North Africa
Algeria: protests commemorate ‘Berber Spring’
Algeria's Berber community took to the streets to commemorate the 1980 "Berber Spring" uprising and demand greater cultural rights—or actual independence.
Tag: Algeria
North Africa
UN pressed on North Africa’s colonized peoples
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, on a tour of North Africa, met with Sahrawi leaders seeking independence from Morocco—but not Berbers seeking independence from Algeria.
North Africa
Algeria adopts constitutional reforms
Algeria's new constitution instates presidential term limits and officially recognizes the Berber language—but the opposition rejects the changes as inadequate.
North Africa
Algeria: Kabyles march for independence
Thousands of Berbers marched in Algeria's Kabylia region to oppose a constitutional revision they say fails to respect their language rights, and assert their right to independence.
North Africa
Berbers symbolically raise Kabylia flag at UN
Some 500 Berber activists from Algeria's Kabylia region gathered at the UN headquarters to symbolically raise the flag of their homeland.
Africa
Mali: who is behind Bamako attack?
The deadly hotel siege in Mali's capital was apparently ordered by Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar—who was twice reported killed in military operations over the past two years.
Watching the Shadows
Ex-Gitmo detainee seeks reparations from IACHR
Former Guantánamo prisoner Djamel Ameziane filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights seeking reparations from the US for human rights violations.
North Africa
‘Narco-jihadist’ threat seen in North Africa
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and related networks are said to control Saharan smuggling routes for Moroccan hashish to fund their regional operations.
North Africa
Algeria issues emergency plan to fight civil unrest
Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika issued emergency measures to combat the ethnic-driven civil unrest in the southern city of Ghardaia, which has pitted Arabs against Berbers.
Afghanistan
Anti-French protests in North Africa, Afghanistan
Eight are dead in anti-Charlie Hebdo protests in Niger, with street clashes also reported from Algeria and Pakistan. In Afghanistan, a cleric praised the attackers as "true mujahedeen."
North Africa
AQIM renegades pledge fealty to ISIS
A new armed group calling itself the "Soldiers of the Caliphate in Algeria" has split from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and sworn loyalty to ISIS.
North Africa
Mali: French pursue jihadis; talks open with MNLA
France expands military operations across the Sahel to chase down jihadist insurgents, as Mali opens peace talks with Tuareg separatists that have seized much of the country.