Africa

En présence de dignitaires sénégalais et français, et dans une atmosphère solennelle teintée à la fois de fierté nationale et de gravité, le drapeau tricolore a été descendu pour la dernière fois d’un mât militaire en terre africaine de l’Ouest. La France remettait officiellement au Sénégal la dernière base militaire encore active sur son territoire, mettant un point final à 75 ans de présence militaire ininterrompue. Ce retrait n’est pas un cas isolé : il fait suite aux départs successifs de l’armée française de pays de l’AES, du Tchad, et du Gabon ces dernières années. Ce qui aurait pu sembler, il y a seulement deux décennies, impensable, s’est aujourd’hui imposé comme une réalité géopolitique : l’Afrique francophone, particulièrement dans le Sahel et l’Ouest du continent, tourne délibérément la page d’une relation postcoloniale marquée par une dépendance structurelle, des déséquilibres économiques persistants et un imaginaire politique hérité de l’époque coloniale.

Bottom Line Up Front

Al-Qaeda’s franchise groups, affiliates, and regional branches have ebbed and flowed in strength, but at the moment, both al-Shabaab in Somalia and Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) in the Sahel are on the ascent.

Al-Qaeda affiliate Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) is the main group behind a surge in militant jihadist attacks sweeping across several West African nations, especially Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

On 1 July, the group said it had carried out a major coordinated attack on seven military locations in western Mali, including near the borders with Senegal and Mauritania.

The current war raging in Sudan began on April 15, 2023, with violent clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Two years later, the conflict shows no signs of abating, primarily due to the involvement of international actors supporting both factions.

A country with a turbulent history, Sudan has long been plagued by internal strife and civil wars. The roots of the current conflict can be traced back to the complex interplay of ethnic, political, and economic factors that have shaped the country’s landscape for decades. The overthrow of former President Omar al-Bashir in 2019 marked a turning point in Sudanese politics, ushering in a transitional period rife with uncertainty and power struggles.

The First and Second Congo Wars, waged between 1996 and 1997 and then 1998 and 2003 were so bloody and far-reaching that they drew in the armed forces of at least eight separate African countries plus many rebel groups. They have been dubbed “Africa’s World War” because of the number of regional belligerents and the sheer destructiveness of the conflict. Millions died and millions more were displaced and made destitute. But despite the carnage, this was a war contained and fought within the boundaries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC); the foreign armies were not fighting each other elsewhere.

Nine years after the “Anglophone Crisis” in October 2016, violence has engulfed the northwestern and southwestern regions of Cameroon. The current crisis stage began with demonstrations by lawyers and teachers protesting against the marginalisation of the Anglophone education systems and the judiciary. It has since progressed into several stages, with several factional leaders devastating the regions.

At least eight drown in Red Sea as smugglers force migrants overboard

Survivors of a people-smuggling operation in the Red Sea have described being forced off their boat far from the coast of Djibouti and left to swim for their lives.

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces said Wednesday its fighters seized a strategic zone on the border with Egypt and Libya, as the regular army announced its withdrawal from the region.

The announcements came a day after the army accused forces loyal to eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar of launching a cross-border attack alongside the RSF, the first allegation of direct Libyan involvement in the Sudanese war.