UNODC Supports Burkina Faso in strengthening its response to the evolving threat of Improvised Explosive Devices

Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) pose a grave security threat in the Sahel region. Threatening lives and livelihoods, the widespread use of IEDs by terrorist groups in the Sahel leads to increased loss of life, serious injuries, and psychological trauma among Read More …

Burkina Faso: WFP suspends flights to Solle after explosion

The U.N. World Food Programme said on Wednesday it had suspended flights to the northwestern Burkina Faso town of Solle after an explosion near a helicopter it chartered injured a crew member and a government official. The WFP is trying Read More …

Burkina Faso: Militant attack on military base in Dargo kills 50 troops

A deadly assault on a military base in Dargo, northern Burkina Faso, has left around 50 soldiers dead. Local sources told the Associated Press that about 100 militants stormed the base on Monday, killing troops before looting and setting it Read More …

Sahel militants turn civilian drones into deadly weapons

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 Read More …

Niger targets jihadist financing, kills 13 in illegal gold mine raids

Niger’s army has raided jihadist-controlled informal mining sites in the country’s west, killing more than a dozen insurgents and seizing material linked to the manufacture of improvised explosive devices, it said. An army statement said the raids took place last Read More …

Mali army foils attempted infiltration in Timbuktu

The Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) have announced that they successfully repelled an attempted infiltration targeting their military base in the northern city of Timbuktu. According to the General Staff of the FAMa, thirteen assailants were neutralised during a counter-offensive launched Read More …

Burkina Faso: Al Qaeda affiliate says 200 soldiers killed in recent attacks

A West African al Qaeda affiliate said it killed 200 soldiers in an attack on an army base in Burkina Faso this week, according to a group that tracks the online activity of Islamist militants. Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin Read More …

Benin: Militants inflict heavy losses on armed forces in an attack in the north

Militants inflicted heavy losses on Benin’s armed forces during an attack this week on a fortified military post in the north of the country, the military said in a statement. Col. Faizou Gomina, the national guard chief of staff, said Read More …

In Ghana, Sahel jihadis find refuge and supplies, sources say

Islamist militants fighting in Burkina Faso are discreetly using Ghana’s north as a logistical and medical rear base to sustain their insurgency, seven sources told Reuters, a move that could help them expand their footprint in West Africa. The sources, Read More …

Burkina Faso: Nearly 70% of the territory is now under state control, compared to 40% in 2022

The Minister in charge of Foreign Affairs, Karamoko Jean Marie Traoré, spoke at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on Monday, September 30, 2024, on behalf of Burkina Faso. Among other things, he said, to the cheers of the assembly, Read More …

Burkina Faso: Up to 200 people killed in attack in Barsalogho region

An armed group linked to al-Qaeda, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), has claimed responsibility for what it says was an attack that killed up to 200 people and injured at least 140 in central Burkina Faso. The attack took place Read More …

Sahel: UN Security Council must call out “Ukraine’s support for terrorism”

Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have petitioned the president of the UN Security Council to denounce what they call the Ukrainian government’s “open support for international terrorism” in the Sahel. A letter dated August 19 and signed by the envoys Read More …

Mali is still unsafe under the military: why it hasn’t made progress against rebels and terrorists

The scale of casualties suffered by the Wagner group and Malian forces during a recent assault in the Tinzaouaten region reveal vulnerability in Mali’s counterinsurgency posture. The attack was reported in the media as the biggest loss for Russian paramilitaries Read More …

Escalating Violence In Sahel As JNIM Claims Rising Jihadi Operations

As violence continues to escalate in the Sahel region of Africa, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM) has been intensifying its campaign of terror, particularly in the Central Sahel, which comprises Mali, Burkina Faso, and the Niger Republic. Newly released Read More …

Mali forces kill senior figure in Islamic State affiliate

Malian forces killed Abu Huzeifa, a leader of Islamic State in West Africa, during a big operation in the north of Menaka. The authorities announced this on state TV on Monday. They confirmed Huzeifa’s death on Sunday after the operation Read More …

UNOCT supports the Sahel countries in countering terrorist use of IEDs, UAS and SALW

The United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT) of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), held a three-day regional workshop for the Sahel in Rabat, Morocco from 27 to 29 February 2024. Organized within the framework of the project on “Building Read More …

Burkina Faso: At least 15 killed in attack on Catholic church in Tombouctou region

At least 15 Catholic worshippers have been killed in a Burkina Faso village when gunmen attacked a community as they gathered for mass at a church in the country’s conflict-hit northern region, church officials said. Sunday’s violence in the village Read More …

Niger: 29 soldiers killed in a suspected jihadist attack

Niger began three days of national mourning Tuesday after 29 soldiers were killed in a suspected jihadist attack, the deadliest since the military took power in July. Monday’s attack in western Niger involved “improvised explosive devices and kamikaze vehicles by Read More …

Who are the partners of the Beninese in the fight against terrorists?

Northern Benin faces the terrorist threat as jihadist groups based in the Sahel try to expand their actions to the Gulf of Guinea countries. To counter this threat and secure the borders, the Beninese army launched Operation Mirador in early Read More …