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
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...
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...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
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...
Sahel: Mali soldiers killed by rocket attack in Mondoro
Bamako, March 2, 2020 - Six Malian soldiers died and 10 were injured when militants armed with rocket launchers attacked a checkpoint in a central region of the conflict-torn nation, the army and a local official said Monday. The attack on Sunday night at Mondoro...
Libya: Protagonists have no appetite for talk
Geneva, Feb 26, 2020 - UN-hosted talks between the warring sides in Libya that were supposed to start on Wednesday were clouded in uncertainty after participants said they were staying away. The talks are meant to be between representatives of the UN-recognised...
Sahel: The African Union to the rescue
Addis Ababa, Feb 27, 2020 - The African Union confirmed Thursday that it expected to send a temporary deployment of 3,000 troops to West Africa's Sahel region, where regional forces are struggling to respond to a nearly eight-year-old onslaught by armed Islamists. The...
Sahel: With insurgents several steps ahead, Sahel leaders are disoriented
Nouakchott, Feb 25, 2020 - A summit of Sahel states heard appeals Tuesday to step up the fight against jihadists whose offensive across three countries has claimed thousands of lives and inflicted crippling economic damage. "More than ever, the Sahel requires...
Sahel: French army says it killed some 50 insurgents in Mali’s Mopti region
Paris, Feb 21, 2020 - French soldiers "neutralised" around 50 in a series of operations in Mali this month, the army said Friday as it seeks to quell a years-long insurgency in the West African nation. The operations were carried out near Mopti in central Mali, where...
Sahel: Malian troops re-enter Timbuktu
Bamako, Feb 18, 2020 - A Malian army battalion comprising regulars and former rebels has entered the northern city of Timbuktu, the army said Tuesday, as part of a long-anticipated peace deal in the war-torn country. The move follows the return last week of similar...
Sahel: Insurgents attack church in Burkina Faso, 24 killed
Ouagadougou, Feb 17, 2020 - Gunmen have killed 24 people and wounded 18 in an attack on a Protestant church in a village in northern Burkina Faso, officials said Monday. In a separate incident, five Burkinabe soldiers in the troubled region were killed by a roadside,...