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
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...
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...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
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...
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...