First Independent Mena Newspaper
Muslims in the Central African Republic (CAR) were facing “ethno-religious cleansing” as French troops struggle to contain the Christian ‘anti-balaka. militias, warned UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, in an interview with FRANCE 24 earlier this week. This warning comes after an alarming discovery by French troops on patrol in a rural region west […]
A resolution authorising European Union troops to use force in the Central African Republic (CAR), which has been torn apart by inter-religious violence over the past few months, was approved in a crucial UN Security Council earlier this week. This follows the EU’s own approval of a military operation, in which up to 600 soldiers […]
European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday (20 January) agreed to dispatch a battalion-sized force counting up to 1,000 soldiers to Central African Republic (CAR) to help to stabilize the war-torn African country. Being effectively the EU’s first major army operation in six years, the intervention by the 28-nation bloc comes after UN […]
While South Sudan is witnessing a rebellion and possibly the onset of a civil war, Western nations have airlifted their citizens from Africa’s youngest country. At the same time, French soldiers are patrolling the streets of the Central African Republic (CAR) along with African peacekeepers flown in from Burundi and Cameroon among others. 3700 African […]
China and Japan are criticizing each other’s policies in Africa as each country pledges more money for the continent. While Tokyo has censured China’s foray into mineral-rich Africa, saying its approach is unhealthy for development on the continent, Beijing accuses Japan of courting African support for its effort to secure a place in the United […]
The killing of three French journalists in northern Malian region of Kidal in early November 2013 is indicative of the ability of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) to conduct terrorist attacks in the region despite French military presence. Similarly, the announcement of the creation of a new terrorist group called Al Mourabitoun out of […]
Because of the mounting security situation in the region of Sahel, closer cooperation and integration in Maghreb is needed. According to the final concluding remarks of the 11th Morocco-EU Association Council, the EU28 stressed the salience of tight cooperation between the MENA and Sahel-Sahara region. The effort of closer collaboration between Sahel and Maghreb was […]
International Anti-Corruption Day was celebrated all across North African earlier this week with dismal news on the fight against bribery. Overall, the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) from Transparency International showed little to no improvement in graft around the region. For example, in Libya, the situation got even worse when the country was ranked as […]
United Nations has raised concerns about the ongoing violence in Libya which seems to be getting out of the government’s control. Tarik Mitri, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General told the Security Council in a briefing that there needs to be a “dialogue” between the government and the militias to end the violence and to […]
Africa must first “ensure its own security” so it can realize its “destiny”, asserted French President François Hollande when addressing some 40 African leaders as a key Franco-African security summit opened Friday in Paris. French President Hollande also pledged to help with the creation of a special African rapid-reaction force that would train as many […]