North Africa’s Security
Security | Defense | Terrorism
Sahel: Surging Jihadist Violence Batters the Sahel, Exposing Government Weakness
Jihadist violence has surged across the Sahel, with militants overrunning military bases, ambushing convoys, and forcing civilians to negotiate with armed groups for survival. Hardest hit are conflict corridors in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and northeastern Nigeria, where blockades and insecurity have left millions displaced or trapped in besieged communities.
SECURITY & DEFENSE
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...
Libya: First group of mercenaries linked to Turkey leaving Libya
Pro-Ankara Syrian militia fighters deployed in Libya have started to withdraw, a French diplomatic source said on Thursday, describing the move as "encouraging". "This is one of the encouraging gestures that we have seen. There are movements (of the Syrian militia...
Mali: French military accused of killing six people in raid on Talataye, France denies
Six people were killed in northeastern Mali on Thursday in disputed circumstances, with French forces saying a strike targeted jihadists and local residents alleging those left dead were young hunters. It was the second time in recent months that an air strike had...
Sahel: Niger’s Tahoua region targeted by terror groups, dozens killed in fresh raids
Scores of people have died in the deadliest suspected jihadist massacre ever to hit Niger, the government said Monday, underscoring the huge security challenge facing new President Mohamed Bazoum. Government spokesman Zakaria Abdourahamane said 137 people had died in...
Libya: Women making modest progress in politics but glass ceiling still strong
By Hamza Mekouar and Jihad Dorgham: Libya's new government includes five women, with two in key portfolios -- a first for the country nonetheless criticised by activists as insufficient and as not living up to a UN commitment. Libya descended into conflict after...
Libya: Authorities find bodies of people in Benghazi likely killed execution style
The bodies of 11 people bearing gunshot wounds were discovered on Thursday in eastern Libya's Benghazi, said a security source, suggesting they had been "executed". "Security forces were alerted on Thursday of the presence of 11 unidentified bodies at the southern...
Repression: How the Egyptian army destroyed the Sinai in the name of the “war on terror”
Egyptian troops have demolished more than 12,300 buildings in the Sinai Peninsula since 2013 in a campaign of forced evictions that likely amount to "war crimes", Human Rights Watch said Wednesday. A decade-old jihadist insurgency in North Sinai province escalated in...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
Libya: Fighting rages in Tripoli, death toll and population displacement increase
Fierce fighting continued over the last two days and overnight on the outskirts of Tripoli between the Khalifa Hafter-led Libyan National Army (LNA) and its aligned forces on the one hand, and forces aligned to the internationally recognized Presidency Council and...
German Chancellor calls for unified European approach to conflicts in the Maghreb and Sahel
Ouagadougou, May 2, 2019 - Europe must adopt a common position to resolve the Libyan crisis, which has boosted unrest in the Sahel, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday in Burkina Faso, a country hard-hit by jihadist violence. Her visit coincided with a...
Libya: Hundreds killed, scores wounded in Tripoli offensive
Espiaa, Libya, April 30, 2019 (By Simon Valmary) - Plumes of smoke rise from the plain south of Libya's capital as troops loyal to the UN-recognised government battle to fend off an assault on Tripoli. On the roof of an abandoned clinic, a fighter surveyed the dry...
Moroccan Jihadists to go on trial for murder of Scandinavian hikers
Rabat, April 30, 2019 - By Hamza MEKOUAR - Two dozen suspects are set to go on trial in Morocco Thursday for offences linked to the gruesome murder of two young Scandinavian hikers late last year that shocked the North African country. Danish student Louisa Vesterager...
Libya: Clashes at Sherrara oil field in Murzuk
Tripoli, April 29, 2019 - Fighting took place overnight at Libya's main oil field, the National Oil Company said on Monday without identifying the combatants. The NOC said on Twitter that it "forcefully condemns overnight clashes and an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade)...
Sahel: Son of French hostage in Mali denounces French government inaction
Paris, April 28, 2019 (AFP) - The son of an elderly French woman abducted in Mali has accused Paris of refusing to talk to her abductors, in comments published Sunday that were disputed by French authorities. Armed jihadists abducted Sophie Petronin on December 24,...
Libya: Warlord Haftar hits civilian targets in air raid on Tripoli
Tripoli, April 28, 2019 - Air raids by the self-styled Libyan National Army against the capital on Saturday night killed four people and wounded 20 others, Libya's internationally recognised unity government said. But Amin al-Hachemi, a spokesman for the Government of...
Libya: Tripoli’s “residential areas turning into battlefields”
Tripoli, April 25, 2019 - Intensified fighting for control of the Libyan capital is turning residential areas of Tripoli into "battlefields", the International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday. "The humanitarian situation in and around Tripoli has deteriorated...
Tunisia: Army kills member of the Okba Ibn Nafaa Brigade, says MEA Risk
MEA Risk LLC reports that the Tunisian military killed an insurgent known as Usama al-Salmi on 23 April. He was killed during a confrontation with him and other members of the group in Kef. The identity of al-Salmi was confirmed by legal authorities after his body...
Libya: Death toll climbs, displacement accelerates in Tripoli
Tripoli, April 23, 2019 - At least 264 people have been killed and 1,266 wounded, including civilians, in an offensive by military strongman Khalifa Haftar to seize Libya's capital Tripoli, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. The UN agency called on Twitter...