North Africa’s Security
Security | Defense | Terrorism
Could Syria Avoid a Repeat of the Libyan Disaster: Opinion by Arezki Daoud
What is happening in Syria today reflects a nation at a crossroads. The decades-long grip of the Assad family has ended, ushering in both relief and a new wave of challenges.
SECURITY & DEFENSE
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...
Mali: How Mali security services sabotaged peace
Aug 14, 2020 - United Nations experts have accused senior army and intelligence officials in Mali of deliberately obstructing a shaky 2015 peace accord, originally designed to reduce violence in the war-torn West African country. The revelations appear in an expert...
Regional affairs: Tensions rise in Eastern Mediterranean Sea
France said Thursday it was "temporarily reinforcing" its military presence in the eastern Mediterranean Sea amid tensions between neighbours Greece and Turkey over recently-discovered gas reserves. The French military said two Rafale jets would arrive Thursday on the...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
Libya: Rival militias skirmish in several Tripoli neighborhoods
Armed clashes between rival militias were reported throughout the Tripoli neighborhoods of bu Salim, Hai Damscus, Al-Hadba, Salah Eddine, Hai Akhwakh, Hai Nasir and Bab Ben Ghashir on 26 May. Security sources revealed that a shell fell on the HQ of the Libyan branch...
Morocco: Three IS suspects captured
The Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ) has dismantled an Islamic State-tied terror cell active in Nador, Driouch and Martil on 26 May. Three suspects were captured on charges of manufacturing homemade bombs and contacting IS operatives in the Middle-East.
Fresh violence in Egypt, 28 civilians and four security personnel killed in two days
The North Africa Journal- May 26, 2017: Using automatic weapons, attackers opened fire on two buses traveling to the Saint Samuel Monastery in Minya, killing 28 Christian worshipers and wounding dozens. The attackers fled the scene. The buses were targeted by masked...
Explosive social unrest across the Maghreb region
The North Africa Journal - May 24, 2017 - The Maghreb countries of North Africa are facing an unprecedented level of social and labor unrest. The Ramadan season, slated to start at the end of this month, will likely be quiet on the social front. But what we see in...
Egypt: From military-insurgents confrontation, Sinai conflict shifts to civil war
The North Africa Journal - May 17, 2017: The crisis in the Sinai Peninsula is now spreading both geographically and in terms of its scope. Analysts at MEA Risk LLC say that while the conflict has been concentrating on the northeast corner of the region, specifically...
Nine Moroccan terror suspects caught in Italy and Spain
The North Africa Journal: April 26, 2017: The Italian Special Operations Group (ROS) arrested a Moroccan national described as “extremely dangerous” who was plotting to carry out terrorist attacks in the country on 24 April. The 29-year old Moroccan was arrested...
Tunisia refuses to repatriate women linked to IS in Libya
A delegation of Tunisian officials in Libya has refused to repatriate a group of fourteen women sentenced to prison in Libya for being part of the Islamic State. After meeting with the UN-backed government, the delegation flatly refused to bring the women and their...
Algeria reinforces troops in southeast border, as crisis deepens in south Libya
The North Africa Journal - April 27, 2017: Although Algeria has been deploying more military assets along its western and southern borders, its biggest concern by far these days remains the potential for incursion of all sorts of militants from Libya. The Algerian...
Tunisia’s female Jihadists
The North Africa Journal - April 24, 2017 - The Tunisian authorities and the general population remain highly concerned about the thousands of their nationals who have joined the Islamic State (IS) to fight in the hot spots of Libya and Syria. As the noose tightens...
Egypt: Death toll reaches 49, as government declares state of emergency
The North Africa Journal - April 10, 2017 - President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi declared a three-months state of emergency across the country following the two church attacks that left at least 49 dead. The attacks were claimed by the Islamic State according to the Amaq...