Sahel

Jihadist Group Harbours Political Ambitions in Troubled Sahel

In Africa's turbulent Sahel region, the Al-Qaeda-linked JNIM jihadist group is expanding its influence by repeated massacres, food distribution and signing pacts with local authorities to position itself as a key political player. The Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) has not ruled out governing states and has condemned bloody ...

Morocco's Atlantic Gambit: Linking Restive Sahel to Ocean

A planned trade corridor linking the landlocked Sahel to the Atlantic is at the heart of an ambitious Moroccan project to tackle regional instability and consolidate its grip on disputed Western Sahara. The "Atlantic Initiative" promises ocean access to Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger through a new $1.3-billion port in the former Spanish colony ...

France Concludes Anti-Jihadist Operations in Sahel After Decade

The last French troops have withdrawn from Niger, concluding over a decade of anti-jihadist operations in the Sahel, amid strained relations and regional coups. The last French troops withdrew from Niger on Friday, marking an end to more than a decade of French anti-jihadist operations in West Africa's Sahel region, as reported by AFP and ...