West African states to increase cooperation as jihadists move beyond Sahel

West African coastal states are holding talks on boosting military cooperation against jihadist violence spilling over from the Sahel. This follows recent announcements that several international peacekeeping contingents are being withdrawn from Mali.

Benin, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Togo are confronting increased risks from Islamic State jihadists and Al Qaeda militants waging war over their northern borders in the Sahel.

Eritrea deploying new army units into Tigray, says regional government 

Eritrea continues to send military reinforcements to the Tigray region despite the recent peace agreement, according to a statement issued by the regional government on Saturday.

Earlier this month, the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) agreed to a ceasefire as a first step to ending the two-year conflict.

Africa: Violent Extremism – Africa Records 346 Terrorist Attacks in Q1, 2022

The Minister of National Security, Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, has revealed that 346 terrorist attacks were recorded in Africa in the first quarter of 2022, with 49 per cent of them occurring in West Africa alone.

Also, he indicated that between July and September this year, 246 terrorist attacks resulting in 745 fatalities and 239 injuries were recorded in West Africa.

Syria’s Kurds express concerns over possible Turkish attack

The Kurdish-led authority in northeast Syria called on residents on Saturday to unite against any possible attack by Turkey, warning that such an offensive would lead to long war.

The statement by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria came a week after a Nov. 13, explosion targeted Istanbul’s bustling Istiklal Avenue — a popular thoroughfare lined with shops and restaurants — and left six people dead, including two children. More than 80 people were also wounded in the attack, which came as a stark reminder of bombings in Turkish cities between 2015 and 2017, crushing the public’s sense of security.

Dozens killed in Turkish air strikes against Kurdish militants in Syria, Iraq

Turkey announced on Sunday it had carried out air strikes against the bases of outlawed Kurdish militants across northern Syria and Iraq, which it said were being used to launch “terrorist” attacks on Turkish soil.

The raids in northern and northeastern Syria overnight, primarily against positions held by Syrian Kurdish forces, killed at least 31 people, British-based war monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. 

West Africa: France Losing Its Grip on Former African Strongholds?

France seems to be losing the grip it once had on its former colonies, and the rift is growing every day.

“Sixty years on, francophone countries in Africa still do not have true independence and freedom from France,” Nathalie Yamb, adviser to Ivory Coast’s Freedom and Democracy Party (LIDER), told Deutche Welle in 2020. Even the content of school textbooks was often still determined by France, Yamb said, and the political systems in many of the countries were introduced by France.