Algeria wishes to join the BRICS

Algeria is interested in joining the BRICS, the economic bloc of developing countries which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The appeal was publicly made by the northern African leader, Abdelmadjid Tebboune during a TV interview broadcast on Sunday, July 31.

US Orders Departure Of Personnel From Mali Over Attack Fears

The United States has ordered non-emergency personnel and their families to leave Mali due to a heightened risk of attacks, the State Department said.

The US did not mention a specific threat to its employees, but said there was an increased danger of violence affecting Westerners in a country that has been plagued by jihadist attacks for years.

Nigeria in Uncharted Waters

In a different context, the deadly attack on the 7 Guards Battalion of the Nigerian Army Presidential Guards Brigade on the evening of Friday, July 22nd would have set alarm bells ringing in the upper echelons of Nigerian intelligence. Among the many puzzles raised by the attack, which reportedly left three soldiers wounded and eight dead, is the question of how the assailants got wind of the elite unit’s coordinates. Are there insiders within the Nigerian armed forces feeding intelligence to the gunmen and bandits who have laid siege on the Nigerian state as some politicians and military experts have suggested?

Blinken to visit Africa to counter Russian charm offensive

US secretary of state will visit Pretoria, Kinshasa and Kigali weeks after Russia’s Lavrov visited the continent.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel next month to South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, the Department of State announced on Friday, as Washington ramps up diplomacy in Africa to counter a Russian charm offensive.

Arms trafficking from Libya to Niger is back; Nigeria, others should be concerned

Countries in the Sahel need to collaborate to stem the tide of weapons flowing through Niger.

Arms and ammunition seizures by security forces in Niger’s Agadez and Tahoua regions between January 2021 and February 2022 helped dismantle trafficking networks in the country. This is positive, but what do the seizures say about the extent of the problem? Is arms trafficking from Libya to countries in the south on the rise again?

Anti-U.N. Protests in Congo Leave 15 Dead, Including 3 Peacekeepers

Demonstrators have accused international forces of failing to deter armed groups responsible for a wave of deadly attacks.

At least 15 people, including three U.N. peacekeepers, have been killed and 60 others injured in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in an escalation of dayslong protests against the United Nations in a mineral-rich region that has been ravaged by incessant deadly violence.

Shadowy Al-Qaeda Fighters Heap Pressure On Mali’s Junta

Al-Qaeda jihadists are tightening the screws on Mali’s military junta, extending their attacks to the south of the country and hitting a key garrison town on the outskirts of the capital.

Raids last week displayed coordination and operational complexity at a range that is unprecedented in the country’s decade-long jihadist campaign, say analysts.