First Independent Mena Newspaper
Amid a surge in insurgent activity across Africa, the U.S. military is recalibrating its strategy, stepping back from its traditional focus on governance and development to emphasize burden-sharing and self-reliance among African partners. At the recent African Lion 2025 military exercise — the continent’s largest — Gen. Michael Langley, head of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), […]
Al-Shabab fighters launched a coordinated dawn attack on the strategic town of Adan Yabaal in central Somalia on Wednesday (16 April), igniting heavy clashes with government troops and raising concerns over the sustainability of the country’s counterinsurgency campaign. The town, situated approximately 240 kilometers north of Mogadishu, serves as a critical logistical hub linking Hirshabelle […]
A senior US counterterrorism official has raised alarms about the increasing threat posed by global jihadist groups, warning that they are, for example, expanding their activities from Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso into Benin and Togo, which had once had little exposure to jihadi threats. Speaking at a recent Washington conference, Sebastian Gorka noted that […]
With the United States in the process of withdrawing its 1,000 troops from Niger and also about 75 from neighboring Chad, Western military officials and experts are concerned that violent extremist groups are growing in size and influence across Africa, posing a threat to the US and Western allies. A recent UN Security Council “Arria-formula” […]
Mali has launched an investigation into several ethnic separatists and al-Qaida-linked jihadist leaders for terrorism and money laundering, which also includes a probe into the Tuareg rebel leaders who signed a peace agreement in 2015 and now accuse the government of failing to comply with it. The instructions issued by Mali’s judiciary this week show […]
The Niger government has declared three days of national mourning after at least 29 soldiers were killed by suspected terrorists near the country’s border with Mali, whose army is also waging battles against Islamist militants on multiple fronts after the UN peacekeeping mission withdraws. The “three borders” area between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso is […]
International and regional efforts to combat armed groups linked to al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and other extremist groups have failed to stop their expansion in Africa’s Sahel region, a senior United Nations official has warned. The joint force set up in 2014 to combat groups linked to al-Qaida, ISIL (ISIS) and others in the Sahel, […]
Al-Shabab has been on a gradual retreat in Somalia since the announcement of a “total war” against the al-Qaida-affiliated militant group by Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in August 2022, and, according to experts, this could be the beginning of al-Shabab’s end. Mohamud announced the “total war” against the group days after it staged a […]
The ECOWAS mediator for Burkina Faso has ended his visit to the country in the wake of last week’s coup, the second in eight months, whose main objectives were to establish relations with the new junta leader and to reinforce a two-year transition period for the country to return to democracy set up under the […]
Somali tribal militia backed by the Somali government have pushed al-Shabab terrorists out of large parts of the country’s central area in the latest gains in a large-scale offensive, the country’s state media said on Monday. The offensive was launched in the Hiran region a few weeks ago against the militants, liberating several key townships […]