First Independent Mena Newspaper
Drug trafficking in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger continues to undermine security and economic development in the West African Sahel region, according to a new report from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) that calls for the dismantling of trafficking networks. In light of the soaring seizures of drugs, especially cocaine, […]
Burkina Faso has declared three French diplomats as “persona non grata”, accusing them of being involved in “subversive activities”, and ordered them to leave the country within 48 hours, the Foreign Ministry in Ouagadougou said in a note dated Tuesday (16 April). According to the note that was sent to the French embassy in Burkina […]
Trade between Nigeria and neighboring Niger has bounced back since the West African bloc ECOWAS lifted sanctions on the latter coup-hit country, just as the president of the ECOWAS Commission admits Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso’s withdrawal will cost the regional bloc as much as US$1 billion. In January 2024, the three countries led by military […]
Burkina Faso announced an extension of the emergency measures for another year as the war against terrorist groups seems yet to be won. The measures include summoning people aged 18 to fight and entailed curbing freedoms and forming local defense groups. Terrorist activity worsened under-development in the poor country and pushed 2 million people out […]
Despite the recent decision by the ECOWAS to lift its sanctions imposed on Niger, the stalemate between the regional bloc and the three coup-hit Sahelian countries of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger lingers on. Observers and analysts have pondered if the relations between the three junta-ruled countries and the Economic Community of West African States […]
Gold production in Burkina Faso dropped significantly due to a surge in Jihadist activity in a country where military rulers have been in power since September 2022. As Jihadist groups continue to wreak havoc in the wider Sahel, Burkina Faso suffered the most, accounting for almost a quarter of people killed in terrorist attacks globally […]
France has said it will keep its 1,000 troops in junta-run Chad amid waning French influence after it was ousted from several African countries over the past few years, just as apparent calm has returned to Chad’s capital N’Djamena following the assassination of an opposition leader. “Of course we will stay” in Chad, said Jean-Marie […]
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 […]
Germany, which currently chairs the Sahel Alliance, a key development body in the conflict-torn region, makes efforts to boost trust in state structures in countries such as Burkina Faso also by showing its willingness to interact with the post-coup regimes. Burkina Faso and Benin are part of a trip to the Sahel region by German […]
Burkina Faso judicial authorities said an attack on a village in Yatenga province left 170 people, including women and children, dead as the country reels under a surge in Jihadist activity. The attack came as the military authorities in the country warned against increased risk of attacks by extremist groups, including on urban centers. The […]