North Africa’s Security
Security | Defense | Terrorism
North Africa Defense: Morocco Gets Surface-to-Air Missiles, Algeria-Mauritania Sign Defense Pact
April 2025 has seen a notable series of military developments across North Africa, where rivalries and competition for influence are adding more stress.From U.S. missile sales to Morocco to new defense agreements between Algeria and Mauritania, the regional defense landscape is worrying but geopolitical competition will likely continue to exacerbate tensions.
SECURITY & DEFENSE
Sahel: Chad claims it killed hundreds of “rebels” near Libya border
The Chadian army said Monday it had killed 300 rebels in the north of the country at the weekend, adding that it had lost five of its soldiers. A heavily armed rebel group had launched a raid from its rear base in Libya on April 11, the same day as Chad's presidential...
Sahel: West Niger gripped by deadly violence
Nineteen civilians were killed when armed men raided a village in west Niger close to the border with Mali, a local official told AFP on Sunday, in the latest bloodshed in the troubled region. "For the moment, the number of dead stands at 19 and two people have been...
Sahel: Terror attack in Burkina Faso claims lives of eight militiamen
Eight civilian members of an auxiliary force in Burkina Faso's anti-jihadist campaign died in an ambush on Wednesday in the north and others were still missing, security and local sources said. "A patrol of the VDP (Volunteers for the Defence of the Motherland) fell...
Sahel: More European troops headed to Mali. Danish special forces are next
Denmark plans to deploy about 100 special forces to Mali early next year to boost the elite anti-jihadist European task force Takuba headed by France, the government announced Thursday. "The terrorist threat posed by the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda remains...
Mali: UN says insurgents who attacked peacekeepers killed in counter-attack
More than 40 jihadists, including a senior commander, were killed last week after they attacked United Nations peacekeepers in northern Mali, the UN force MINUSMA said on Monday. A UN source previously said about 20 of around 100 assailants were killed in a three-hour...
Niger’s new president term starts amid intense violence
Niger's defence ministry said Sunday that four of its soldiers had been killed the day before in twin "terrorist" attacks in the country's southeast, the day after President Mohamed Bazoum was sworn in. "Several terrorists" had been killed in the simultaneous Saturday...
Africa: With terror groups intensely fixated on Africa, security outlook feels gloomy
By Didier Lauras - From the arid expanses of the Sahel into the Sinai Peninsula and now Mozambique, Africa is proving fertile ground for jihadist groups looking to bolster their notoriety by exploiting conflicts that have often festered for years. The fighters who...
Sahel: Violence in Niger as country prepares to inaugurate a new president
By Boureima Hama - Elite troops in Niger thwarted an "attempted coup" early Wednesday, a security source said, just two days before the historic inauguration of Mohamed Bazoum as president of the chronically unstable Sahel nation. Residents earlier reported hearing...
Libyan authorities on the hunt for killers of Al Warfalli, arrest suspect
Libyan authorities Saturday announced increased security measures in second city Benghazi and the arrest of two suspects in connection with the killing of a militia leader wanted by the International Criminal Court. Security is precarious in Benghazi with frequent...
Sahel: Attacks on Niger targets continue
Eleven people were killed on Wednesday in western Niger, a flashpoint for jihadist attacks, when armed men on motorbikes raided three villages near the Malian border, local officials said. "The assailants arrived on several motorbikes at around 5pm. They killed three...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
Sahel: Death toll in ambush on Niger soldiers increases to 28
Update: May 17, 2019 (AFP) - The Islamic State group Thursday claimed an ambush on an army patrol in Niger that killed at least 28 troops. A military patrol was ambushed on Tuesday near the village of Tongo Tongo in the western Tillaberi region, near the Mali border,...
Libya: How Tripoli residents cope with Haftar’s incessant attacks
Tripoli, May 16, 2019 (By Rim Taher) - Peering through the gate of a home in the western suburbs of Libya's war-torn capital, seven-year-old Chehab shyly looked on as children streamed down the nearby street. "I'll just play by myself," he muttered, holding a ball...
Egypt: War rages in northeast Egypt, 52 killed in latest clash
Cairo, May 16, 2019 (AFP) - Egypt's army on Thursday said 47 militants and five of its troops were killed as part of its military offensive in the restive Sinai Peninsula, where it is fighting the Islamic State group. The suspected militants had "guns of different...
Libya: Haftar follows Sarraj’s path, visits European leaders
Rome, May 16, 2019 - Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar, who has launched a military offensive against the UN-recognised government in Tripoli, held surprise talks with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in Rome on Thursday ahead of a visit to Paris next week,...
Sahel: Another ambush in Niger claims at least 17 soldiers
May 15, 2019 - Gunmen killed 17 Niger soldiers in an ambush near the border with Mali, a security source said Wednesday, adding 11 were still missing a day later. The attack occurred Tuesday near the village of Tongo Tongo in the western Tillaberi region where four US...
Libya: More weapons flowing into Libya
May 13, 2019 - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has told the Security Council he is deeply concerned by the battle for Tripoli and reports of fresh weapons supplies flowing into Libya, according to a report seen by AFP on Monday. Guterres reported to the council...
Sahel: Terror attack on Christian church in Badlo, Burkina Faso
Ouagadougou, May 12, 2019 - Gunmen killed a priest and five parishioners during mass Sunday in an attack on a Catholic church in Dablo, northern Burkina Faso, security sources and a local official said. "Towards 9:00 am, during mass, armed individuals burst into the...
Libya: Claiming to fight against terror groups, warlord Haftar is enabling the return of Islamic State
Tripoli, May 11, 2019 (Imed Lamloum) - The battle for Tripoli between rival Libyan forces both championing the fight against "terrorism" has created a security vacuum, allowing the Islamic State group a chance to re-emerge, analysts warn. Libya expert Emad Badi says...
General Sisi of Egypt confirms his support to Libyan warlord Haftar in his quest to destroy Tripoli
Cairo, May 9, 2019 - Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar was in Cairo on Thursday for the second time since he launched a military offensive on his country's capital, the Egyptian presidency said. Haftar has gained the ardent support of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah...
Sahel: Two French soldiers killed while rescuing foreign hostages in Burkina Faso
May 10, 2019 - French special forces have freed two French hostages, an American and a South Korean in northern Burkina Faso in an overnight military raid in which two soldiers died, authorities announced Friday. The operation was ordered to free the French tourists,...