North Africa’s Security
Security | Defense | Terrorism
Libya’s Path to Stability: Still Blocked by Fragmentation and Armed Rivalries
Libya ends 2025 still divided between rival governments and dominated by militias. Clashes, rights abuses, and stalled reforms keep the security outlook fragile. Limited local elections show resilience, but lasting stability depends on unified institutions and accountability.
SECURITY & DEFENSE
Egypt: Sisi uses Facebook to announce lifting of state of emergency
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday announced the lifting of the state of emergency in place since deadly jihadist attacks on Coptic Christian churches more than four years ago. The North African country has been under a state of emergency since April...
Lebanon: Deadly clashes in Beyrout after rally against port blast judge
By Rouba El Husseini and Hashem Osseiran: The health ministry said 32 people were wounded. Amal said three of its members were killed, while Hezbollah announced that funerals of two men and one woman would take place on Friday. A doctor at Beirut's Sahel hospital...
Inside West Africa’s drug trade
By Selim Saheb Ettaba: West Africa is a small but strategic hub for smugglers moving drugs from Latin America to Europe and the Middle East. What is Africa's role in the drug trade? Africa appears to have become an attractive hub for drug transshipments mainly...
Sahel: Niger opens first military school in Niamey
Facing a spate of jihadist attacks, Niger on Friday opened its first military school in the capital Niamey to train future officers. "We have set in place with this school the final link in the chain for training our military," President Mohamed Bazoum said at the ...
Algeria: IED explosion kills border guard during patrol mission in Tlemcen province
An Algerian border guard was killed and two wounded on Wednesday evening when a bomb went off near the Moroccan border, the defence ministry said Thursday. The home-made device exploded as they passed during a patrol to "secure the borders and tackle organised crime",...
Sahel: UN and NATO mulling over support to Sahelian armies in combating militant groups
NATO is studying options to bolster support for the multinational G5 Sahel force in the troubled three-borders region of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, where a surge in jihadist violence has cost thousands of lives, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a...
Sahel: IED kills 16 soldiers between Koro et Bandiagara in Mali
Sixteen soldiers were killed and 10 wounded in an attack in central Mali on Wednesday, security and health officials in the war-torn Sahel state said. In a statement, Mali's army said the troops had been the target of a "complex IED attack" -- referring to an...
Libya: Pro-election youth leader Imad al-Harathi kidnapped
A Libyan youth leader was abducted by unidentified gunmen after calling for demonstrations in support of scheduled December elections, the UN said, voicing concern for his safety. Imad al-Harathi, head of the North African country's National Youth League, "was...
European court rejects Morocco-EU trade deals involving Western Sahara territory
Reactions The Polisario, which seeks independence in the Western Sahara, welcomed a ruling Wednesday by the U's top court cancelling trade deals that allow Morocco to export goods from the territory. "The European court has decided to annul the partnership and fishing...
Sahel: Russia’s entry into the Sahel raises concern in the region
Chad's foreign minister warned against outside interference on Thursday, referencing Russian paramilitaries operating in neighboring countries. Cherif Mahamat Zene said "external interference, wherever it comes from, poses a very serious problem for the stability and...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
Libyan civilian plane escapes bombing at Mitiga Airport in Tripoli
Tripoli, Aug 5, 2019 - A Libyan airliner has narrowly escaped being hit by incoming fire as it landed at war-torn capital Tripoli's sole functioning airport, aviation officials said. "The crew on the flight from Benghazi, which was carrying 124 passengers, avoided...
Tunisia: Army kills two insurgents near Bou Amrane
Two armed alleged jihadists have been shot dead in an "anti-terrorist" operation led by national guard and army units in southern Tunisia, the interior ministry said Saturday. The two "terrorists" were killed in the mountainous area of Orbata in Gafsa, the ministry...
Libya: Fighting continues in Tripoli
Tripoli, July 30, 2019 - Rocket fire forced flights to be suspended and passengers evacuated at the Libyan capital's airport, where a UN envoy warned civilian aircraft had come "perilously close" to being hit. Fighting has raged on Tripoli's doorstep since Libyan...
Sahel: Fifteen killed in Jihadi attack in Burkina Faso
Ouagadougou, July 27, 2019 - Armed men described as jihadists raided a village in Burkina Faso's restive north, killing 15 people, plundering and burning shops and motorbikes, a regional governor said Saturday. The raid took place on the night of Thursday to Friday...
Libya: Warlord Haftar bombs hospital near Tripoli, kills dozen
Tripoli, July 28, 2019- Five doctors were killed in an air strike by forces of Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar on a field hospital near the capital, the health ministry of the UN-recognised government said. Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army launched an...
Libya: Misrata militia says it captured Qaeda leaders
Tripoli, July 25, 2019 - A Libyan militia has arrested a number of Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist leaders in a raid near the capital Tripoli, the group said. The Misrata Joint Security Force carried out the raid against "wanted terrorists, classified as Al-Qaeda leaders",...
Sahel: Six people die of hunger after militia isolated their village in Mali
Bamako, July 24, 2019 - The Malian army will urgently deliver food and medical supplies to a region in central Mali, the prime minister said Wednesday, following the deaths of six people from malnutrition after their village was cut off by militias. Insecurity in the...
Libya: Fighting intensifies near Tripoli
Tripoli, July 23, 2019 - Forces loyal to Libya's UN-recognised government said they fought off a "major" attack on the capital Tripoli led by strongman Khalifa Haftar that left casualties on both sides. On Monday "our forces repelled a major attack by Haftar forces on...
Sahel: Foreign troops wounded in attack on military base in Mali
Paris, July 22, 2019 - Three French and Estonian troops were wounded on Monday when a car bomb exploded at the entrance to an international peace-keeping base in the Malian town of Gao, France's military said on Monday. "There was an attack... at the entrance to the...
Egypt: Islamic State beheads four civilians in North Sinai
Cairo, July 17, 2019 - On Wednesday, 17 July, Islamic State militants beheaded four civilians in Sheikh Zuweid, in town in Egypt's North Sinai after they allegedly collaborated with the Egyptian military. In online statements, the Islamic State group claimed...