NATO strengthens its partnership with Mauritania

NATO and Mauritania are further developing their long-standing partnership, by widening the scope of their political dialogue and practical cooperation. NATO civil and military officials have just completed a trip to Mauritania, where they discussed opportunities for potential additional advice, Read More …

Two Burkina Faso soldiers killed in IED blast

Two Burkina Faso soldiers have been killed died while looking for four policemen missing after a deadly jihadist ambush, the government said Wednesday. “After the death of 11 policemen” on Monday in the Centre-Nord region, the two soldiers had died Read More …

Two Mali soldiers die in suspected jihadist ambush in Gao

Two soldiers have been killed in an ambush by suspected jihadists and eight United Nations troops wounded by a landmine in conflict-riven Mali, military and UN sources said Sunday. “Two of our men were killed by terrorists on Saturday night Read More …

Ivory Coast: Police officer, two soldiers killed in a blast near the border with Burkina Faso

Two soldiers and a police officer were killed when their vehicle hit an explosive device in northeast Ivory Coast near the border with Burkina Faso, the military said Sunday. Army chief of staff General Lassina Doumbia said that at around Read More …

Abubakar Shekau – Battle for supremacy among Islamist groups bodes ill for Sahel

The Nigerian military says it is investigating claims that the Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau is dead. His death has not been independently confirmed. It is also not the first time a claim like this has been made. The reports Read More …

UAE begins first flights to support counter-terrorism operations in the Sahel

The UAE has launched “logistical support flights” as part of French-led counter-terror operations in the African Sahel. The first flight took off from Abu Dhabi watched by Maj. Gen. Saleh Mohammed Al-Ameri, commander of joint operations at the Ministry of Read More …

Switzerland to send demining experts to Sudan

The unarmed experts will support the planning and carrying out of demining operations as part of an international peace mission, according to the defence ministry. Peace and stability in the African country is also in the interest of Switzerland, the Read More …

Mali: Around 20 UN Peacekeepers Injured In Major Attack On MINUSMA Base

Some 20 UN peacekeepers serving with the UN Stabilization Mission in Mali, MINUSMA, were injured on Wednesday, after their temporary base came under attack in the restive central region of the country. In a statement, MINUSMA said that the ‘blue Read More …

Nigeria, others seek UK support over Boko Haram, ISWAP

The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) says it is exploring areas of support from the United Kingdom in the fight against terrorism. Chief of Military Public Information, Col. Muhammad Dole, announced this in a statement on Saturday. Member countries of Read More …

Peacekeepers under attack again in Mali, as one Egyptian blue helmet dies, another seriously injured

An explosive device (IED) detonated under a truck that was part of a logistics convoy from the UN Stabilization Mission in the country, MINUSMA, at around 3pm in the vicinity of Tessalit, in the Kidal region, said the mission. “The Read More …

Three Ivorian UN peacekeepers killed in Mali attack

Three UN peacekeepers from Ivory Coast were killed in central Mali on Wednesday, the UN and Ivorian government said, in the latest violence to hit the war-torn Sahel state. Peacekeepers travelling the road linking the central town of Douentza to Read More …

Meet Bonny, the first British military search dog deployed to Mali

Lance Corporal Grant Stevens and his companion Bonny are part of the Explosive Ordinance Disposal team newly deployed to Mali A three-hundred strong task group of British soldiers has arrived in Mali as part of the UN Peacekeeping Mission (MINUSMA). Read More …

Trends in Terrorism: What’s on the Horizon in 2021?

The year 2020 was unprecedented in many ways. Just three days into the year, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the assassination of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC-QF) commander Qasem Soleimani. That news was soon eclipsed by the worldwide Read More …

Two French soldiers killed during operation in Mali

Two French soldiers were killed when their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in northeastern Mali on Saturday, just days after three others died in similar fashion. Their deaths brought to 50 the number of French soldiers killed in the Read More …

Three French soldiers killed in Mali IED blast

Three French soldiers died after their armoured vehicle hit an IED in the Hombori area of Mali’s central Mopti province. The soldiers were participating in a military operation as part of a larger mission aiming at fighting armed groups in Read More …

International Operation Disrupts Supply of Firearms to Terrorists: INTERPOL & UNODC Target Firearms Trafficking in West Africa and the Sahel

Lyon (France) & Vienna (Austria), 21 December 2020 — A seven-day operation saw law enforcement officers intercept illicit firearms, ammunition and explosives, and disrupt the trafficking networks used to supply terrorists across West Africa and the Sahel. Under Operation KAFO Read More …

British troops deployed to war-torn Mali for UN’s most dangerous peacekeeping mission

British soldiers have arrived in Mali to join the world’s most dangerous UN peacekeeping mission in the war-torn west African country. The 300 troops from the Light Dragoons and Royal Anglian Regiment will work alongside 16,000 peacekeepers from 56 different Read More …

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 …

UN peacekeeper killed and another seriously wounded after their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in northern Mali

A UN peacekeeper was killed in northern Mali and another seriously wounded after their vehicle hit a roadside bomb on Thursday, the UN mission said. The attack came as civil servants in the capital, Bamako, protested against the “selective release” Read More …