Turkish Airstrikes on Northeastern Syria ‘Directly Threatened’ US Personnel, Pentagon Says

Turkey’s airstrikes in northeastern Syria “directly threatened the safety of United States personnel” who are working in Syria to fight against the Islamic State, the Pentagon said. Pentagon Press Secretary Brig Gen Patrick Ryder also told reporters that “immediate de-escalation is necessary in order to maintain focus on the defeat-ISIS mission and ensure the safety and security of personnel on the ground committed to the defeat-ISIS mission.

We condemn the loss of civilian life that has occurred in both Turkey and Syria as a result of these actions and offer our condolences.” It is the strongest condemnation yet by the US against Turkey’s Operation Claw-Sword, launched in response to a November 13 attack on a pedestrian mall in Istanbul that left 6 people dead and wounded dozens more, that Turkey blames on Kurdish groups – the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq as well as the Kurdish People’s Protection group (YPG) along the Syrian border. Both groups have denied involvement in the attack.

The US is “also concerned by reports of the deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure,” the Pentagon spokesman also said. He added that the US, while calling for de-escalation, also recognizes Turkey’s “legitimate security concerns” and would continue to discuss “cease-fire arrangements.” There are about 900 US soldiers and personnel in Syria.

The US statement comes after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country would launch a land operation into Syria “at the most convenient time.” On Wednesday, Turkey struck the Al-Hol refugee camp in northeastern Syria administered by semi-autonomous Kurdish forces that is home to 50,000 people, including relatives of suspected ISIS fighters, Syrians displaced by the civil war, and Iraqi refugees.

Burkina : Le capitaine Ibrahim Traoré ne veut pas de Wagner

L’armée a appelé à la mobilisation populaire et lancé le recrutement de 3 000 militaires de rang et de 50 000 supplétifs pour lutter contre le terrorisme.Le président de la transition Ibrahim Traoré compte d’abord sur les compatriotes pour vaincre les jihadistes. Appelant de moins en moins les troupes françaises à l’aide face aux groupes armés terroristes, le pays tourne le dos cette fois, aux mercenaires russes de la compagnie Wagner.

Burkina : les forces spéciales françaises sur le départ ?

Après le Mali, les militaires français pourraient quitter le Burkina Faso.Les forces spéciales françaises présentes au Burkina Faso pourraient quitter ce pays d’Afrique de l’Ouest. Dans un entretien avec le Journal du Dimanche, le ministre français des Armées, Sébastien Lecornu, n’écarte pas cette hypothèse. “Il est évident que notre stratégie générale en Afrique interroge toutes les composantes de notre présence, y compris les forces spéciales”, explique-t-il, notant que l’unité des forces spéciales déployées à Ouagadougou et connue sous le nom de “Sabre”, “a un role clé ces dernieres années dans la lutte contre le terrorisme au Sahel”.

Top Mali Commander Calls On All Tuaregs To Fight Islamic State Group

A leading commander in Mali’s army has called on ethnic Tuaregs to fight jihadists in the north of the country in a WhatsApp audio message authenticated Monday by AFP.

General El Hadj Ag Gamou, himself a Tuareg and a major figure in the Malian army’s fight against the Islamic State in the Great Sahara (ISGS) — which is affiliated with the Islamic State organisation — called on the military help of all Tuaregs inside and outside the country.

China in Africa: The Role of Trade, Investments, and Loans Amidst Shifting Geopolitical Ambitions

Chinese influence in Africa is high on the global agenda, as China within just a few decades has become a key political and economic power in the continent. Indeed, its emergence as a dominant economic and political actor might be the most important development in Africa since the end of the Cold War. This paper analyses China’s economic and political relations with Africa beginning in the 1990s. It argues that the concern is not that China has expanded its economic and political presence in the African continent; rather, that the other stakeholders have ignored it for long.

2021 Report on International Religious Freedom: North Macedonia

Executive Summary

The constitution prohibits religious discrimination and provides for freedom of religion and religious expression. It grants equality before the law for all individuals regardless of religious belief. The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and other government ministries discussed amendments to the 2007 law governing religion that would enable larger religious communities to acquire the status of “legal entities,” but the MOJ again postponed consultations with religious groups on the amendments. On February 18, the Islamic Religious Community in North Macedonia (IRC) publicly condemned the government’s official registration of the Islamic Salafi community in December 2020, saying it would be detrimental to Muslim unity. IRC leaders said relations with the government improved following a meeting in January between IRC leader Reis Shaqir Fetahu and President Stevo Pendarovski, but that some government ministries and the judiciary continued to treat the organization unfavorably. The Skopje Appellate Court upheld a lower court’s rejection of the registration application of the Orthodox Archbishopric of Ohrid (OAO) because the application had not been submitted by the deadline.

Al-Shabab gunman kills 3 Kenyan peacekeepers in Somalia

A lone gunman entered a military base in Somalia and killed at least three Kenyan peacekeepers Monday, the latest attack by extremist fighters who oppose the presence of foreigners in the Horn of Africa nation, according to Kenya’s military.