First Independent Mena Newspaper
Mali and Niger have renewed long‑standing accusations that Algeria is exporting terrorism into the Sahel by sheltering, enabling and indirectly sustaining armed groups that carry out attacks south of its borders. Although Malian and Nigerien officials stopped short of explicitly naming Algeria this time during remarks at a regional security forum in Senegal on Monday, […]
Morocco and Mali have fostered their bilateral ties with a watershed decision announcing Bamako’s support for Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara and its withdrawal of recognition of Algerian separatist proxies the Polisario. This takes place at a time Mali complains of Algerian bullying through manipulating terrorist groups and Tuareg separatists in its north. Morocco has […]
Mali’s decision to withdraw its recognition of the self-declared separatist entity SADR and to support autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty in the Sahara under represents a major diplomatic development in the Sahel, carrying regional, historical and geopolitical significance. The announcement was made on April 10 by Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop during an official visit by […]
Mali announced this Friday that « following a thorough review of this important issue (the Sahara), which has an impact on sub-regional peace and security, the Republic of Mali has decided, as of today, to withdraw its recognition of the “Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR)”». This position was expressed in a statement by the Malian […]
The General Staff of the Mauritanian Armed Forces addressed on March 23 reports concerning the deaths of Mauritanian citizens allegedly at the hands of Malian Army personnel near the Hodh el Gharbi region. The statement, published on the Army’s official website, emphasized the need for accuracy in reporting incidents affecting national security. According to the […]
The United States is believed close to reaching an agreement with Mali that would allow American aircraft and drones to resume intelligence operations against jihadist groups operating in the Sahel country. According to press reports, the move shows plans to return to the Sahel region after years of disengagement, leaving Russia, China and Turkey to […]
Several industrial facilities in Mali’s western Kayes region were attacked on Sunday, January 11, as suspected jihadists linked to al-Qaeda expanded their campaign from fuel blockades to direct strikes on economic infrastructure. According to reports published this Monday, three factories producing cement, lime and plaster — owned by Malian and Indian businessmen — were targeted […]
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 […]
As it conflates news with propaganda, an Algerian state media AL24 news was rebuked by the Russian Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov after she made a statement instead of a question regarding Moscow’s military involvement in Africa. The question, which has an affirmative and accusatory tone, turned into a diplomatic embarrassment for Algiers which directed its […]
A sweeping new offensive by the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jama’at Nasrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) in western Mali is rapidly reshaping the Sahel conflict, expanding both the geographic reach and economic impact of militant Islamist violence in the region, according to a new study by the Washington-based Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS). Led by the Maçina Liberation […]