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: Chad army and opposition rebels clash in Kanem
Government troops and rebels clashed on Thursday in a region of western Chad where president Idriss Deby Itno was killed earlier this month, a spokesman said. The fighting in the desert region of Kanem, near Chad's border with Niger, pits Libya-based rebels against...
Mali: Three UN peacekeepers wounded in Mali attack
Three United Nations peacekeepers were on Sunday seriously injured in a rocket attack on a military base in the north of the conflict-ridden Sahel state, UN and local officials said. Olivier Salgado, the spokesman for the UN's MINUSMA mission in Mali, said the attack...
Chad: Hunt of alleged killers of president Deby expands to Niger
Chad's new ruling junta on Sunday vowed to root out a rebel leader accused of "war crimes", seeking help from neighbouring Niger to track him down along with his fighters. The army has "located the enemy spread out in small groups, now regrouping in Niger territory,"...
Sahel: Lawlessness in northern Chad
Northern Chad is a restive region and a breeding ground for rebel groups which oppose the N'Djamena authorities. A lawless zone abandoned to illegal gold miners and gangs of traffickers, the troubled Sahel region is scarcely populated and difficult to control. The...
Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula continues on its path to complete instability
Egypt's interior ministry said Monday it killed three "terrorist elements" in the Sinai Peninsula suspected of involvement in the execution of a Coptic Christian claimed by an Islamic State-affiliated group. "National security received intelligence about a group of...
Mali: Fighting between hunters and insurgents wrecks havoc on Mopti region
About 40 people have been killed in recent clashes between jihadists and traditional hunters, the government of central Mali's Mopti region said Monday, with the fighting displacing around 1,000 people. The war-torn region's government said in a statement that clashes...
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...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
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,...
Libya: Islamic State strikes again, attacks town in south of Libya
Tripoli, May 9, 2019 - Two civilians were killed and four captured Thursday in a southern Libyan town held by strongman Khalifa Haftar, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group, sources said. Gunmen in more than 10 vehicles launched the attack on Ghodwa early...
Libya: Haftar’s army says it downed warplane, captured “foreign mercenary”
Tripoli, May 7, 2019 - Troops loyal to Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar said Tuesday they shot down a warplane and captured its foreign "mercenary" pilot near the capital Tripoli. The Mirage F1 was downed in Al-Hira region, 70 kilometres (43 miles) south of...
Libya: Despite the start of Ramadan, warlord Haftar maintains his destruction of Tripoli
Tripoli, May 6, 2019 - Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar, who launched an offensive against Tripoli last month, has urged his troops to teach unity government forces an "even harder lesson", as the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan begins. Haftar's self-styled Libyan...
Libya: Lawmakers slam Haftar’s assault on Tripoli
Tripoli, May 2, 2019 (AFP) - Dozens of Libyan lawmakers supporting the internationally-recognised government on Thursday condemned an offensive by commander Khalifa Haftar on Tripoli, as they staged a meeting in the capital. The legislators have announced a boycott of...
Libya: As killings of civilians continue in Tripoli, UAE uses “terrorism” to justify its support of warlord Haftar
Opinion by Arezki Daoud: There is no mystery as to who support warlord Haftar in his raids on the civilian populations of Tripoli. Using "terrorism" is an old pretext that no one is buying anymore. Egypt, Saudi Arabi and the UAE (I will call collectively them ESU),...
Morocco: Trial of Jihadi suspects postponed
Salé, Morocco, May 2, 2019 - A Moroccan court adjourned on Thursday for two weeks the trial of two dozen suspects charged in connection with the murder of two Scandinavian hikers minutes after it opened. Danish student Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, and 28-year-old...