Burkina-Faso mourns victims of jihad

Thirty-five civilians, including 31 women, were killed on Tuesday in a jihadist attack in Arbinda, in the north of Burkina Faso, one of the deadliest tolls in the history of this Sahel country, which declared 48 hours of national mourning. Four soldiers and three gendarmes also perished, and “80 terrorists” and seven members of security…

Sahel meeting in Paris postponed

Today at doorstep of the European Council  in Brussels French President Macron announced the a postponement to early 2020 of a meeting of Sahel countries, he said. EN DIRECT | Déclaration du Président @EmmanuelMacron à l’ouverture du Conseil européen. https://t.co/ddDCQ9xgPm — Élysée (@Elysee) December 12, 2019 “I made the decision yesterday with President Issoufou to…

French solider killed in Mali

French soldier perished in Mali after his armoured vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb, France’s presidency said in a statement. Le brigadier Ronan Pointeau est mort au Mali, en opération. À sa famille, à ses proches et ses frères d'armes, je veux dire ma tristesse et la pleine solidarité de la Nation. Je salue…

Five Mali soldiers killed in jihad

Five soldiers killed in an ambush, the  Malian army representatives said.  According to the statement  the soldiers were travelling between the towns of Hombori and Boni, about 100 km north of the Burkina Faso border, when they fell into an ambush. Their vehicle was also destroyed. Reinforcements have been immediately dispatched. (Image above: Hombori sunset). Dans…

Libya: dozens killed in Murzuq airstrike

More than 30 individuals have been killed in an air strike on the southern Libyan oasis town of Murzuq in the historic region of Fezzan, populated mostly by Dawada people, but also by Tuareg. (Image above: illustration). Heavy clashes yesterday in #Murzuq between local tribal armed groups with reports of 8 people killed so far. A peace treaty was…

Sahel: EU condolences to victims of terrorism

Hundred civilians were killed by armed groups in the village of Sobane in central Mali. On the same day, some 20 people were killed during an attack in the commune of Arbinda, in northern Burkina Faso.s Travel advisory maps of #BurkinaFaso 🇧🇫. A comparison of the maps published by #France 🇫🇷, the #UnitedKingdom 🇬🇧 and…

French soldiers slain in Burkina Faso hostage operation

Four hostages have been rescued by the military in Burkina Faso, the Ministry of foreign affairs of France informed in a communique. #Bénin pic.twitter.com/uj4YttnGXC — Jean-Yves Le Drian (@JY_LeDrian) May 10, 2019 Two French, one American woman and one South Korean woman. It is with profound sadness that the government informed about the death of…

Sahel stability as key to EU security

“The EU supports the efforts the G5 Sahel countries in the fight against terrorism, organised crime and any other threat to security and peace” says the text of conclusions adopted by the EU Foreign Affairs Council. #Sahel: EU takes further steps to better support the security of the region ➡️ @EUCouncil takes regionalisation of @EucapSahelMali @EUCAPSahelNiger…

Tajani: “We can’t stop migration”

“Until 2016, 90% of irregular migrants travelled through the Niger to Libya and Europe. In just 2 years, Niger reduced migration flows by 95%, from over 300,000 to about 10,000 in 2018. We need to support this model and extend it to other Sahel countries following the example with Turkey, where we committed 6 billion…

EU determined to support Mali in counterterrorism

Mali headquarters of an international counterterrorism task force, G5 Sahel, were attacked on Friday in a car bomb blast, killing six people and leaving many injured, according to officials. “Shortly after Friday prayers, a suicide bomber in a vehicle painted with UN colours blew up at the entrance to the G5 base in Sevare. It…