North Africa’s Security
Security | Defense | Terrorism
Libya’s fragmented military and competition for its control
While the world is focused on the crises in the Middle East and Ukraine, a power struggle continues to destabilize Libya, with protagonists competing for the control of the armed forces. Three factions are now at the center of an ongoing struggle over the fate of the...
SECURITY & DEFENSE
Libya: Haftar’s forces lose Tarhouna in a disastrous retreat
Tripoli, June 5, 2020 - Libya's UN-recognised unity government retook the town of Tarhuna southeast of Tripoli on Friday, depriving eastern-based strongman Khalifa Haftar of his last redoubt in the west, a spokesman said. "Our heroic forces have extended their control...
Opinion: Morocco and Algeria wasting their money on useless military hardware
Transcript: Opinion by Arezki Daoud: 4 June 2020: Just like Algeria has been doing, Morocco is spending the money it does not have to procure more military equipment it will never use and without major security logic. The country is facing a collapsed economy due to...
Libya: Warlord Khalifa Haftar loses Tripoli International Airport
Tripoli, June 3, 2020 - Forces backing Libya's unity government said Wednesday they had reseized the capital's Tripoli International Airport, held since 2019 by rival forces backing Khalifa Haftar, in the latest in a string of defeats for the eastern-based military...
Libya: French warship intercepts oil tanker off the coast of Libya
United Nations, United States, June 3, 2020 - Europe tried to reassure Russia during a UN Security Conference video call Tuesday after a French warship intercepted an oil tanker off the coast of Libya under an operation to halt the flow of arms to the North African...
Egypt kills more people in Sinai alleged to be insurgents
Egypt's military said it had killed 19 militants in targeted ground and air operations as part of its battle to quell a long-running Islamist insurgency in north Sinai. Five soldiers were killed or wounded in the operations last week, according to the online video...
Niger: Refugee camp in the Tahoua attacked, three killed
Jihadists carried out a coordinated attack on a camp housing thousands of Malian refugees in western Niger, killing three civilians, abducting a guard and sabotaging the water supply, the United Nations said Monday. Around 50 jihadists launched a "well-planned...
Egyptian army keeps busy killing “insurgents” in North Sinai
Egypt said Saturday (23 May) that 21 jihadists were killed in clashes with security forces in the restive Sinai peninsula, where Islamic State group-affiliated militants have waged a long-running insurgency. The interior ministry said in a statement that police...
Libya: Russia may be escalating conflict in Libya with more support for warlord Haftar
Berlin, May 26, 2020 - Russia recently sent fighter jets to Libya to support Russian mercenaries fighting for strongman Khalifa Haftar, the US military command for Africa (Africom) said Tuesday, in a major escalation in the long-running conflict. The military fighter...
Egypt arrests 11 for allegedly sharing ‘fake news’ with Al-Jazeera
Cairo, May 22, 2020 - Egyptian security forces arrested 11 people on suspicion of fabricating media content for the Qatar-based Al Jazeera network, the interior ministry said Friday. The suspects were allegedly found to be collaborating with members of the outlawed...
Outlook: Can the country of Togo be a Jihadi hotspot?
Dapaong, Togo, May 21, 2020 (By Célia Lebur) - In a makeshift bunker of sacks of rice beneath a tree, heavily-armed Togolese soldiers keep watch over villagers coming and going on foot or bike across the border with Burkina Faso. Just a dried-out river bed separates...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
As Terror Becomes Part of the “New Normal” in Tunisia, Business Learns to Cope with the Terror Risk
The recent terror attacks on two hotels in Sousse and in the Bardo Museum in Tunis had a direct negative impact on the critically important tourism industry. Bookings were canceled, so did the flights that linked Tunisia to Europe, affecting thousands of jobs amid...
Mali: At least 30 dead in Radisson Hotel attack in Bamako
Dozens of hostages, exceeding 170 were held by gunmen in a Radisson Hotel in Bamako, Mali today. The hotel is used by foreign guests, including foreign airline staffers and UN workers. An interior ministry spokesman reported that the gunmen, possibly up to six, were...
Metrojet crash in the Sinai is likely to worsen Egyptian economy
MEA Risk LLC released a research note following the UK government's ordering a suspension of flights to the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, as a result of what it believed to be a strong likelihood of a bomb that downed the Russian airplane. Metrojet Flight 9268,...
Maghreb Security: Easing of Tension vs. Ramadan, but Instability Remains Dangerously High
MEA Risk tracking firm says a return to a certain level of normalcy in the Maghreb region has been taking place ever since the end of Ramadan back in July. Yet the concept of normalcy and a reduction in the stress level compared to the period of Ramadan do not mean...
Tunisia Ups Security Actions to Prevent Terrorism
The past week has been very busy for the Tunisian security authorities. The recent killing of tourists in Sousse, mostly British, has raised global concern over Tunisia’s ability to secure public sites. So much so that Britain has added to Tunisia’s woes by urging its...
IS Looking to Widen North Africa Operations, says MEA Risk
There are a lot of chatters and pronouncements in various places about the Islamic State organization (Daesh) seeking to expand its presence and intensify its operations in North Africa, according to MEA Risk. Tunisia and Morocco are particularly mentioned in those...
Bloodiest Day in Algeria in Almost 15 Years
The province of Ghardaia, in central Algeria has been the scene over the past few days of intercommunal clashes that are pitting two ethnic groups. MEA Risk trackers on the ground report that pitched battles between members of the Maliki and Mozabite tribes have...
European Military Advisors to Train Tunisian Army against Islamic State
Military sources in Tunisia say the United Kingdom is preparing to dispatch some 50 Special Forces instructors to help the Tunisians confront the Islamic State insurgents. The UK is said to be responding to pleas from the Tunisian government, which has been asking...
Terror in Tunisia and the Gloomy Outlook
The attacks recently perpetrated against two hotels in Sousse confirm that Tunisia is now in a permanent state of war, and the future looks rather gloomy. The war being waged against Tunisia is not just specific to that country, as if it were a civil war, but it is...
38 killed in attack on two tourist hotels in Sousse, Tunisia
Two armed men attacked two tourist hotels in the eastern city of Sousse, killing at least 38 Tunisians and foreign nationals and wounding 36 other people, according to the Ministry of Interior. The victims appear to be mostly British. While one of the attackers...