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
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...
Libya: Militia ends siege of oil fields, production in Al-Sharara field resumes
Libya's National Oil Corporation said Tuesday that an armed group blockading two major oil fields had lifted its siege and that production had resumed at one of them. The NOC had announced the suspension of production on Sunday at the vast Al-Sharara and Al-Fil...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
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...
Sahel: Boko Haram raids village in western Chad, kills scores
Fourteen people were killed and 13 were missing after Boko Haram jihadists attacked a fishing village in western Chad on Tuesday, government officials said. "There were 14 dead, five wounded and 13 missing in the attack" near the village of Kaiga on the shores of...
Africa: Herdsmen-Boko Haram clash in Nigeria, scores dead
Boko Haram jihadists gunned down 19 cattle herders Saturday in northeast Nigeria, civilian militia sources and residents told AFP on Sunday. Ethnic Fulani herders, besieged by a spate of armed attacks targeting their cattle, pursued Boko Haram, sparking a fierce...
Morocco arrests suspected insurgent
Moroccan anti-terror police announced Sunday the arrest of an alleged jihadist who "planned a suicide attack". The 41-year-old extremist tried to "build expertise in the use of arms", Morocco's central office for judicial investigations said in a statement. He was...
Libya: Warlord Khalifa Haftar promises onslaught on Tripoli
Tripoli, Dec 12, 2019 - Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar announced a "decisive battle" for the capital Tripoli on Thursday, eight months after he launched an offensive to wrest it from the unity government. "Zero hour has come for the broad and total assault...
Sahel: Insurgents raid army camp in Tahoua, Niger, 17 casualties
Niamey, Dec 11, 2019 - Three soldiers and 14 attackers died in an assault earlier this week on an army camp in western Niger near the border with Mali, the defence minister said. Heavily armed "terrorists" in a dozen 4x4 vehicles led the attack early Monday morning on...
Libya: Civilians killed in air strikes on Tripoli, authorities say UAE drones used
Tripoli, Dec 2, 2019 - At least five civilians were killed and 10 wounded in overnight air strikes in a suburb of Libya's capital, the unity government's health ministry said on Monday. "Violent air raids on the residential area of al-Swani killed five civilians and...
Chad: Boko Haram raids military outpost, 13 fighters and four Chadian troops killed
Sahel: Islamic State claims responsibility in death of French troops in Mali
Paris, Nov 29, 2019 - An ambush by Islamic State jihadists did not cause a collision between two French army helicopters which left 13 soldiers dead in Mali, France's military chief of staff said Friday. The Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP) claimed...