North Africa’s Security
Security | Defense | Terrorism
Jihadist Expansion Threatens Coastal West Africa
The Sahel is confronting an intensifying insurgency that continues to evolve in scale and complexity. Armed groups such as the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (EIGS) are adapting and adjusting their...
SECURITY & DEFENSE
Catholic hostages freed in Mali
A Malian priest -- the last of a group of five Catholics kidnapped in mid-June -- has been freed, church and government sources said Wednesday. Armed men took the five people hostage in the centre of Mali on June 21 after they left Segue to attend the funeral of...
Burkina Faso: Attack on Niha-Mossi village leaves 10 dead
Ten people were killed in northern Burkina Faso, seven of them members of a civilian defence force, security sources said Monday, in an attack in a region that has been repeatedly hit by jihadists. "Unidentified armed men yesterday attacked the village of Niha-Mossi,...
Niger: Civilians, soldiers and armed attackers killed in Tillaberi clash
Five civilians, four soldiers and 40 armed attackers were killed Sunday in a clash in Niger's restive southwest region near the border with Mali, the government said. Around 100 heavily armed "terrorists" riding motorcycles attacked the Tchoma Bangou village, striking...
Sahel: Despite announcing troop drawdown plan, France insists it will not leave the Sahel
France to start closing military bases in Mali by year-end President Emmanuel Macron said Friday that France would start closing its bases in northern Mali before the end of the year, part of a drawdown of French troops fighting Islamist extremists in the Sahel. "The...
Libya: Russia and Turkey signaling willingness to pull tiny number of their mercenaries from Libya
By Hui Min Neo and Shaun Tandon Hopes grew Wednesday for Libya's stability following a decade of bloodshed as Russia and Turkey reached a tentative plan in talks in Berlin to start withdrawing foreign mercenaries, officials said. The UN-sponsored conference -- the...
Burkina Faso: Mass casualty in ambush on policemen near Barsalogho
Around 10 policemen have been killed in an ambush by suspected jihadists in northern Burkina Faso and several more officers are missing, security sources told AFP on Tuesday. "On Monday evening, a group of police officers were targeted in an ambush by armed...
Sahel: Mali Church officials report kidnapping of Catholics in Mopti
Armed men in central Mali have abducted five Catholics, including an abbot, Church officials said Tuesday, in the latest kidnapping in the war-torn Sahel state. The group disappeared on Monday while travelling from the mostly Catholic area of Segue in the centre of...
Sahel: France announces arrest of ISGS’ Abou Dardar
By Didier Lauras with Amaury Hauchard in Bamako French forces in Mali have captured a man they describe as a "high-ranking fighter of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara" (ISGS), the French military said Wednesday. Dadi Ould Chouaib, also known as Abou Dardar, was...
Mali: Bomb blast in Timbuktu wounds four Malian civilians and six French soldiers
A suicide car bomber attacked French troops patrolling in central Mali on Monday, according to France's military, wounding six soldiers and four civilians including a child in the war-torn West African country. The French soldiers, who were travelling in a vehicle,...
Sahel: Burkina Faso army raids jihadist bases, kills nearly dozen militants
Burkina Faso soldiers killed 11 jihadists and destroyed three "terrorist" bases last week in security operations after the deadliest massacre in the country's six-year jihadist insurgency, the army said Monday. The operation between June 14 and 16 targeted areas in...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
Libya: Haftar frees Turkish sailors before it is too late
July 1, 2019 - Six Turkish sailors held by forces led by Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar have been freed, a Turkish foreign ministry official said on Monday. "The sailors are free. According to their wishes, they continue to work," said the official, speaking on...
Libya: Warlord Haftar complicates his situation as he loses Gharyan
Benghazi, Libya, June 29, 2019 - Strongman Khalifa Haftar has threatened to attack Turkish interests in Libya after suffering a serious setback in his push to take the capital Tripoli, accusing Ankara of backing his rivals. Anti-Haftar forces supporting Libya's...
Morocco: Lawyers speak of Moroccan government failure to track terrorists, as suspects face death penalty
Salé, Morocco, June 27, 2019 - Lawyers for the family of a Danish hiker murdered last year in Morocco said on Thursday that authorities had failed to monitor the activities of some suspects before the killing. Danish student Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, and...
Tunisia: Main attacks in Tunisia since 2011 revolution
Tunis, June 27, 2019 - Two suicide bombers attacked security forces in the Tunisian capital on Thursday, killing a police officer and wounding at least eight people including several civilians, the interior ministry said. One attack on the main street of Tunis wounded...
Morocco: Killers of European tourists in Morocco face death penalty
Salé, Morocco, June 27, 2019 - (By Ismail Bellaouali) - Moroccan prosecutors on Thursday called for the death penalty for the three main jihadist suspects on trial for the "bloodthirsty" murder of two young Scandinavian hikers. The maximum sentence was sought for...
Libya: Setback for warlord Haftar as Tripoli forces retake Gharyan
Tripoli, June 26, 2019 - Libyan forces opposed to Khalifa Haftar claimed Wednesday to have retaken Gharyan, a strategic town where the controversial strongman's fighters were based in the west of the country. "Gharyan is under our total control," said Mustafa...
Tunisia: Tunis rocked by twin terror attacks, as President fights for his life
Tunis, June 27, 2019 - Double suicide attacks shook Tunisia's capital Thursday, even as the country was plunged into uncertainty with the hospitalisation of President Beji Caid Essebsi who was said to be in "critical condition". The violence revived fears for the...
Sahel: Two gendarmes killed in terror attack in Burkina Faso
Ouagadougou, June 25, 2019 - A "terrorist attack" left two gendarmes dead and one seriously wounded in the north of Burkina Faso where jihadist violence has raged since 2015, the national police said Tuesday. The attack occurred Monday in the Arbinda region, where a...
Egypt: Another terror attack in Egypt’s North Sinai
Cairo, June 26, 2019 - Seven police officers have been killed in a jihadist attack in restive North Sinai, Egypt's interior ministry said Wednesday. The attack near the regional capital El-Arish targeted an "assembly centre" for police, according to the ministry. Four...
Sahel: 18 insurgents killed in Niger’s Tongo Tongo area over a ten-day campaign
Niamey, June 20, 2019 - Eighteen members of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara were killed in a joint operation by US, French and Niger troops near Niger's border with Mali, the defence ministry said Tuesday. The June 8-18 operation took place "in the northern...