Africa

French forces in the Sahel will switch operating mode after they leave Mali, acting more “in support” of local forces rather than substituting for them, their commander says.

The United States’ top general for Africa has warned of “violent extremism” and the threat of Russian mercenaries in the Sahel region, speaking as war games wrapped up in Morocco.

European governments have been alarmed by a Russian disinformation campaign that seeks to deflect criticism that President Vladimir Putin’s war with Ukraine risks leaving millions of people in Africa facing famine.

La République centrafricaine (RCA) est confrontée à des « besoins humanitaires sans précédent et à une détérioration de la sécurité alimentaire », a averti mardi le Programme alimentaire mondial (PAM) indiquant qu’il s’attendait à une dépendance continue à l’égard de l’aide humanitaire en 2022 et 2023.

L’efficacité et la gestion de plusieurs initiatives de sécurité et de défense commune sont mises en cause, alors que sont discutées de nouvelles missions militaires en Afrique.

Au moins 160 000 personnes ont fui les combats dans le Nord-Kivu. Une tentative de médiation entre Kinshasa et Kigali doit se tenir, le 6 juillet, à Luanda.

Les coups de feu l’ont réveillé en pleine nuit. Dans son village de Buhumba, situé dans la province du Nord-Kivu, l’armée congolaise faisait face, fin mai, aux insurgés du Mouvement du 23-Mars (M23). « Au matin, les soldats avaient disparu. Il ne restait plus que les rebelles. Je suis parti immédiatement », raconte Harerimana, debout au milieu de nattes étalées sur le sol en guise de lit.

We know that counterterrorism programs are not helping, but some of the non-military plans long abandoned by the US could work.

Mass atrocities now occur regularly in the Sahel. The names of towns, villages, and districts in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger become infamous one after the next: Moura, Seytenga, and Bankass. The perpetrators are often jihadists — namely, an al-Qaida affiliate called the Group for Supporting Islam and Muslims (known by its Arabic acronym JNIM) and its rival, the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, or ISGS.

International condemnation is growing against Morocco and Spain as more details emerge about the violent deaths of at least 37 migrants during an attempt last week to cross Morocco’s border with the Spanish enclave of Melilla. According to media reports, more than 2,000 people attempted to enter the enclave from the Moroccan city of Nador.

A European military task force that helped Mali’s government fight Islamic extremists has formally withdrawn from the West African country amid tensions with its ruling military junta.

The French military, which spearheaded the Takuba task force, announced Friday that it officially ended its work Thursday. The move was tied to France’s decision earlier this year to withdraw troops from Mali after nine years helping Malian forces fight violent extremists who had threatened to seize power.

Why the Giant of Africa Needs to Start Over

Nigeria has always seemed like an impossibility. From the moment of its independence in 1960, observers questioned the country’s viability as a multiethnic, multireligious state. How could a country divided among two major religions and hundreds of different ethnic groups possibly stay together? When the devastating Nigerian civil war broke out in 1967, that skepticism appeared warranted. Perhaps, many concluded, Nigeria wasn’t meant to be.