North Africa’s Security
Security | Defense | Terrorism
Mali’s Energy Collapse Deepens as Fuel Blockade and Infrastructure Decay Converge
Mali is sinking deeper into darkness as power outages, crumbling roads, and fuel shortages combine into a nationwide crisis. Months of blackouts and blocked fuel imports by jihadist fighters have crippled transport, trade, and daily life, exposing years of neglect in energy and infrastructure management.
SECURITY & DEFENSE
Sahel: French forces withdraw from Menaka base in northern Mali
French troops were on Monday handing back a military base in northeastern Mali ahead of a final withdrawal from the Sahel nation, France's army said, after nine years fighting a jihadist insurgency. The UN emissary there warned that the French withdrawal could leave...
Libya: New militia violence in Tripoli
A night of clashes between militias in the heart of a residential district of the Libyan capital Tripoli raised fears on Saturday of escalating violence in the conflict-riven country. The intense fighting that erupted late Friday between two armed groups that back...
Moroccan national captured by Russian forces while fighting in Ukraine
Pro-Moscow separatists sentenced to death two British fighters and a third from Morocco, who were captured by Russian troops while fighting for Ukraine, Russian news agencies reported on Thursday. The "supreme court of the Donetsk People's Republic" ordered the death...
Sahel: Jihadists surround Mali town of Boni
Jihadists have since late May blockaded the central Malian town of Boni and interrupted traffic on a major highway in the region, the UN and several local sources say. "Since May 25, 2022, extremist armed groups have prevented the movement of people and goods in this...
Sahel: Mali launches military offensive to retake town of Anderamboukane from insurgents
Malian forces and local armed groups have launched a bid to recapture a jihadist-held border town in a region where hundreds of civilians have died in the past few months, sources there say. Fighting has been unfolding over the last few days at the strategic town of...
Togo: Al-Qaeda affiliate JNIM claims May attack in Togo
A Mali-based coalition of Al-Qaeda aligned militants has claimed responsibility for an attack in Togo last month, the SITE Intelligence monitoring group said on Friday. The Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) has been expanding geographically, threatening...
Sahel: Six killed in attacks on Burkina security forces
Two soldiers and four civilian volunteers with Burkina Faso's security forces have been killed in clashes with suspected jihadists, army headquarters said on Thursday. A soldier and four Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland (VDP) were killed on Thursday in...
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...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
Sahel: Roadside bomb kills six soldiers in Burkina Faso
Ouagadougou, Jan 17, 2020 - Six Burkina Faso soldiers were killed Friday when their vehicle was hit by a roadside explosive in a northern province, security sources said, in the latest attack on the country's armed forces. No group claimed immediate responsibility...
Sahel: New wave of population displacement in Niger amid rising terrorism
Niamey, Jan 19, 2020 - Nearly 7,000 people have fled the region in western Niger where jihadist fighters killed 89 soldiers in a devastating attack earlier this month, the UN refugee agency said. But insecurity in the region is making it difficult for the UNHCR to...
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...