North Africa

Mauritania: power-sharing deal signed; jihadis attack

Mauritania’s ousted President Sidi Abdallahi formally resigned as part of a power-sharing deal with the nation’s military rulers—days after a US teacher was killed by suspected al-Qaeda militants.

North Africa

Algeria: insurgent ambush kills 24 police

Gunmen presumably linked to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb ambushed and killed 24 Algerian paramilitary police in the country’s deadliest insurgent attack in nearly a year.

North Africa

Mali: army clashes with al-Qaeda militia?

Malian security forces clashed with a group of suspected al-Qaeda militants in the northern Tessalit region, killing several people, a senior military source told Reuters.

North Africa

Mauritania: return to democracy on hold

A power-sharing deal between Mauritania’s military junta and opposition is being delayed by disagreement over the composition of an interim government.

North Africa

Niger: president meets with Tuareg rebels

Niger’s President Mamadou Tandja held peace talks with Tuareg rebel leaders for the first time in the northern town of Agadez—as work commences on a giant uranium mine in the Tuareg region.

North Africa

Mali pledges all-out war against Tuareg rebels

President Amadou Toumani Toure of Mali vowed a harsh crackdown on the Tuareg guerillas, vowing that “all the operational means will be mobilized” against the desert insurgency.