North Africa’s Security
Security | Defense | Terrorism
Sahel: Surging Jihadist Violence Batters the Sahel, Exposing Government Weakness
Jihadist violence has surged across the Sahel, with militants overrunning military bases, ambushing convoys, and forcing civilians to negotiate with armed groups for survival. Hardest hit are conflict corridors in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and northeastern Nigeria, where blockades and insecurity have left millions displaced or trapped in besieged communities.
SECURITY & DEFENSE
Sahel: Three foreign nationals kidnapped in Mali
Armed men have kidnapped an Italian couple and their child as well as a Togolese national in southeastern Mali, a local official and a Malian security source told AFP Friday. They said the abductions occurred late Thursday about 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the...
Mali withdraws from G5 Sahel security force
Mali's junta announced Sunday that it will quit a West African anti-jihadist force after it was blocked from assuming the presidency of the regional group. The country's departure from the G5 Sahel security force deepens its isolation after its neighbours hit it with...
Libya: Violent clashes in west Tripoli
Violent clashes rocked a western area of the Libyan capital overnight and until Sunday morning, an interior ministry source said, as local media reported the death of a militia commander. Janzour, on the western outskirts of Tripoli, is home to the headquarters of...
Sahel terror spreads to Togo with new attack in Kpinkankandi
Eight soldiers were killed on Wednesday and 13 wounded in a "terrorist attack" in northern Togo near the border with Burkina Faso, the government said, using a term typically designating jihadists. Togo's troops are deployed in the north of the country to try and...
Global food market to worsen with France experiencing dry periods
By Maxime Mamet with Adam Plowright in Paris French farmer Robin Lachaux is worried about his wheat. In normal years, it flowers and bulks up in May thanks to regular spring rainfall, but this year hot and dry conditions risk stunting its progress. "If we don't water...
Terrorism: Members of 84 states and organizations meet in Marrakesh to discuss anti-terror strategy
The global coalition against the Islamic State group gathered Wednesday in Morocco to coordinate efforts to prevent the jihadists staging a revival in the Middle East and North Africa. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was to co-host the meeting with Moroccan...
Despite dismal human rights abuses, Egypt to acquire advanced F-15 fighter jets
A senior US general told Congress Tuesday that the United States will sell Egypt advanced F-15 fighter jets, despite concerns in Washington over Cairo's human rights record. "In the case of Egypt, I think we have good news, in that we are going to provide them with...
Terrorism: Insurgents raid bus in SW Niger, kill 21 passengers
Suspected jihadists attacked a bus and a truck in southwest Niger, killing 21 people in the troubled Tillaberi region near Burkina Faso, local and security sources said on Thursday. Niger, the world's poorest country according to the UN's Human Development Index, is...
Libya armed groups step back after Tripoli escalation
Libya's parliament-appointed prime minister said Friday that armed groups backing him had withdrawn from positions around Tripoli, after the UN warned of a new escalation in the divided country. Libya has had rival administrations since the eastern-based assembly...
Sahel: Mauritania accuses Mali army of crimes against its citizens
The foreign ministry in Nouakchott on Tuesday accused Mali's army of crimes against Mauritanians after protesters in the capital charged they had been killed "in cold blood". Mali's ambassador Mohamed Dibassy had been called in to hear a "strong protest against the...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
Podcast: The Libyan crisis is getting more complex
The discussion on Libya that follows was recorded on the 10 of January. The discussion between MEA Risk’s Arezki Daoud and Alessandro Bruno took place a day or two before the two warring parties agreed on a truce. Although there have been some minor breached to the...
Sahel: People of Mali want foreign troops out
Bamako, Jan 10, 2020 - Hundreds of people in Mali on Friday protested against the presence of foreign troops in their country, just days ahead of a summit meant to "clarify" France's military role in the region. Malian and foreign soldiers have been struggling to...
Sahel: Massacre in Niger’s Tillaberi region
Niamey, Jan 12, 2020 - A jihadist attack on a military camp in western Niger three days ago left 89 soldiers dead, according to a new toll announced by the government on public radio Sunday. "After a thorough search, the toll has been established as 89 dead among...
Sahel: Roadside bomb kills five soldiers in Mali
Bamako, Jan 6, 2020 (AFP) - Five Malian soldiers were killed Monday in a roadside bomb attack, a government spokesperson said, in the latest violence to hit the West African country's volatile central region. The troops were travelling in the region of Alatona, near...
Libya: Dangerous military buildup in Libya
Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar announced this morning (Monday, 6 January) his troops entered the coastal city of Sirte and seized Ghardabiya airport and the country's biggest military base from militias loyal to the Tripoli government. The Misrata forces, which...
Libya: Warlord Khalifa Haftar’s raid on military school in residential area kills at least 28
Tripoli, Jan 4, 2020 - At least 28 people were killed and dozens injured on Saturday in an air strike on a military school in the Libyan capital Tripoli, a ministry spokesman said. "An air raid on the military school of Tripoli killed 28 cadets and injured dozens...
Sahel: Mystery about disappearance of civilians in Mali
Bamako, Dec 30, 2019 - Malian authorities and the United Nations have opened investigations into the alleged disappearance of more than 20 civilians in the war-torn West African country this month, security and government officials said Monday. There are few details...
Crisis in Sahel: France’s quagmire
The Sahel is experiencing utter destabilization. Almost all countries of the region, starting with Mali, then Niger, Chad, more recently Burkina Faso, and to a certain extent northern Nigeria, are falling apart and suffering from a series of factors that conspire to...
The cost of a civil war, tens of thousands of Libyans flee their homes
Tripoli, Dec 27, 2019 (By Nawas Al-Darraji) - Layla Mohammed barely had time to gather her children's belongings before fleeing their southern Tripoli home when shelling targeted the Libyan capital's outskirts earlier this year. For months she moved her family between...
Sahel: Roadside-bomb attacks kill four in Mali
Bamako, Dec 20, 2019 - Two soldiers and two civilians have been killed and another six people injured in separate roadside-bomb attacks this week in volatile central Mali, local government and security officials said on Friday. The two civilian victims were women...