North Africa’s Security
Security | Defense | Terrorism
French Nationals Urged to Leave Mali as Insurgent Attacks Intensify in the Sahel
Defense ministers from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger met in Niamey to accelerate their joint military alliance, but no deployment date was confirmed. France is advising nationals to leave Mali “temporarily” amid deteriorating security, while international shipping companies hesitate to continue cargo routes. November 7 brought reports of multiple attacks by insurgents, further highlighting the region’s instability.
SECURITY & DEFENSE
Burkina Faso: Ethnic Fulanis fear violence will escalate against them
By Armel Baily Jihadist attacks in Burkina Faso have inflamed accusations against the Fulani community, sparking warnings the troubled country may spiral into ethnic conflict -- even civil war. The impoverished Sahel state is battling a seven-year-old jihadist...
Sahel: Crisis in Mali enters Senegal’s presidential politics
Senegal's army says it is standing by the country's commitments to the UN's peacekeeping mission in neighbouring Mali, after an opposition leader suggested it was withdrawing. The West African state is one of the biggest contributors to the MINUSMA force in Mali,...
Sahel: Germany says Russian troops may be present in Mali
German soldiers in Mali spotted several dozen suspected Russian security forces in the city of Gao just as the last French soldiers left the country, the German government said Wednesday. The German ambassador in Bamako has contacted Mali's foreign minister about "the...
Sahel: Mali-France relations worsen as Bamako accuses Paris of “aggression and espionage”
Mali has requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting to stop what it calls French "acts of aggression", including alleged espionage and violations of sovereignty, and accused France of supporting jihadists. In a letter seen Wednesday by AFP, Foreign Minister...
Sahel: Germany halts military operations in Mali after Bamako denies UN flyover
The German defence ministry said Friday it had suspended most of its operations in Mali after the local military-led government denied flyover rights to a UN peacekeeping mission. "The Malian government has once again refused to give flyover rights to a flight planned...
Sahel: France wraps up military withdrawal from Mali
By Selim Saheb Ettaba and Joris Fioriti The last soldiers belonging to France's Barkhane operation in Mali have now left the African country, the French chiefs of staff said on Monday. French forces have been supporting Mali against insurgents for nearly a decade,...
Sahel security: France’s military presence in Mali
French troops gained an enthusiastic welcome when they entered Mali more than nine years ago to help it fight a jihadist-fuelled insurgency. On Monday, France pulled out of the country in the face of deep hostility after falling out with colonels who seized power...
Sahel: Understanding the Mali crisis
On August 18 2020, crowds in the Malian capital Bamako applauded as young colonels toppled a civilian government struggling to roll back a bloody jihadist insurgency. Today, the looming anniversary of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita's ouster sees a country mired in...
Sahel: Militants kill more soldiers and civilians in Mali
Forty-two Malian soldiers died in an attack at the weekend by suspected jihadists, the army said Wednesday in a document naming the fatalities, revising an earlier figure of 21 dead. The toll is one of the bloodiest in Mali's decade-long insurgency, which has spread...
Libya: Dozens of suspects go on trial for alleged membership to IS
The trial opened Monday in Libya's western city of Misrata of 56 suspected Islamic State group militants captured after the 2016 fall of its bastion Sirte. The 56 suspects, out of a total of 320 facing trial, appeared in court before the trial was adjourned to...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
US court sentences Libyan to 19 years in jail for Benghazi attack
Washington, Jan 24, 2020 - A 47-year-old Libyan man who was captured by US special forces in Libya and brought to the United States for trial was sentenced to prison on Thursday for his role in the 2012 attack on the US mission in Benghazi. Mustafa al-Imam, who was...
Libya: Crude production collapses as warlord Haftar maintains blockade of oil sites
Tripoli, Jan 25, 2020 - Libya's oil production has plunged by around three-quarters since forces loyal to military strongman Khalifa Haftar launched a blockade a week ago, the National Oil Company announced Saturday. The fall, from 1.2 million barrels a day to just...
Libya: the collapsing public health system in Tripoli
Tripoli, Jan 22, 2020 - By Jihad Dhorgham: "The pressure was unbearable," said doctor Mohamad al-Rajehi, recalling a night early this month when an air strike on a military school completely overwhelmed his public hospital in Libya's capital. Al-Khadra, one of the...
Sahel: France takes more steps toward conflict escalation in the Sahel
Opinion by Arezki Daoud: (you can also listen the opinion by clicking on the audio player above) | France's hawks, those who like to project the image of a superpower, are hoping for some miracle tipping point to take place in the Sahel. Their latest idea is to...
Sahel: IED kills two soldiers in Mopti, Mali
Bamako, Jan 22, 2020 - Two Malian soldiers were killed and two were wounded by a roadside bomb, an army spokesman said Wednesday, in the latest violence to hit volatile central Mali. The soldiers were travelling to the town of Douentza, in the central region of...
Libya: Tripoli’s sole functioning airport, Mitiga, shuts down after Haftar launches rocket attack
Tripoli, Jan 22, 2020 - Rocket fire forced the suspension of all flights into and out of Tripoli's sole functioning airport on Wednesday, only nine days after it reopened following a truce, Libya's embattled UN-recognised government said. Mitiga airport had reopened...
Sahel: Insurgents raid villages in north Burkina Faso
Ouagadougou, Jan 21, 2020 - Militants killed 36 civilians when they attacked villages in northern Burkina Faso, the government said Tuesday, appealing for local volunteers to bolster its fight against jihadists. A "terrorist group" killed 32 civilians when they...
Libya: Despite calls for ceasefire, Haftar continues to attack Tripoli
There is little to no hope that warlord Khalifa Haftar and his supporters will listen to calls for reason and endorse a ceasefire. The UN Security Council called Tuesday on the warring parties in Libya to quickly reach a ceasefire. AFP quotes the security council as...