Month: November 2020

Opération de l’armée marocaine dans une zone-tampon au Sahara occidental

L’Algérie a dénoncé, vendredi, de “graves violations” du cessez-le-feu au Sahara occidental et appelé à l’arrêt “immédiat” des opérations militaires après l’intervention de l’armée marocaine dans une zone de ce territoire disputé.

Le Maroc a annoncé, vendredi 13 novembre, avoir lancé une opération militaire dans la zone-tampon de Guerguerat, près de la Mauritanie, en dénonçant “les provocations du Polisario” au Sahara occidental, ancienne colonie espagnole.

Burkina: 14 soldats tués dans une des plus graves attaques contre l’armée,

Quatorze soldats ont été tués dans une embuscade dans le nord du Burkina Faso, soit l’une des plus graves attaques contre l’armée depuis cinq ans, en pleine campagne électorale pour la présidentielle et les législatives du 22 novembre.

L’attaque a été perpétrée mercredi dans le nord du pays, dans une zone frontalière du Mali et du Niger, l’une des régions les plus touchées par les exactions des groupes jihadistes.

La France annonce avoir tué le chef militaire d’Al-Qaïda au Sahel

L’armée française a annoncé vendredi la “neutralisation” au Mali, par la force Barkhane, d’un “cadre historique de la mouvance jihadiste au Sahel”, lié à Al-Qaïda, dont le nom était associé ces dernières années à de nombreuses attaques dans la région contre les forces maliennes et internationales.

Cairo frets over workers in Libya as Tripoli struggles to establish security

As Libya inches toward a political resolution of its long war, Egypt is focusing on protecting its workers in the country.

Egyptian officials discussed the challenge of protecting Egyptian workers in Libya with Fathi Bashagha, the Interior Minister of Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA), who visited Cairo for the first time on Nov. 4.

Screws tighten on Gray Wolves, Erdogan’s European guard

France’s decision to outlaw the Gray Wolves marks a new milestone in Erdogan’s showdown with Europe over Turkish migrant groups, which he uses as a tool to advance his political agenda.

Tensions between Turkey and France, stoked by the French government’s plans to tackle “Islamist separatism,” are spilling over to Austria and Germany as Turkish Islamist and nationalist groups in Europe, mobilized by Ankara, are coming under tighter scrutiny.

Analyzing the soft-power appeal of entertainment

Given the political, economic and military setbacks suffered by NATO regimes, it is not difficult to conclude that the West-centric global order is declining.

However, the soft-power angle of Western decline carries far greater importance than generally realized.

In an in-depth analysis for Asia Times, Andrew Salmon analyzing the soft-power of Asian states highlights that China is punching far below its weight.

The goal of the French operations in the Mediterranean is Turkey

France reiterates its “commitment to respect for freedom of navigation” and be ready to intervene “effectively in the event of a violation of international law” with new operation in the Mediterranean Sea.

The French Defense Ministry announced an operation, called Medor, at the end of September in the Mediterranean Sea. The surface action group (SAG) is made up of three frigates which converged on the return from operation: the stealth light frigate FLF La Fayette (F-710) (returning from Operation Chammal , deployed in Syria-Iraq against the terrorist groups of the Islamic State), the anti-submarine frigate FASM Latouche-Tréville (D-646), which has just completed its mandate in the maritime operation of the UE (EUNAVOR Med Irini), the FDA Forbin (D-620) air defense frigate which commands the group.

Arabs: “Westerners Must Stop Appeasing Islamists”

“Political Islamic organizations are the reason for perpetuating terrorism and hatred. These organizations are banned in most of the Islamic countries, while Europe, especially Britain, embraces them and allows them to operate freely. Europeans can only blame themselves.” — Mohammed al-Sheikh, Saudi writer, Twitter, October 29, 2020.

“There is no doubt that France’s previous policies, lenient with [Muslim] extremists, contributed to the current wave of terrorism, as well as legislation that guarantees the right to asylum and immigration to every expatriate on its soil.” — Hailah al-Mashouh, Saudi columnist and political analyst, Elaph, November 5, 2020.