MINUSMA, the United Nations mission in Mali, has confirmed that some 100 civilians including women and children were killed in the village of Sobanou-Kou in the Mopti region during an attack by armed men on Sunday night. Witnesses and local officials say there are many wounded as well in this…
Villagers in Burkina Faso say they’re caught between the demands of armed extremists and the violence of their own security forces, in a northern Sahel region where more than 150 people have been killed and thousands forced to flee in the past year. That’s according to a Human Rights Watch…
A new report presented to the United Nations Security Council on Monday details the threat that Islamic State continues to present to the African continent, from Libya and Somalia across the Sahel and into West Africa. These fighters – whether in small clusters of a few dozen in the mountains…
Authorites in Burkina Faso have declared a state of emergency in six of its 13 provinces, in response to an escalating terrorist threat. President Roch Marc Kaboré announced the decision through his information minister following an emergency meeting with the country’s council of ministers on Monday. The declaration covers four…
International leaders have again pointed to climate change as a key contributing factor to instability in the Sahel region, and urged action to get at the root causes of conflict and crisis. “These are found in discrimination, human rights violations, weak governance, conflict, and the impact of climate change,” said…
On Thursday, China takes over the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council for November and all indications are that African affairs will be a top priority. Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said that, according to available information, the situation in the Sahel is a priority topic for Security…
The United States has released new data on counterterrorism on the African continent, with the challenges in Somalia and across the Sahel remaining among the most pressing priorities. The Country Reports on Terrorism 2017 lists 16 African nations with detailed information about terrorism threats and response, along with five more…
Climate change is “inextricably linked to some of the most pressing security challenges of our time,” said Nigerian Amina Mohammed, the United Nations deputy secretary-general, during remarks made to the UN Security Council on Wednesday. During the last 18 months, the Security Council has recognized the adverse effects of climate…
There’s one thing readers and viewers can count on as the year winds down, and that’s a deluge of “Year in Review” stories and posts. The political changes, the celebrity news, the economic issues – media outlets contribute their take on what shaped our days and the shared history of…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
President Emmanuel Macron of France has announced €400 million (USD$474 million) in financial aid to Niger during his weekend press conference with President Mahamadou Issoufou in Niamey. Macron said the funding, planned through 2021, will support development in Niger and security in the Sahel. His remarks alongside Issoufou, who Macron praised…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
President Emmanuel Macron of France is headed back to the African continent on Wednesday, this time for another stop in Algeria before he continues on to Qatar for an official state visit. Macron is expected to meet with both longtime President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, who returned…
President Emmanuel Macron of France begins his three-day visit to Africa Tuesday with a stop in Burkina Faso, before heading on to an African Union-European Union summit in Côte d’Ivoire and a visit in Ghana. Macron plans to make African youth a priority, beginning at the University of Ouagadougou where…
The international news coverage on Libyan slave markets over the past week has resulted in a lot of issued statements, coming from outraged and passionate Parisian street protesters to British sports heroes to presidents and diplomats. “I am here because I saw my brothers sold in Libya as tomatoes on a counter,…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Decades ago, during the U.S. presidency of Richard Nixon and the war in Southeast Asia, political cartoonist Garry Trudeau of “Doonesbury” fame created some classic commentary on a U.S. Senate inquiry into “secret” bombing raids that weren’t in Vietnam at all, but rather in Cambodia. The 1973 Sunday cartoon made…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
The government of Chad announced Wednesday that it is closing the embassy of Qatar and giving 10 days for Qatari diplomats to leave the country. The letter issued by Minister of Foreign Affairs Hissein Brahim Taha said that Chad made the decision to expel Qatar’s diplomats because of the nation’s…