North Africa’s Security
Security | Defense | Terrorism
Africa: New Warning of Evolving Hybrid Threats Linking Terrorism, Crime, and Climate Pressures Across Africa
Mauritania is warning that Africa’s security landscape is shifting from ideological insurgencies to profit-driven “religious-front criminal enterprises,” describing how jihadist networks have merged with organized crime.
SECURITY & DEFENSE
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. ...
Libya warns Italy over illegal fishing after incident with Italian trawlers
Libya's coastguard on Sunday warned against "illegal" fishing in its waters, denying Italian claims it had wounded a fisherman as it fired shots during an operation against four boats from Sicily. Citing "repeated, documented violations", the coastguard said that on...
Sahel: Chad military junta said it defeated FACT insurgents
Chad's military junta on Sunday declared victory after a month-long operation against rebels in the northwest of the Sahel country, parading 156 prisoners before the press in the capital N'Djamena. Fighting erupted on April 11, the day of a presidential election that...
Libya: Armed men stage show of force at presidential council HQ
Dozens of armed men staged a show of force late Friday at a hotel used as a headquarters by Libya's presidential council as the nation's deep divisions resurface. The country was plunged into chaos after longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi was ousted and killed in a...
Sahel: French journalist Olivier Dubois kidnapped in Mali
By Serge Daniel, Amaury Hauchard in N'Djamena - Missing French journalist Olivier Dubois says he has been kidnapped in Mali by a jihadist group with links to Al-Qaeda, according to a video circulating on social media on Wednesday. Here is what we know about the latest...
Sahel: More bloodshed in Niger as new attack in Banibangou claims 15 soldiers
Niger's government said Wednesday that 15 of its soldiers were killed in a "terrorist attack" near the border with Mali, bringing to 31 the number of troops killed in four days. Niger's defence ministry said "heavily armed men" had attacked troops serving under the...
Chad military junta says counterinsurgency campaign is working, rules out dialogue
Rebels who launched an offensive in northern Chad, sparking clashes that claimed the life of veteran president Idriss Deby Itno, are in flight, the country's new defence minister said on Thursday. "The security forces are thoroughly sweeping the operational area. Most...
Egypt worsens its foreign debt to buy more French fighter jets
Editor’s Opinion: They spend money they don’t have on military equipment they don’t need By Arezki Daoud - Egypt is spending money it does not have on military equipment it may never use. This is not unusual for MENA countries, although the nations flush with cash can...
Sahel: Clashes in Niger intensify, dozens killed
Niger army killed 24 'suspected terrorists': government Niger troops killed 24 "suspected terrorists' after they sought to escape after being captured in the west of the country, the government said Sunday. The suspects had been planning an attack on the market town...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
Libya: Building of lawmakers opposing warlord Haftar hit by rocket
Tripoli, May 24, 2019 - A hotel complex in the Libyan capital serving as a base for lawmakers opposed to strongman Khalifa Haftar was hit by rocket fire Friday, witnesses said. The internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) blamed the attack at...
Libya: Death toll in battle for Tripoli exceeds 500, no break for civilians in Ramadan
Tripoli, May 21, 2019 (By Imed Lamloum) - Violent clashes raged Tuesday south of Tripoli, marking an uptick in fighting as the UN envoy for Libya warned of a "long and bloody war". Heavy artillery fire could be heard from the city centre as the most intense fighting...
Libya: Four kidnapped foreign workers in Libya released
May 17, 2019 - Three Filipino civil engineers and a South Korean colleague kidnapped in Libya last July have been released and flown to the United Arab Emirates, the UAE foreign ministry said Friday. It said the engineers held by unidentified armed groups were freed...
France’s Total to get Anadarko Africa’s assets: What are the challenges ahead?
The takeover of Anadarko by Occidental paves the way for France's Total to acquire Anadarko assets and projects in Africa. A MEA Risk analysis says from afar, this looks like a good deal as all the projects in these countries have tremendous upsides. But it also...
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...