First Independent Mena Newspaper
Many security pundits have repeatedly warned that the political unrest, the eroding security situation and the flourishing weapons, human and drug trafficking in the Sahel/Sahara region have made of the area a terrorism breeding ground, an exploding powder keg, or what some have called ‘an arc of instability.’ The warning has just been echoed in […]
Tunisian authorities have dismantled lately several Islamist terrorist networks that were recruiting young Tunisians for jihad in Syria. The recruiters are hardline salafists groups operating in mosques and charities. These dark networks were disrupted after months of investigations launched after the complaints lodged by several families over the disappearance of many of their sons, accusing […]
The White House was caught off guard when the thirteen hour filibuster of Senator Rand Paul sparked a national conversation about the use of drones and the United States’ warfare in the larger Middle East. The filibuster was staged against the confirmation of John Brennan as the new head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), […]
Algeria-born jihadist Yahya Abu Hamam, emir of al Qaeda in North Africa, has been added by the US to the list of global terrorists for his key role in the group’s terror activities in the Maghreb and Sahel region. Hamam spent 18 months in jail in Algeria for his terrorist activities. After his release, he […]
The Pentagon is planning a drone base in northwest Africa to counter the growing terror threat posed by the Islamist extremists linked to Al Qaeda, says the New York Times on its web site. The base will be most probably established in Niger or Burkina Faso, sharing borders with Mali where French and Malian troops […]
Last December, the U.N. Security Council passed a cautious resolution that outlined steps to be taken before an international military intervention into Mali to deal with the deteriorating security situation in the country. But in a surprise move on 11 January, French President Francois Hollande authorized airstrikes in Mali to stop a sudden southward push […]
At least some 37 foreign workers, who were taken lately hostage by Islamist militants linked to Al Qaeda at a gas plant in Southern Algerian city of In Amenas, were killed during a military operation launched by the Algerian Special Forces to release the captives and retake to the gasfield compound. The identified slain hostages […]
As many as 41 people – including American, British, French, Japanese, Norwegian, Irish and Austrian nationals – are being held hostage by armed Islamist militants after storming a gas facility in Algeria. The gas production facility attacked on Wednesday by the terrorists is located in the town of In Amenas (near the Libyan border). The […]
At least eight foreigners, including Britons, Norwegian and Japanese nationals were seized Wednesday in Algeria by Islamist militants in an attack on an oil facility in the south-eastern region of the North African country. The terror attack, which targeted a BP gas plant in the town of In Amenas (near the Libyan border), also claimed […]
Algerian military forces have launched lately a large scale combing campaign targeting Islamist militants groups operating in the Boumerdes-Tizi-Ouzou-Bouira triangle, stronghold of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and its affiliates. This campaign comes as the international community braces for military action to dislodge the radical Islamist forces occupying northern Mali after a coup in […]