Somalie : 21 terroristes Al Shebab et 11 militaires tués

L’armée nationale somalienne a annoncé, mardi, avoir éliminé 21 terroristes du groupe terroristes jihadiste Al Shabab et blessé plusieurs, après l’attaque d’une base militaire de l’armée nationale somalienne (SNA), située dans la région de Hawadley, au centre de Shabelle, dans l’État de Hirshabelle.

Enlèvement dans une gare au Nigeria : les deux derniers otages libérés

Les deux derniers otages d’un enlèvement dans une gare au Nigeria ont été libérés par les forces de sécurité qui ont arrêté sept personnes, dont deux chefs de village, ont indiqué les autorités.

Des dizaines de personnes qui attendaient leur train dans l’État d’Edo pour Wari, plus au sud, avaient été enlevées lors la prise d’assaut de la gare, le 7 janvier par des hommes armés. Dimanche le responsable de l’Information de l’État d’Edo, Chris Osa Nehikhare avait annoncé la libération de 12 des 14 otages restants.

Al-Monitor/Premise poll: Majority in Egypt, Turkey and Tunisia on edge over food access

In an exclusive poll in five countries across the Middle East and North Africa, 68% majority of the population worried about their ability to access food.

It was soaring food prices that sparked the popular uprisings throughout the Middle East and North Africa in 2011, but it is unprecedented increases in food and energy prices since the outbreak of Russia’s war in Ukraine last February that now have a 68% majority of the population in Egypt, Turkey, Yemen, Tunisia and Iraq worried about their ability to access food in the coming months, according to an Al-Monitor/Premise poll.

Turkey’s intel chief visits Libya following trip by CIA head

Turkey’s intelligence chief Hakan Fidan paid a visit to Libya only days after his American counterpart, William Burns, traveled to the conflict-torn country.

Libya hosted two intelligence chiefs within a span of a week, with Turkey’s intelligence chief Hakan Fidan paying a visit to Tripoli Tuesday after CIA head William Burns visited the war-torn country last week.

Turkish and Libyan media reported that Fidan met with Tripoli-based Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah after he traveled to Libya from Sudan where he had met with Sudan’s military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

Head of #Turkey's National Intelligence Organization Hakan Fidan arrives in #Tripoli and holds talks with Prime Minister Abdel Hamid Dbeibah pic.twitter.com/cGN7mBIBLW
— The Libya Observer (@Lyobserver) January 17, 2023

Fidan’s visit came after a Tripoli court last week ruled against a hydrocarbon exploration deal that the Dbeibah-led Government of National Unity (GNU) signed with Ankara last year. Citing a judicial source, Reuters reported that the court suspended the deal that aimed to allow joint Turkish-Libyan exploration for gas and oil in the Eastern Mediterranean as part of a controversial maritime demarcation agreement between Ankara and Tripoli in 2019. The deal has turned into a source of tensions between Turkey, Egypt and Greece over conflicting claims in the Eastern Mediterranean. Libya’s Tobruk-based parliament has stopped short of ratifying the deal.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said last week that the Libyan officials from the Tripoli-based government told him they were standing behind the agreement during their conversations over the court’s ruling.

The Tripoli court left room for the GNU to appeal the ruling, according to the Reuters report. 

Turkey’s military and intelligence support to the Tripoli-based forces tipped the balance of power against eastern forces led by Khalifa Hifter, who has been backed by Russia, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

The Islamist Plan to Conquer East Africa: U.S. Missing in Action

The most potent threat to East African stability remains Al-Shabaab, rooted in Somalia. Al-Qaeda helps to finance Al-Shabaab through its contacts across the Gulf of Aden in Yemen.

Al-Shabaab’s threat to the American homeland should not be discounted: the group has explored possible scenarios of launching a 9/11 style assault on the US. Shabaab is assessed by US intelligence as Al-Qaeda’s wealthiest and largest affiliate.