Terror groups are increasingly using new tactics, notably armed suicide or kamikaze drones, according to a government statement released following several attacks on cities in western Mali on 1 July.
The use of commercially available small civilian drones for strikes by terrorist and armed rebel groups is not limited to Mali, and has become prevalent throughout the Central Sahel. Separatist and terror groups in the region likely draw inspiration from the successful use of drones by regular armies in other conflict zones, such as Libya and the Middle East.
Read more…
Source: Institute for Security Studies News
Sign up for the Counter-IED Report Newsletters
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- Fourth UN peacekeeper dies after Mali roadside bomb attack
October 18, 2022
A fourth United Nations soldier has died from injuries from a highway bomb in northern Mali, a day after the blast claimed the lives of three of his comrades, a spokesman for the UN peacekeeping mission said Tuesday. Their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device (IED) during a search for mines in Tessalit, in the deeply ...
- Mali: Two MINUSMA peacekeepers killed in IED blast in Tessalit, Kidal region
October 17, 2022
Two MINUSMA peacekeepers were killed today, 17 October, when their vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device during a search and detection patrol of mines in Tessalit, Kidal region. This incident also resulted in 4 serious injuries among peacekeepers. Since the mission began in 2013, IEDs have claimed the lives of 74 MINUSMA personnel. https://twitter.com/UN_MINUSMA/status/1581979101413330944 Source: MINUSMA ...
- Niger: Roadside bomb kills two people in Diffa Region
October 16, 2022
wo people were killed in southeastern Niger on Sunday by a road bomb which exploded as they were passing with donkeys, local sources told AFP. “Two women were killed and a child was seriously wounded when an improvised explosive device detonated as their donkeys passed near Bosso,” in the Diffa region, near Nigeria, a local resident ...
- Mali: At least 11 people dead in bus blast in Mopti
October 14, 2022
An explosion killed at least eleven people on a bus in central Mali on Thursday, a region regularly rocked by jihadist violence, according to police and local sources. The bus was struck by a blast on the road between Bandiagara and Goundaka, in the Mopti area in the early afternoon, a security source said. “We have just ...
- Mali: Back to school in Ménaka – demining operations in the Grounds of the Intitaliwene School
October 4, 2022
As a prelude to the start of the school year in Ménaka, northern Mali, the MINUSMA force carried out an operation to detect and demine explosive devices within the Intitaliwene Elementary School, previously occupied by armed movements. The operation found several shell casings, as well as unexploded ordnance, including among the waste destined for incineration. https://twitter.com/mikadofm/status/1577238522456514562 Read more… Source: ...
- Mali: Explosive devices kill 72 civilians since January
September 14, 2022
A total of 72 people were killed in Mali by explosive devices between January and August in 2022, said a report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) released Monday in Bamako, capital of Mali. According to the United Nations Mine Action Service, cited in the report, 239 civilian victims, including ...
- Burkina Faso: Soldiers and ‘terrorists’ dead in Oudalan Province attack
September 13, 2022
Two soldiers died and a dozen “terrorists” were killed on Monday during an attack against a military detachment in Burkina Faso’s militant-hit north, the army said. The landlocked African state is in the grip of a seven-year-old insurgency that has claimed more than 2,000 lives and forced some 1.4 million people to leave their homes. The army ...
- UNMAS clears active minefield, home to over 1,500 people in Canal, South Sudan
September 9, 2022
As powerful barges manned by the Bangladeshi Marine Force Unit deployed to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) make their careful way across the overflowing waters of the White Nile, the air is laced with expectation. Lush, thick vegetation characteristic of the Sudd — one of the world’s largest wetlands — flank both sides ...
- Burkina Faso: At least 35 civilians killed in IED convoy blast
September 6, 2022
At least 35 civilians have been killed as a convoy of vehicles carrying supplies in Burkino Faso’s restive northern region struck an improvised explosive device (IED), according to the regional governor. The explosion, which wounded 37 others, occurred as the military-escorted convoy travelled along the road from Bourzanga to Djibo on Monday, said Rodolphe Sorgo, the ...
- Togolese army repels ‘terrorist’ attack, says official
August 23, 2022
Togo’s armed forces said Tuesday they had repelled a “terrorist” attack that injured “several” soldiers in the far northern village of Blamonga on the border with Burkina Faso. The attack, which took place on Monday, was the fifth in the country since last year, as jihadist groups operating in the Sahel appear to be gradually heading ...
- Terrorism Remains An Imminent Threat To Ghana
August 20, 2022
Terrorism remains an imminent threat to Ghana and other neighbouring countries, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, has said. He said the recent attacks in Burkina Faso, Togo, and Ivory Coast highlighted the determination of the terrorists to expand beyond landlocked Sahelian countries, where the insurgency had devastated thousands of lives and property in the last decade. Vice-President Bawumia ...
- Mali accuses France of arming jihadists
August 18, 2022
Mali accused France of arming Islamist fighters and carrying out acts of espionage against it, as relations between the West African country and the former colonial power reached a new low. In a letter addressed to the United Nations Security Council, Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop called for an emergency meeting in response to what ...
- South Sudan: UNMAS Clears Anti-personnel Mines in Remote Canal, though Community Challenges Remain
August 17, 2022
MALAKAL – As powerful barges manned by the Bangladeshi Marine Force Unit deployed to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) make their careful way across the overflowing waters of the White Nile, the air is laced with expectation. Lush, thick vegetation characteristic of the Sudd—one of the world’s largest wetlands—flank both sides of the ...
- France completes withdrawal from Mali as last army unit pulls out
August 16, 2022
The last French army unit left Mali on Monday, according to a statement from the French military, nine years after Paris sent troops to the West African country to help drive Islamic extremists from power. France’s armed forces completed their withdrawal from Mali six months after French President Emmanuel Macron announced his plan to pull out ...
- Burkina Faso: At least 15 soldiers killed in the Bam province blasts
August 9, 2022
At least 15 soldiers were killed in northern Burkina Faso when a transport vehicle drove over a hidden explosive, killing several troops before a second explosion killed those who rushed to their aid, the army has said in a statement. The incident occurred on a rural road in the Bam province of the country’s Central-North region, ...
