North Africa’s Security
Security | Defense | Terrorism
Washington Returns to Libya’s Frontlines in Bid to Counter Russia and Reunify Militias
The United States is reengaging in Libya through Flintlock 2026, a major U.S. Africa Command exercise set for next spring near Sirte. The training will bring together Libya’s rival eastern and western forces for the first time since 2011, signaling a renewed American role in efforts to unify the country’s military, counter extremist threats, and curb Russian influence in North Africa.
SECURITY & DEFENSE
Sahel: Six Chad soldiers killed at border with Central African Republic
Chad has sent men and material to reinforce the border with the Central African Republic despite agreeing to jointly investigate a CAR attack that left six Chadian soldiers dead, a provincial governor said Thursday. "I've come from the area and we have reinforced our...
Sahel: Massacre in northern Burkina Faso
UN chief Antonio Guterres is "outraged" over the massacre of civilians in Burkina Faso's volatile north, his spokesman said Saturday, the deadliest attacks since Islamist violence erupted in the west African country in 2015. "The Secretary-General is outraged by the...
US offers cash rewards to locate Al-Qaeda’s Al-Annabi
The US State Department posted a $7 million reward Wednesday for information leading to the location or identification of Abu Ubaydah Youssef Al-Annabi, the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The department said Anabi was declared the emir of the...
Libya: Warlord Haftar wants to stay relevant, but no one cares anymore
By Jihad Dorgham and Hamza Mekouar Libya's military strongman Khalifa Haftar is polishing his political image ahead of elections, after a crippling rout on the battlefield and with his support waning at home and abroad, analysts say. Haftar's eastern-based forces...
Libya: With Libya struggling to expel mercenaries, Germany wants another conference to help out
By Hui Min Neo Germany will host a new set of Libyan peace talks on June 23 in Berlin, with Libya's transitional government due to attend, the foreign ministry said in a statement Tuesday. The conference follows a first edition in January 2020, and will take stock of...
Morocco uses threat of migrants to force Spain to change its position on the Western Sahara conflict
Morocco-Spain relations facing new challenges as Morocco focuses solely on Western Sahara politics By Hazel Ward, with Daniel Silva in Madrid - Migrants were still trying to cross from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on Wednesday after a record 8,000 people...
Sahel: Burkina Faso struggles with terror attacks in the north
Twin attacks in Burkina kill 16 Updated: May 19, 2021 - Attacks on a village and troops in the north and east of Burkina Faso left 15 civilians and one soldier dead, a regional governor and security sources said Wednesday. A brutal resurgence of jihadist violence in...
Libya: UN decries lack of progress in withdrawal of mercenaries from Libya
Libya has seen "no reduction of foreign fighters or of their activities" in the center of the country, says UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a report submitted this week to the Security Council. "While the ceasefire agreement continued to hold, UNSMIL (the UN...
Sahel: Jihadists in Mali resorting in gruesome practice of amputating hands and feet of suspected thieves
UN peacekeepers in Mali on Thursday offered to help bring to justice jihadists behind the amputation of suspected thieves' hands and feet, an apparent revival of a practice that had all but vanished. Speaking on condition of anonymity, local sources in Tin-Hama in...
Sahel: No break during the Eid holiday: Five villagers killed in Niger’s Tillaberi region
Five people were killed on Wednesday in an attack on a village in the western Tillaberi region of Niger, near the border with Mali, as the country celebrated the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, a local official told AFP. ...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
Sudan army unleashes repression on protesters
June 3, 2019 - Egypt on Monday urged all sides in Sudan to return to the negotiating table as security forces moved to break up a weeks-long protest camp in Khartoum. Violence erupted at the sit-in outside the army headquarters in the Sudanese capital earlier in the...
Libya: UN evacuates vulnerable migrants from war-torn Tripoli
Rome, May 30, 2019 - Nearly 150 migrants from East Africa, including 65 minors and 13 babies under one, were rescued from conflict-torn Libya and airlifted to Rome on Thursday by the UN refugee agency. "Due to the violent clashes and deteriorating security conditions...
Morocco: Court adjourns in tourist murder case, suspect admits to crime
Salé, Morocco, May 30, 2019 | By Hamza Mekouar - The alleged leader of a jihadist cell accused of killing two Scandinavian hikers in Morocco admitted to the murders in court on Thursday, saying they were carried out in the name of the Islamic State group. Danish...
Libya’s power sector: collateral damage of the civil war
Tripoli, May 31, 2019 | By Nawas Al-Darraji: Precariously perched 50 metres up an electricity pylon providing power to Libya's capital, Mohamad Dahman attempts to fix damage caused by fighting -- but hastily descends when a rocket explodes nearby. "We're used to...
Libya hands over suspected Islamic State insurgent to Egypt
Cairo, May 29, 2019 - One of the most-wanted Egyptian militants who was captured in neighbouring Libya last year has been transferred to Egypt, state media reported on Wednesday. Libyan strongman Khalifa Hafter handed over Hisham el-Ashmawy after meeting with Egypt's...
Sahel: Crisis Group suggests provocative idea of dialogue between Mali and insurgents
Dakar, May 28, 2019 - Mali's government should consider "dialogue" with jihadists waging an insurgency in the west African state, the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank suggested Tuesday, an idea promptly rejected by Bamako. The idea of talking to jihadists...
Libya: Two journalists released
Tripoli, May 25, 2019 (AFP) - Two Libyan journalists held by an armed group for more than three weeks have been released, the television channel they work for said Saturday. "We congratulate the press world for the release of our two colleagues, Mohamad al-Gurj and...
Chaos and insecurity in the Sahel
May 25, 2019 - Jihadists are scoring gains in the Sahel, defying efforts by five countries in the fragile region to fight back with Western help against Islamist militancy. Areas of insecurity on the Sahara's poor, arid southern rim are widening, analysts say, even as...
Libya: Tripoli braces for a long war, Haftar wants no negotiations
May 26, 2019 - Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar, who is leading a military offensive against the UN-recognised government in Tripoli, said in an interview published Sunday he will continue fighting until militias in the city laid down their arms. Haftar had justified...
Sahel: Boko Haram kills four soldiers and journalist in Chad
N'Djamena, May 26, 2019 - Four Chadian soldiers and a television reporter were killed when their vehicle hit a mine on a road in eastern Chad, security sources said Sunday. The victims were headed towards an army position that had been attacked by elements of the Boko...