Buscador avanzado

Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger show no signs of beating back stubborn Islamist insurgencies. Western leaders, whose military involvement over the past decade has done little to stem violence, seem at a loss at how to respond to coups in Burkina Faso and Mali.

Burkina Faso is in the direst straits. Jihadi groups control an estimated 40 percent of its territory, including vast rural areas in the north and east. Militants have laid siege to a major northern town, Djibo, for months. Fighting has killed thousands of people and driven nearly 2 million from their homes. As the losses mount, so does finger-pointing within the army.…  Seguir leyendo »

An ex-combatant leans against a window of a dormitory room at an internment camp for ex-Boko Haram fighters, in Goudoumaria, Niger, in August 2018. (Jane Hahn/For The Washington Post)

My last international trip before the covid-19 lockdown was to Nigeria’s neighbor Chad. It wasn’t my first visit to the north-central African nation of some 16 million, which ranks last on the World Bank’s Human Capital Index, but it was unique. I ventured to the Lac region, the country’s principal agricultural region, an area impoverished by climate change, corruption, diseases, dictatorship — and now, the militant group Boko Haram. Having monitored the advent and transformation of Boko Haram in Nigeria, I knew that the group had inflicted substantial damage across the Lake Chad region, but I wanted to see and feel the situation for myself.…  Seguir leyendo »

Nigerien service members react to contact during Exercise Flintlock 2017 in Diffa including African, European and North American Special Operations Forces, Niger, March 2017. Zayid Ballesteros (The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.)

What happened and where?

According to U.S. and Nigerien security sources, on 4 October 2017 a mixed patrol of U.S. and Nigerien special forces was ambushed near Tongo Tongo, a village located in the Tillabery region (about 120km north of the capital, Niamey), a few kilometres from the border with Mali. The precise death toll is still uncertain but at least five Nigerien and three U.S. soldiers were killed. Several others are wounded or missing, and Nigerien sources say the patrol’s vehicles were looted or destroyed.

The patrol may have been attacked by jihadists operating in the region, but there was no early claim of responsibility and what happened may only become clear over time.…  Seguir leyendo »

L’attaque de Boko Haram le 3 juin 2016 contre la ville nigérienne de Bosso, au bord du lac Tchad, a confirmé la résilience du mouvement insurrectionnel et mis au jour les fragilités du dispositif militaire nigérien. Les autorités nigériennes ont officiellement confirmé la perte de vingt-six militaires. Mais l’attaque de Bosso permet aussi de remobiliser les forces régionales qui affirment vouloir porter un coup décisif à Boko Haram.

Une opération majeure de la Force multinationale mixte (FMM), retardée depuis plusieurs mois, est annoncée comme imminente. Cependant, pour réduire durablement le phénomène Boko Haram, le Niger et ses partenaires dans la sous-région et au-delà devraient se garder de certaines confusions dangereuses quant aux cibles à choisir et aux moyens à employer.…  Seguir leyendo »