North Africa’s Security
Security | Defense | Terrorism
Libya’s Fragile Peace Shaken Again by Local Violence
Tensions are flaring again in Libya, from deadly street battles in Tripoli’s suburbs to violent protests in Sabratha. The killing of a well-known militia leader and the death of a police officer days apart reveal a deeper unraveling—where everyday disputes turn into...
SECURITY & DEFENSE
Niger: 18 civilian killed in terror attack in Banibangou
A fresh attack in western Niger near the border with Mali has left 18 civilians dead, a local elected official said Thursday. The attack Wednesday was in the village of Deye Koukou in the Banibangou area, where 14 civilians were killed Sunday -- also by men aboard...
Tunisia: Three political parties under investigation over alleged foreign funding
Tunisia's judiciary has opened an investigation into allegations political parties received foreign funding ahead of national elections held in 2019, the prosecutor's office told AFP on Wednesday. Three parties are under investigation, the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha...
Libya: Militia gang leader Mohammed al-Kani gunned down
A Libyan militia gang leader accused of major human rights violations has been shot dead at a farm in the eastern city of Benghazi, a military source told AFP Tuesday. Mohammed al-Kani was gunned down after resisting members of the military who had arrived bearing an...
Sahel: Insurgency is destabilizing Burkina Faso, with mass population displacement
Record numbers of people in Burkina Faso have become internally displaced or fled abroad as a result of jihadist violence, the UN's Refugee Agency said on Friday. In the first half of 2021, 237,000 people fled to other parts of Burkina Faso, compared to 96,000...
Sahel: French troops kill two ISGS regional leaders in Mali
France said Friday that its forces had killed two senior leaders of the Islamic State in Greater Sahara (ISGS) group in Mali in an attack coordinated with the US. French Defence Minister Florence Parly said the attack hit a camp in the Menaka region of the west...
Morocco grapples with the Pegasus spyware problem
Morocco files French libel suit over Pegasus spyware claim Morocco has filed defamation claims against Amnesty International and a French NGO who claim its intelligence services used the Pegasus mobile phone spyware against dozens of French journalists, lawyers for...
Middle East: Carnage in Baghdad with dozens killed in suicide attack ahead of Eid
By Salam Faraj: Iraq was in mourning Tuesday for dozens of people killed when a bomb ripped through a crowded Baghdad market on the eve of a Muslim feast in what the Islamic State group claimed as a suicide attack. The bloody carnage Monday evening, one of the...
Sahel: French warplane crashes in central Mali
A French Mirage warplane crashed in an uninhabited area of central Mali on Tuesday after suffering a technical malfunction, but its two crew ejected and were quickly recovered, the French army said. The plane was carrying out surveillance near the town of Homburi in...
Sahel: Failed assassination attempt on Mali’s interim president
Assimi Goita’s Profile By Amaury Hauchard with Laurent Lozano in Dakar An enigmatic special forces commander, Mali's interim leader Assimi Goita is known to be publicity-shy but with a penchant for power. He grabbed headlines in May when he ousted Mali's former...
Libya’s normalization efforts at an impasse
The UN envoy for Libya, Jan Kubis, on Thursday warned of an impasse in the political, security and budgetary plans for the country, which is supposed to hold general elections on December 24 but which are looking increasingly in doubt."I am deeply concerned about the...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
Tunisia: Islamic State Group issues new threat against Tunisia
Tunis, July 17, 2019 - The Islamic State group has called for more attacks in Tunisia in a rare propaganda video purportedly filmed by the jihadists in the North African nation. It comes three weeks after a twin suicide attack against police in the capital Tunis...
Egypt: Suicide bomb attack claims two lives in Sheikh Zuweid
Cairo, July 18, 2019- Two people including a civilian were killed in a suicide bomb attack Thursday targeting security forces in the restive Sinai Peninsula, medical and security sources said. The attack hit forces stationed near a parking lot in the city of Sheikh...
Libya: The backers of warlord Khalifa Haftar are calling for halt of fighting
Washington, July 16, 2019 - Key powers including backers of a rebel leader called Tuesday for a halt to fighting in Libya, warning that bloodshed was aggravating a crisis on multiple fronts. The United States, France, Britain and Italy joined Egypt and the United Arab...
Sahel: The bizarre idea of the International Crisis Group to solve the security crisis in Mali
Commentary by Arezki Daoud: The highly respected International Crisis Group (ICG) has proposed to Mali the controversial idea of engaging in negotiations between the government in Bamako and the insurgent groups. ICG advised Bamako to engage into negotiations with...
Morocco: Judges under intense pressure to issue death penalty to killers of European tourists
Salé, Morocco, July 11, 2019 - The mother of a Danish student beheaded along with another Scandinavian woman while hiking in Morocco's High Atlas mountains called Thursday for the suspected jihadist killers to face the death penalty as their trial neared its end. "The...
Libya: Car bomb at a Benghazi funeral claims three lives
Benghazi, Libya, July 11, 2019 - A car bomb exploded during the funeral of an ex-army commander in the Libyan city of Benghazi on Thursday, killing at least three people and wounding 15, a hospital said. A security official said the attack, the first in over a year in...
Tunisia: Suspected mastermind of twin suicide attacks blows himself up, as death toll from his attack rises to two
Tunis, July 3, 2019 - The suspected mastermind of last week's twin suicide bombings in Tunis was killed when he blew himself up during a police manhunt outside the capital, the government said Wednesday. Police had tracked the suspect down to the working class suburb...
Libya: Khalifa Haftar warplane kills 40 migrants who were jailed in a detention center
Tripoli, July 3, 2019 (By Imed LAMLOUM) - Nearly 40 migrants were killed in an air strike Tuesday night on their detention centre in a Tripoli suburb blamed on Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar, who has been trying for three months to seize the capital. At least 70...
Libya: UAE weapons used by warlord Haftar
Dubai, July 2, 2019 - The UAE denied Tuesday it shipped US missiles to Libya, which is under a UN arms embargo, after a democratic senator warned Washington could cut off arms sales to the Emirates. The foreign ministry "denied the ownership of weapons found in Libya...
Libya: Haftar’s embarrassing defeat in Gharyan may complicate the Libyan civil war
Tripoli, July 2, 2019 - By Imed Lamloum - Libya's military strongman Khalifa Haftar, by provoking Turkey, seeks to divert attention from battlefield setbacks and draw in his backers, at the risk of a proxy war between regional rivals, experts say. The strongman of...