke out as police forces raided a hideout of "terrorist elements" intent on carrying out "hostile...
Sahel: Couple kidnapped in Burkina Faso in 2018 regains freedom
Bamako, March 14, 2020 - A Canadian woman and her Italian partner kidnapped in Burkina Faso in 2018 have been found alive in the northwest of Mali by UN peacekeepers, diplomatic and UN sources said on Saturday. "UN blue helmets found an Italian citizen and a Canadian...
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...