North Africa’s Security
Security | Defense | Terrorism
Russia-Africa: From weapon sales to economic ties
By Arezki Daoud: Has the war in Ukraine deter Russia from engagement in Africa? Certainly not! We know on the security front, a growing number of African states are turning to Russia to supply them with military equipment and security services, judging by the...
SECURITY & DEFENSE
Mali: Reshuffle in Mali’s defense and security establishment
Bamako, Sept 2, 2020 - Mali's junta has named a new army chief of staff and appointed people to other key army and security posts, weeks after seizing power, according to decrees published Wednesday. General Oumar Diarra is named chief of the general staff of the...
Egypt: Violent military operation in North Sinai with army saying it killed 73 insurgents
Cairo, Aug 30, 2020 - Egypt's army announced Sunday that more than 70 alleged jihadists have been killed in recent military operations in North Sinai, the location of an insurrection affiliated to the Islamic State group. A statement by the Egyptian army said that the...
Turkey launches military maneuvers as tensions remain high in East Med
Istanbul, Aug 29, 2020 - Turkey on Saturday launched new military drills in the eastern Mediterranean and Greece accused Turkish jets of an incursion as tensions mount in a maritime standoff between the NATO members. The confrontation has reignited a longstanding...
Mali: Four soldiers killed near Mopti
Bamako, Aug 27, 2020 - Four troops were killed and 12 were wounded on Thursday in an ambush in central Mali, the army said, blaming the attack on jihadists who launched an insurgency eight years ago. The troops, from an anti-poaching unit, fell into a trap set by...
Tension continues to rise in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea with all parties flexing the muscles
Istanbul, Aug 27, 2020 - Turkey on Thursday extended its controversial Mediterranean gas exploration mission and scheduled new navy drills as its row with Greece and the EU over energy and borders threatened to spiral out of control. The Turkish navy said it was...
Espionage: Former head of Parisian airport’s police info unit accused of spying for Morocco
Créteil, France, Aug 25, 2020 - A French border policeman will stand trial for transferring hundreds of highly confidential documents on wanted people to Moroccan secret services in exchange for luxurious holidays abroad, judicial sources told AFP Tuesday. The...
Breaking: Mutiny leaders announce arrest of president and Prime Minister
Developing story: Mutineering soldiers in Mali on Tuesday detained President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse, one of their leaders said. "We can tell you that the president and the prime minister are under our control," the leader, who requested...
Libya: Turkey and Qatar intensify their involvement in Libya
Qatar and Turkey have signed an accord to send military advisers and instructors for the armed forces of Libya's Government of National Accord, the UN-recognised GNA said. "We have reached an agreement with Turkish Foreign Minister Hulusi Akar and Qatar's (minister)...
Sahel: Fears of a soldiers’ mutiny in Mali as political crisis lingers
Bamako, Aug 18, 2020 - Gunfire broke out at a key army base near Mali's capital Bamako on Tuesday, officials and witnesses said, triggering fears of a mutiny in the crisis-stricken Sahel state. Details of the events were sketchy, but the sources said the soldiers...
Libya: Foreign countries ‘continue to massively arm Libya’ says Germany’s top diplomat
Tripoli, Aug 17, 2020 - German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, visiting war-torn Libya's capital Monday, warned of a "deceptive calm" since fighting stalled around Sirte, the central hometown of fallen dictator Moamer Kadhafi. Outside powers are "continuing to massively...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
Egypt: Six suspected militants killed by police in Sohag
Cairo, Jan 12, 2019 (AFP) - Egyptian police killed six suspected Islamist militants in a shootout early Saturday in the country's south, the interior ministry said. The clashes broke out during a police raid on a militant hideout in a mountainous area on the edge of...
Egypt arrests two Germans suspected to be joining Islamic State
Cairo, Jan 11, 2019 - Egypt has arrested two German nationals on suspicion they tried to join an Islamic State group affiliate and deported one of them, Egyptian security sources said Friday. German media reported earlier this month that two Germans had gone missing...
Libya: Belgium and the fueling of illegal arms market and human trafficking ($)
Up to 5 billion euros belonging to the Libyan Investment Authority have vanished from Belgian banks. On 30 October, Belgian broadcaster RTBF revealed that the Belgian courts had opened an investigation to determine whether Belgian banks had paid interest and dividends...
Tunisia: Four Jihadists sentenced to death for beheading of shepherd
Tunis, Jan 9, 2019 - A Tunisian court has convicted dozens of jihadists over the 2015 murder of a teenage shepherd, but the vast majority remain on the run, a prosecution spokesman said Wednesday. Mabrouk Soltani, 17, was beheaded as his sheep grazed on Mount Mghilla...
Egypt police officer killed defusing church bomb
Cairo, Jan 6, 2019 (AFP) - A policeman was killed while trying to dismantle an explosive device outside a Coptic church in Egypt on Saturday, a security source said. Two other officers were also wounded in the explosion as security personnel attempted to defuse the...
Morocco: Killing of two tourists prompts Western authorities to caution their citizens when traveling to Morocco
Morocco has long been one of the most sheltered areas in North Africa from terror activity, largely due to the efficiency of its intelligence services and its counter-terrorism measures. But the killing of two European tourists in mid-December 2018 by suspected...
Algeria’s other military campaigns
The North Africa Journal - 8 November 2018: MEA Risk LLC says that for the period of 1 to 7 November 2018, there were 53 critical incidents recorded in Algeria, resulting in a single death and 392 arrests. The share of the Criminality category in the week’s total...
Presentation: The sources of instability in the Sahel
The North Africa Journal - June 5, 2018: This is a presentation made by MEA Risk Analyst and North Africa Journal Editor Arezki Daoud on understanding the sources of instability in the Sahel. The presentation focuses broadly on the root causes affecting countries...
Libya: Nothing new achieved in yet another Paris conference on Libya
By Arezki Daoud, MEA Risk Lead Analyst - May 31, 2018: The headlines in some of the world’s media read as if something new happened in Paris this week. One of them says “Libyan factions agree to December 10 elections at Paris talks,” suggesting to the reader that...
Violence escalates in the Sahel, surge of communal conflicts
The North Africa Journal - May 31, 2018: Violence in Mali continues to escalate, making dozens of deaths, including among Tuareg and Fulani civilians caught in a conflict that has no solution in sight. Security tracking firm MEA Risk LLC says over the past weekend,...