North Africa’s Security
Security | Defense | Terrorism
Mali: Ongoing Attacks Prompt Longer Curfew in Western Mali
Kayes in western Mali will continue under a nighttime curfew throughout October, as authorities respond to a series of attacks by armed groups and work to limit the threat of insurgent violence.
SECURITY & DEFENSE
Libya now has two prime ministers: expect fresh violence ahead
Libya since Kadhafi: a decade of civil war and chaos With Libya now having two rival prime ministers, this is a timeline of the chaos that has gripped the country since a revolt overthrew dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011. 2011: Kadhafi killed Encouraged by Arab Spring...
Western Sahara conflict intensifies: Polisario says it killed 12 Moroccan soldiers as Morocco reportedly uses drones
The Polisario Front said Friday it had killed 12 Moroccan soldiers, including two senior officers, since February 1 in its struggle for independence for Western Sahara. "Twelve soldiers have died in attacks over several days in February, and all the information is...
Sahel: Burkina Faso expects war on Jihadists to intensify in the months ahead
Burkina Faso's new armed forces chief, who was appointed last week following a military coup, on Wednesday vowed to give a "new impetus" to a years-long struggle against jihadist insurgents. At a ceremony to mark his appointment, Colonel David Kabre said he was...
Sahel: Foreign diplomats feel they can save Burkina Faso from turmoil
Diplomats in Burkina Faso on Friday said they would help the junta that seized power last month restore security to the jihadist-wracked country, the Chinese ambassador announced on their behalf. The junta's leader Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba has in the past week been...
US-Russia competition expands to Mali and the Sahel
The top US military commander for Africa on Thursday suggested that impoverished and jihadist-hit Mali was paying Russian private military company Wagner $10 million a month. France, Mali's former colonial ruler, has accused Wagner's mercenaries of "supporting" Mali's...
Sahel: Regime in Mali initiates talks with former rebels without France’s blessing
Former Malian rebels have signed a pact designed to "facilitate ties" with the Sahel state's ruling junta, a spokesman for the armed groups said on Thursday. The ex-rebels, who range from former Tuareg separatists to Arab nationalists, had already signed a peace...
Conflicts: How the UAE pays mercenaries in Darfur to wage war in Libya in support of Khalifa Haftar
Providing mercenaries in Libya's internal conflict has become the main source of revenue for armed groups from Sudan's own war-torn Darfur region, the United Nations said in a report Friday. The report, drawn up by UN experts in charge of monitoring the arms embargo...
Sahel: Burkina junta lifts nationwide curfew
Burkina Faso's junta lifted Wednesday a nationwide curfew they imposed after seizing power in a coup last month, the military announced. The restrictions were imposed on January 24 after mutinous soldiers arrested President Roch Marc Christian Kabore following a...
Security: Egypt ups its military hardware with US and South Korean purchase spree
Egypt has signed a $1.66 billion deal for South Korean howitzers, the military said Wednesday, a week after Washington approved a major arms sale to Cairo. The memorandum of understanding was signed on Tuesday during a ceremony attended by Defence Minister Mohamed...
Security: Germany calls for reevaluating Europe’s operations in Mali
European nations must re-evaluate their anti-jihadist duties in Mali in light of growing tensions with the ruling junta, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Wednesday. As several European countries raised doubts about the future of the mission, Baerbock...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
Libya: Russia’s alleged involvement in Libya prompts US re-engagement
Since Donald Trump became President of the United States, North Africa and the African continent in general, have not been a strategic focus for Washington. But on the crisis in Libya, the US administration is trying to reengage these days and to be less reactive and...
Sahel: Counter-insurgency campaign intensifies in Burkina Faso
On the Mali-Burkina border, Burkina Faso, Nov 25, 2019 (By Amaury HAUCHARD) - It was the heart of the forest and there, in a marsh, lay a carpet of water lilies, their delicacy unveiled in the dawn light. But the beauty belied the danger -- the Tofa Gala forest, on...
Libya: Europe urges release of kidnapped Libyan lawmaker
Tripoli, Nov 17, 2019 - Thirteen European diplomatic missions in Libya, including the EU delegation, demanded Sunday "urgent investigations" into the disappearance four months ago of a lawmaker and called for her immediate release. Siham Sergewa disappeared on July 17...
Mali in a state of chaos
MALI IN CHAOSMopti, Mali, Nov 5, 2019 - By Celia Lebur - Untroubled by time, the mighty Niger River glides through the Sahel city as women wash their clothes in its brackish waters and cows slumber nearby in the heat. But this peaceful image is an illusion, for Mopti,...
Sahel: Dozens killed in ambush on convoy of Canadian gold miner Semafo in Burkina Faso
An escalation of attacks across the Sahel is now affecting mining operations, with Canadian firm Semafo reporting casualties among its employees. At least 37 people were killed and dozens more wounded according to local authorities. MEA Risk LLC reports that...
Sahel: French Defense Minister admits crisis in Mali is “difficult,” wants more Europeans troops
France's defence minister said Tuesday she was "optimistic" European forces would step up to bolster the fight against militancy in Mali, as the country reels from a devastating jihadist attack that killed dozens of soldiers. Mali's military is struggling to contain...
Libya: Khalifa Haftar’s warplane strikes police station in Ain Zara, kills two
Tripoli, Nov 6, 2019 - Two Libyan policemen were killed in an air strike on a police station in the suburbs of Tripoli late Tuesday, the UN-recognised Government of National Accord said. Its interior ministry blamed the strike on the forces of east Libyan strongman...
Sahel: Massacre in Mali’s Menaka region
A "terrorist attack" on a military post in strife-torn northeastern Mali has left 49 soldiers dead, the army said Saturday, revising downward an earlier death toll. The assault on Friday at Indelimane, in the Menaka region, close to the border with Niger, was one of...
Sahel: Insurgents attack police station in Burkina Faso, kill officer
Ouagadougou, Nov 1, 2019 - A police commissioner was killed during a brutal assault by gunmen on a police station in northwestern Burkina Faso, security sources said Friday. It marks the latest deadly attack in the troubled north of the West African country, which is...