Africa

French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to end Operation Barkhane, the French mission to fight jihadism in the Sahel, bears some resemblance to the ongoing removal of American troops from Afghanistan.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced yesterday that Operation Barkhane, the French counterterrorism force fighting jihadis in the Sahel, will end in the first quarter of 2022. This follows a recent announcement that the French president plans to cut in half the French presence in the Sahel and reorganize what will remain as specialized regional forces, while also contributing to Task Force Takuba, the recently established EU force with a remit similar to that of Barkhane. These developments provide the occasion to look at the French military trajectory since 2013. So, too, does the fact that today is Bastille Day, the French national holiday.

The security situation in the Horn of Africa is growing more unstable as major powers rush to establish a military presence in the strategic region.

This has drawn renewed attention to the reality of widespread foreign military operations in Africa.

A senior US military commander recently warned of what he termed as “wildfire of terrorism” sweeping across Africa at the conclusion of massive US-led war games in the continent.

The African Lion war games, which lasted nearly two weeks, stretched across Morocco, a US ally, with smaller parts held in Tunisia and Senegal.

The rise of farmer-herder violence in Africa is more pernicious than fatality figures alone since it is often amplified by the emotionally potent issues of ethnicity, religion, culture, and land.

The Egyptian government has warned European countries against illegal immigration should Ethiopia continue to insist on filling the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam without a binding agreement with its downstream neighbors.

Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Mohamed Abdel Aty, warned July 2 European countries against illegal immigration should the filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) be completed.

La famine est l’une des conséquences les plus lourdes de la pandémie de Covid-19. D’après le nouveau rapport de l’ONG Oxfam, publié le 9 juillet 2021, le nombre de personnes souffrant de la famine a été multiplié par six depuis le début de la pandémie.

Les chefs d’Etat nigérien, tchadien, malien, burkinabé et mauritanien seront avides de détails sur la fin prochaine de l’opération « Barkhane », annoncée par Emmanuel Macron.

Les chefs d’Etat du G5 Sahel doivent s’entretenir vendredi 9 juillet avec Emmanuel Macron, alors que la France n’a encore donné aucun détail sur la réduction de ses forces militaires dans la région, où les groupes djihadistes sont toujours aussi menaçants.

At least nine people were killed and nine wounded Saturday in a suicide car bombing targeting a government convoy near two major hospitals in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu.

“A deafening, huge blast sent plumes of smoke into the sky and destroyed business buildings including restaurants, and I could see the dead bodies of at least eight people,” eyewitness Hussein Jim’ale, driver of a three-wheeled motorized taxi, told reporters at the scene.

Ethiopia’s military withdrew from Tigray’s capital on 28 June, having suffered a string of battlefield reversals. Addis Ababa and Tigrayan leaders should now work on extending immediate aid to a population at risk of famine. They should also pursue political reconciliation in due time.