First Independent Mena Newspaper
As the three junta-led Sahel countries are to officially quit the regional grouping ECOWAS on Wednesday (29 January), the years of growing political tensions and deteriorating relations with their neighbors have shaken up trade routes across the West African region. The looming withdrawal of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger from the Economic Community of West […]
Foreign mining companies in the Sahel region are currently experiencing a nightmare scenario, as military-led governments in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger are seeking to reclaim control over the mining of gold and other valuable resources. With gold mining accounting for over 90% of Mali’s exports, highlighting its critical economic role, the junta-led government aims […]
The Spanish national who has been kidnapped in southern Algeria last week was freed at last by the Touareg Azawad separatist movement FLA, which offered him to the Algerian regime. Algerian rulers took all credit in an attempt to hide their utter failure to protect their borders from rampant Sahel terrorist groups. In a statement, […]
Russia has reportedly delivered military equipment, including tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery systems to Mali, which observers suspect may have been moved there from Syria following the departure of Russian troops after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. According to reports from Defense Web, Africa’s leading defense news portal, Mali could be another recipient of […]
Barrick Gold Corporation said that it remains restricted from shipping gold from the Loulo-Gounkoto mining complex in Mali, where authorities have also seized the company’s existing gold stock from the site to a custodial bank. Malian authorities have seized an amount of gold estimated at $245 million in an escalation of their long-running dispute with […]
Two Moroccan trucks were among the 30 trucks that have been shot in a terrorist attack in Nioro du Sahel on the Malian border with Mauritania. The terrorists clashed with the army which repelled the attack, the Malian army said. At least 30 suspected terrorists were killed in the attack which targeted key points in […]
A ceremony was held lately in Bamako in honor of 100 Imams who graduated from the Rabat-based Mohammed VI Institute for the Training of Imams, Morchidine, and Morchidates. Out of 300 graduates from the Mohammed VI Institute, the 100 imams received their diplomas following a two-year training program that covered counter-terrorism and violent extremism. Simultaneously, […]
Barrick Gold, the second largest gold mining company globally, said it mulls stopping production at its mine in Mali if the ban on shipments was not lifted. The company made the threat in reaction to measures by Bamako authorities to renegotiate the permit in order to have a bigger share of operations in the gold […]
Mali’s security forces said they have arrested two individuals in a special operation, one of whom is a prominent and leading figure in the Islamic State group’s Sahel branch. Malian army, which has been fighting an Islamist insurgency for years, has also reported that several fighters from the terrorist group were killed on Saturday (4 […]
Mali’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned on Wednesday Algeria of supporting terrorist groups in the Sahel, of fueling instability in the region, and of interfering in its internal affairs. The Foreign Ministry emphasized in a strongly-worded statement that Mali would not allow external powers to meddle in its sovereignty or act as “firefighters” while fueling […]