North Africa’s Security
Security | Defense | Terrorism
Sahel: Community Mourns Mariam Cissé, Killed by Militants in Northern Mali
Mariam Cissé, a prominent content creator from Tonka, Mali, was abducted and publicly executed by armed militants in the Goundam district of the Timbuktu region. Her killing, believed to be linked to videos she posted about armed activity in local markets, has drawn widespread shock online and underscored the dangers facing civilians and public figures in militant-controlled parts of northern Mali.
SECURITY & DEFENSE
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: Boko Haram fighters pouring into Niger’s side of Lake Chad
Hundreds of Boko Haram jihadists have fled a forest enclave in northeast Nigeria, escaping air strikes by the military and floods from torrential rains to seek shelter on Niger's side of Lake Chad, sources told AFP. Northeast Nigeria is facing a 13-year armed...
Sahel: Jihadists ambush patrol in Oursi, Burkina Faso, kill eight troops
An attack on a military unit in Burkina Faso's jihadist-hit north has killed eight soldiers, the army said Wednesday. The unit "was ambushed" 11 kilometres (seven miles) from Oursi in Oudalan province in the Sahel region on Tuesday, the army said in a statement. "In...
Sahel: Germany suspends reconnaissance patrols in Mali due to inability to get flyover right
Germany has again suspended its reconnaissance patrols in eastern Mali that are part of a UN peacekeeping mission after failing to get flyover rights, the military said Monday. The permission is needed for flights between Gao, home to the German military's main base...
Sahel: Senior Mali army officer admits defeat, calls for evacuation of part of the north
A well-known Malian commander has urged civilians to flee part of a northern region recently attacked by Islamic State jihadists, in a rare admission of the security problems facing locals. "There are no armed forces or any entity to guarantee the security of the...
Libya: Elusive US engagement in Libya
By Hamza Mrkouar Ten years after the US ambassador to Libya was killed in the eastern city of Benghazi, the country remains in turmoil and Washington is vying for influence with other foreign powers. Islamist militants armed with automatic weapons and grenades...
Mali: In the absence of institutional security in Kidal, the Tuaregs are in charge
On a sandy street in a northern Malian town, armed guards take turns at a checkpoint next to two unmarked pickup trucks as dusk falls and the sky slowly fills with stars. The men are not army troops but fighters from the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) -- a...
Sahel: Burkina Faso defense chief fired as the destabilization of Burkina Faso continues
Burkina Faso junta chief Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who took power in a January coup, has sacked his defence minister and assumed the role himself after a series of jihadist attacks, according to decrees published Monday. The first decree, read on...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
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,...
Sahel: Turmoil in central Mali
Bamako, Feb 14, 2020 - Twenty people were killed in an attack overnight on a village in central Mali, local officials said Friday, in an apparent spate of ethnic violence in the deeply troubled region. The attack occurred in Ogossagou, a village mainly inhabited by...
Sahel: Second deadly attack on a Fulani village in Mali’s Mopti region
Bamako, Feb 14, 2020 (By Kassim Traore) - Twenty people were killed in an attack overnight on a village in central Mali, local officials said Friday, in an apparent spate of ethnic violence in the deeply troubled region. The attack occurred in Ogossagou, a village...
West Africa facing Jihadist contagion from the Sahel
Cotonou, Feb 14, 2020 (By Josue Mehouenou with Sophie Bouillon in Lagos) - An attack on police in the far north of Benin has spurred fears that a country struggling with political problems is now at threat from jihadism sweeping down from the Sahel. The authorities...