Africa

Un agent de la police nigérienne est porté disparu vendredi après une attaque terroriste contre le poste de police de la ville de Tamou (ouest), proche de la frontière avec le Burkina Faso, selon des sources sécuritaires.

Two assailants on a motorcycle Friday attacked a Tunisian security forces checkpoint outside the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, blowing themselves up, killing one police officer and wounding four others plus a civilian. Police launched raids on the homes of the suspected bombers shortly after the attack.

Over the last few weeks, al Qaeda’s Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) released two pamphlets that sent indirect messages to its detractors and supporters in the Sahel and beyond.

Paris has said it will deploy 600 additional troops to the border zone between Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. French forces are also seeking to train local fighters who Paris says are unprepared to take on jihadi groups.

Heads of state from West Africa and France will gather in the French town of Pau to find new strategies against jihadists in the Sahel. But resistance to the presence of French troops in the African region is growing.

Rebel forces in Libya say they have taken control of Sirte following what media reports describe as a rapid advance on the strategic coastal city.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared Monday that Turkish forces would do their duty in Libya after being deployed to support the country’s besieged Government of National Accord.

The Libyan National Army (LNA) commander, Khalifa Haftar, announced a “decisive battle” for Tripoli. His opponents, the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), responded by asking Turkey to provide military support, prompting Haftar to declare a general mobilization of his forces to resist what he describes as a foreign invasion.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey will increase its military support to Libya’s internationally-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) if necessary and will evaluate military options there.

The Department of Defence contemplates scaling down or completely withdrawing US troops from West Africa as the first phase of US reallocating its forces to address the great power competition with China and Russia, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.