First Independent Mena Newspaper
Russia has officially transitioned its military operations in the Sahel from the shadowy Wagner Group to a state-controlled force known as Africa Corps, according to a new report by the Dakar-based Timbuktu Institute. Following Wagner’s formal withdrawal from Mali on 6 June 2025, Africa Corps was deployed the next day by Russia’s Ministry of Defense. […]
South Sudan’s military has recaptured the strategically important town of Nasir in Upper Nile state from an ethnic Nuer militia known as the White Army, marking a significant development in the country’s escalating political crisis. The town, which fell to militia forces in March, was recovered on Sunday without direct combat, according to military spokesperson […]
Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger are set to withdraw from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). This decision was acknowledged by ECOWAS Heads of State during a Summit held in Abuja on Sunday, December 15. A six-month Transition period will commence on January 29, 2025, after which the exit of the three Sahelian […]
Chadian president Mahamat Idriss Deby has defended his decision to break military ties with France and ask for the withdrawal of French troops, saying that the security agreement with its former colonial master failed to provide substantial military value to the country amid various challenges, including terrorist attacks. Deby has said their defense pact no […]
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali — or MINUSMA — said in a statement on Sunday (13 August) that it has sped up its withdrawal from the city of Ber in the north of the country due to “the degradation of security,” which had made its departure urgent. During the operation, three of UN […]
Parts of Africa and the Middle East will likely feel the impacts of Russia’s latest decision to withdraw from a pact that allowed Ukrainian grains to leave Black Sea ports. The Black Sea grains deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July, which has allowed more than 30 million tons to be exported […]
The Special Representative for the Sahara and Head of the MINURSO, Kim Bolduc met with Polisario officials in their rear base in Tindouf, southwestern Algeria, to discuss the situation in Guerguarat, the southernmost tip of the Saharan provinces in the buffer strip on the borders with Mauritania, where polisario militiamen are still stationed after Morocco’s […]