North Africa’s Security
Security | Defense | Terrorism
Sahel: Rising Attacks on Military and Economic Targets Deepen Mali’s Instability
Mali is closing the year under mounting security strain as jihadist groups expand attacks on military convoys, fuel supply routes, and foreign-linked economic assets. Recent operations near the Guinean border and across central regions highlight a shift toward economic disruption and targeted abductions, raising concerns about stability and investment risks heading into 2026.
SECURITY & DEFENSE
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...
Morocco: Dozen alleged Jihadists arrested in Melilla and Nador
Moroccan and Spanish police have dismantled a jihadist cell suspected of links to the Islamic State group, officials said Tuesday. The operation led to the arrest of 11 people in raids on Tuesday morning: nine in the Spanish enclave of Melilla on Morocco's northern...
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...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
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...
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...