5 + 5 defense initiative

Interpol, UAE-led team, nab world’s most wanted human trafficker in Sudan

Kidane Zekarias Habtemariam, an Eritrean fugitive accused of being “the world’s most wanted” people smuggler has been arrested in Sudan in coordination with United Arab Emirates authorities, Interpol announced. The Eritrean national, on Interpol’s radar since 2019, has been accused of being a smuggling kingpin, running a camp in Libya where hundreds of East African […]

Is Algeria’s regime distancing itself from Russia to avoid U.S. ire?

In a bid to maintain their strong grip on power and avoid U.S. sanctions for financing Moscow’s war in Ukraine through the purchase of Russian weapons, the Algerian rulers started distancing themselves from their Russian historical ally and main arms supplier. According to Spanish newspaper “El Confidencial” and French daily “Courrier International”, the Algerian military […]

Three Sahel countries to create joint anti-jihadist force amid growing insecurity

Junta-led Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have agreed to create a joint force to battle security threats, most notably long-running jihadist rebellions, across their territories. Violence in the wider Sahel region fueled by the decade-long fight with Islamist groups has worsened since the three countries’ militaries seized power in a series of coups from 2020 […]