France says it has killed senior al Qaeda operative in Mali

French forces have killed Bah ag Moussa, a military leader of al Qaeda’s North Africa wing, during an operation in northeastern Mali, Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly said on Friday. The former Malian army colonel, also known as Bamoussa Diarra, Read More …

In Burkina Faso, US Troops Train Local Soldiers

The United States’s military involvement in Burkina Faso is opaque. Even diplomats and military officials from other countries who are based in Burkina Faso told the Mail & Guardian that they have little knowledge of what exactly is happening on Read More …

Burkina Faso: Six dead in explosion in northern country

At least six people, including children, were killed on Saturday evening by the explosion of an improvised device as their cart passed through a region of northern Burkina Faso facing jihadist attacks, sources learned on Sunday. “A cart driven by Read More …

Terrorists Capitalize on COVID-19 to Erode State Authority, Attack National, International Forces in Sahel, Peacekeeping Chief Tells Security Council

African Members Emphasize Urgent Need to Boost Operational Capacity of G5 Sahel Joint Force, Humanitarian Relief for Displaced COVID-19 has added a layer of complexity to the highly volatile security situation in the Sahel, with terrorists capitalizing on the pandemic Read More …

ISIS in Africa: The End of the “Sahel Exception”

This article will analyze two exceptions. The first is the long absence of confrontation between al Qaeda and Islamic state offshoots in the Sahel area. The second is an elected official conducting negotiations with an al Qaeda offshoot. Both constitute Read More …

Burkina Faso bomb kills 3 soldiers

A homemade bomb killed three paramilitary gendarmes and wounded three more Sunday in northwest Burkina Faso, security sources said. The attack on the patrol happened at Gomboro, in the Boucle du Mouhoun region, a security source told AFP. The injured Read More …

Burkina Faso rocked by new jihadist attack

Six soldiers were killed and several went missing Tuesday after a suspected jihadist attack in troubled Burkina Faso, following a weekend massacre which could have claimed up to 50 lives, security and local sources told AFP. A military patrol struck Read More …

Islamic extremism wracks Burkina Faso, spreading east

Nearly 1,000 civilians were killed in 2019 by local militias and fighters linked to Islamic extremists, a spike in attacks of nearly 190%, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, which collects and analyzes conflict information. The Read More …

More than a dozen killed in Burkina Faso bus attack

At least 14 people, including seven children, have been killed when a bus carrying students ran over an improvised explosive device in northern Burkina Faso, according to the government. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for Saturday’s blast, Read More …

‘Poor man’s bomb’ reaps bloody toll in African jihadist hotspot

They are cheap, made from components that are easily obtained – and murderously effective. Security experts say that in the arsenal of jihadist groups whose insurgency is shaking the Sahel state of Burkina Faso, the improvised explosive device (IED) is Read More …

In Sahel, French troops hunt hidden menace of jihadist landmines

The unit commander’s order crackles over the radio and the column of French armoured vehicles en route between Burkina Faso and Mali comes to a sudden halt. In the Sahel scrub some 50 kilometres (31 miles) from Deou, in northern Read More …

UN chief: Terrorists strengthen foothold in Africa’s Sahel

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is warning that terrorist groups have strengthened their foothold across Africa’s Sahel region, which is experiencing escalating violence. The U.N. chief said in a report to the U.N. Security Council circulated Wednesday that the expanding foothold is Read More …

Burkina Faso: Gunmen kill 37 in ambush on mining firm convoy

At least 37 people have been killed and 60 wounded in an attack on a mining company convoy in Burkina Faso, authorities say. Five buses carrying staff of Canadian firm Semafo were ambushed on Wednesday about 40km (24 miles) from Read More …

French soldier killed by IED as ISIS claim deadly attack on Malian troops

ISIS has claimed an attack in Mali’s volatile east nera the border with Niger that killed a French soldier on Saturday, a day after 53 Malian troops were massacred in the same area. Militants “detonated an explosive device on a Read More …

2 soldiers killed in attack in central province of Burkina Faso

An explosive device attack on Wednesday claimed the lives of two soldiers of Burkina Faso army in central-northern of the terrorism-torn country, security source on Thursday told Xinhua in the capital Ouagadougou. A military convoy from Djibo heading to Ougadougou Read More …

Dozens killed in two Burkina Faso attacks

At least 29 people were killed in two separate incidents in Burkina Faso’s troubled north on Sunday after a food convoy and a transport truck were attacked, the government said. One vehicle transporting people and goods “rode over an improvised Read More …

Terrorism ‘spreading and destabilizing’ entire regions, Guterres warns States, at key Kenya conference

Speaking in Nairobi at the opening of a conference on counter-terrorism, Mr. Guterres recalled how attackers had laid siege to a hotel complex in the capital in January, killing 21 people. Africans on ‘front line’ against terror The deteriorating situation in Read More …

Roadside bombs kill Burkina Faso police and military personnel in the Gourma

Five members of the security forces were killed in roadside bomb attacks in eastern Burkina Faso at the weekend, officials said on Monday, March 18. A police officer and a soldier were killed on Saturday when their vehicle struck an Read More …

Bomb Hidden In Corpse Kills Burkina Faso Army Doctor

A bomb hidden in a corpse dressed in military uniform killed an army doctor and wounded two police officers in northern Burkina Faso, a security official told AFP on Thursday. Soldiers and police were sent to inspect the male body Read More …