First Independent Mena Newspaper
Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have officially launched a joint military force aimed at tackling Islamist insurgencies and cross-border insecurity, deepening their security cooperation outside the framework of West Africa’s ECOWAS bloc. The new formation, called the United Force of the Alliance of Sahel States (FU-AES), was unveiled on Dec 20 at an airbase in […]
The government of Burkina-Faso has reaffirmed its unwavering support for Morocco’s territorial integrity and commended UN Security Council resolution 2797 endorsing Moroccan autonomy plan in the Sahara under the Kingdom’s sovereignty This supportive stand comes in a joint statement issued Wednesday following the 5th Session of the Morocco-Burkina Faso Joint Cooperation Commission held in Ouagadougou […]
Burkina Faso and Niger have welcomed the adoption by the historic UN Security Council of Resolution 2797, which enshrines, within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty, the Morocco-proposed autonomy plan as a serious, credible, and lasting basis for achieving a solution to the Sahara issue. This welcome was expressed by the two countries’ Foreign Ministers, Karamoko […]
Intelligence agencies from Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso are reportedly set to release names of senior Nigerian political figures allegedly financing terrorism and aiding arms trafficking in West Africa, according to multiple regional sources. The unprecedented move follows coordinated security operations under the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), a bloc formed by the three countries […]
Niger’s Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine delivered a scathing address at the United Nations General Assembly, accusing France of actively undermining his country’s sovereignty through what he called a “sneaky and subversive destabilization plan.” Zeine alleged that since French troops were expelled from Niger in 2023, Paris has been “training, financing, and equipping terrorists” […]
A recent surge in attacks by the Islamic State in the Sahel Province (IS Sahel) has left more than 127 civilians dead in Niger’s Tillabéri region, according to a latest report by Human Rights Watch (HRW). The watchdog group described the killings — carried out in at least five separate incidents since March — as […]
West Africa faces a deepening humanitarian crisis as the fallout from armed conflict in the Central Sahel region continues to spill into neighboring Gulf of Guinea countries, according to a new UNICEF report. In the first half of 2025, escalating violence in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger has displaced more than 515,000 people into coastal […]
Burkina Faso’s military-led government has suspended the controversial Target Malaria initiative, a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation–funded project aimed at combating malaria through the release of genetically modified mosquitoes. Announced Friday (22 August) by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, the decision halts all activities and orders the destruction of remaining mosquito samples. Project […]
Burkina Faso’s government has expelled the United Nations’ top official in the country, Carol Flore-Smereczniak, following the publication of a report detailing grave violations against children amid the ongoing jihadist conflict. The country declared Flore-Smereczniak “persona non grata,” citing her involvement in the preparation of the UN report released in March. The document, which covered […]
Northern Togo is facing a mounting threat from jihadist militants infiltrating from neighboring Burkina Faso, with the Togolese government maintaining strict silence as the situation deteriorates. Foreign Minister Robert Dussey recently acknowledged that over 62 people have been killed by militants since January — more than double last year’s toll — in one of the […]