North Africa
US drone base for Niger: report
The US military is preparing to establish a drone base in Niger along the eastern border of Mali, where French forces are currently waging a campaign against jihadist rebels.
Tag: Sahel
North Africa
ICC prosecutor warns Mali on rights abuses
International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda warned the Malian government over reports of human rights abuses by Malian forces in the drive to re-take the north.
North Africa
Mali: fleeing jihadists burn Islamic manuscripts
Jihadist forces upon fleeing Timbuktu for the desert torched the Ahmed Baba Institute—a library housing a priceless collection of centuries-old Islamic manuscripts.
North Africa
Mali: US airlifts French forces
In a mission slated to last two weeks, US Air Force C-17 transport planes are ferrying troops and material from France to Mali for the offensive against jihadist rebels.
North Africa
Mali security forces killing civilians: HRW
Malian security forces have killed civilians, targeting ethnic groups associated with rebels in the north, particularly Tuaregs and Arabs, Human Rights Watch charges.
North Africa
Algeria: army raids gas complex seized by jihadists
Algerian military forces attacked the Amenas gas complex in the interior Sahara, where a breakaway faction of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb took dozens of hostages.
North Africa
Mali poised for multi-sided war
With French troops fighting on the ground in Mali, jihadist militias advance on the capital, while Tuareg rebels pledge to re-establish a separatist state in the north.
North Africa
French air-strikes open Mali intervention
France carried out air-strikes against Islamist rebels in Mali, helping government forces halt a drive southward by the militants who control the country’s desert north.
Africa
Central African Republic rebels advance
Rebels who have taken up arms again in the Central African Republic’s south, accusing the regime of not honoring peace accords, have seized several towns in the south.
North Africa
Mali: shrines destroyed; intervention approved
Islamist militants in Timbuktu destroyed more Sufi shrines days after the UN Security Council approved an intervention force to retake Mali’s breakaway north.
North Africa
Libya declares martial law in southern region
The Libyan government closed the country’s southern borders and declared the southern provinces a military zone in response to growing lawlessness.
North Africa
Mali: regime, rebels both divided
As Mali’s prime minister is removed by the junta, Ansar Dine rebels are embraced in peace talks—while the MUJAO rebels are sanctioned by the UN as an al-Qaeda front.