North Africa’s Security
Security | Defense | Terrorism
Africa: New Warning of Evolving Hybrid Threats Linking Terrorism, Crime, and Climate Pressures Across Africa
Mauritania is warning that Africa’s security landscape is shifting from ideological insurgencies to profit-driven “religious-front criminal enterprises,” describing how jihadist networks have merged with organized crime.
SECURITY & DEFENSE
Sahel: Senegalese President begs Germany to not abandon Mali
Senegalese President Macky Sall on Monday urged Germany to keep its troops in Mali, amid uncertainty over their future in the fragile Sahel country after France announced a military withdrawal. The call came at a news conference in Senegal's capital Dakar with German...
Sahel: The Burkina Faso coup: Not so bloodless after all
Two civilians were killed and a dozen injured in last month's coup in Burkina Faso, an event that had previously been hailed as bloodless, the authorities said on Monday, adding that junta leader and interim president Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba had ordered an...
Sahel: 18 civilians killed in Jihadist attack in west Niger
Eighteen civilians have been killed in two suspected jihadist attacks in the west of Niger near the Sahel nation's border with Mali, the government said Tuesday. The attack happened on Sunday when unidentified "armed bandits" on motorbikes attacked a truck travelling...
Egypt and France in joint naval exercises
Egypt has kicked off joint air and naval drills with France, one of its biggest arms suppliers, in the Mediterranean, the Egyptian army said Monday. "Egypt and France are carrying out the 'Ramses 2022' naval and air exercises in the Mediterranean... which will last...
Sahel: Fake news flooding troubled region
By Amaury Hauchard, with Boureima Hama in Niamey Fake news is flooding Africa's conflict-ridden Sahel, according to experts, sowing discord and confusion in the increasingly volatile region. Doctored news bulletins and altered photos often spread like wildfire on...
Sahel: Concern over Russian mercenaries’ entry into Chad
Chad's ruling military junta on Wednesday accused a rebel leader of seeking the help of Russian mercenaries to derail a reconciliation process and topple those in power. Timan Erdimi, who heads the powerful Union of Resistance Forces (UFR), solicited the help of...
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...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
Sahel: French soldiers killed in Mali in helicopters’ collision during sweeping operation
Paris, Nov 26, 2019 (By Daphne Benoit and Jérôme Rivet) - Thirteen French soldiers were killed in Mali when two helicopters collided while fighting insurgents in the country's restive north, officials said Tuesday, the heaviest single loss for the French military in...
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...