North Africa’s Security
Security | Defense | Terrorism
Morocco Busts ‘Lions of the Caliphate’ Terror Cell After Yearlong Probe
Moroccan security services arrested 12 operatives of the so-called “Lions of the Caliphate in the Maghreb Al-Aqsa” after a yearlong investigation. Authorities say the terror cell, linked to Daesh in the Sahel, had a weapons cache in Errachidia and planned attacks in Morocco.
SECURITY & DEFENSE
Egypt: Impasse in talks over Ethiopia dam
Sudan said Wednesday the latest round of talks with Egypt and Ethiopia over Addis Ababa's controversial dam on the Blue Nile ended after they failed to make headway. The negotiations, held over videoconference, kicked off Sunday and were meant to last a week in a...
Sahel: France drags European troops into a conflict they cannot win
Inside a military base in northern Mali, a concrete bollard emblazoned with French, Estonian and Swedish flags marks a zone reserved for a new anti-jihadist unit of elite European troops. Dubbed Task Force Takuba, the new joint deployment marks a coup for France,...
Tunisia’s problem with its radicalized youth
The killing of three people at a church in France has focused attention on extremism in the suspected attacker's native Tunisia, where political instability has hobbled efforts to tackle radicalisation. It is unclear where Brahim Aouissaoui was radicalised in Tunisia,...
Security: France in Al-Qaeda’s crosshairs
Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb urged its followers Monday to kill anyone insulting the Prophet Mohammed and threatened French President Emmanuel Macron over his remarks on Islam. Last month Macron defended the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed on...
Libya: New meeting in Ghadames to set up the basis of a ceasefire
Rival Libyan military officers arrived Monday for talks held for the first time on home soil following a ceasefire deal last month, an AFP reporter said. Formal talks will begin later on Monday evening, said the AFP reporter present, with discussions tackling the...
Morocco: IS-linked inmate kills guard at Tiflet prison
A Moroccan prison guard was killed by an inmate who was in jail for belonging to a militant cell linked to the Islamic State group, prosecutors said Wednesday. The detainee on Tuesday "took captive an employee in his cell and assaulted him with a metal object" at...
Sahel: As expected, France opposes dialogue in the Sahel
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, on a trip to Mali on Monday, ruled out dialogue with jihadists driving an eight-year-old insurgency in the Sahel state. (See our opinion on this last week). "Let's say things very clearly. There are peace accords (with...
Libya: Tenuous ceasefire in Libya as foreign meddlers ponder what to do next
Libya's two warring factions signed a "permanent" ceasefire agreement on Friday after five days of talks at the United Nations, which hailed the deal as a historic moment following years of turmoil and bloodshed. "Today is a good day for the Libyan people," said...
Sahel: Another massacre in Mali, 12 civilian killed in Mopti
Twelve civilians were killed in volatile central Mali on Tuesday morning in addition to 12 soldiers who died in a twin attack that began overnight, police and humanitarian officials said. The group was travelling in a minibus following a military convoy sent to...
Sahel: French hostage and Mali opposition leader freed
A French aid worker kidnapped in Mali in 2016 and one of the country's leading opposition politicians have been released, the presidency said on Thursday. The office of Mali's president said on social media that Frenchwoman Sophie Petronin, 75, and Soumaila Cisse, 70,...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
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,...
Libya: Haftar seeks to degrade Chadian mercenaries in Southern Libya
The North Africa Journal- April 4, 2018: The air force controlled by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar has been targeting the forces of the Military Command Council for the Salvation of the Republic (CCMSR), an organization of Chad rebels operating in Southern Libya. ...