Latest news with #EconomicCommunityofWestAfricaStates
TimesLIVE
05-08-2025
- Politics
- TimesLIVE
Islamist militants free Moroccan truck drivers held since January, says Mali
Islamic State-affiliated militants have released four Moroccan truck drivers kidnapped in January, Mali said late on Monday, according to state media, highlighting growing intelligence cooperation between the two countries. The men and their three trucks disappeared in January while crossing without an escort from Dori in Burkina Faso to Tera in Niger, an area known for jihadist threats, a diplomatic source said at the time. They were shown alongside Mali junta leader Assimi Goita in footage broadcast on Monday night by state media, which reported that they had been freed on Sunday. Junta-led Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali are battling militant groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State that have been destabilising West Africa's Sahel region for more than a decade. All three countries have halted defence cooperation with France and other Western forces and turned towards Russia for military support. And last year they announced their withdrawal from the Economic Community of West Africa States (Ecowas), raising the risk of diplomatic isolation. Morocco has meanwhile drawn closer to the three landlocked countries. In April the foreign ministers of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali endorsed an initiative offering them access to global trade through Morocco's Atlantic ports. Morocco also mediated to secure the release in December of four French nationals who had been held in Burkina Faso for a year. The release on Sunday of the four truck drivers came as a result of cooperation between the security and intelligence services of Mali and Morocco, Malian state media reported.
The Citizen
18-06-2025
- Politics
- The Citizen
Rethinking conflict on the African battlefield
As wars escalate and peace efforts flounder, Eeben Barlow's innovative military strategy speaks directly to Africa's realities and its need for self-driven solutions. Africa is the most conflict-prone continent in the world. From the civil war raging in Sudan to the killing fields of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the terrorist hotbeds from the Sahel in the west to Somalia in the east and Mozambique in the south – violence plagues Africa's citizens and governments. What is clear from these escalatory spirals of carnage is that existing responses – both African and foreign – are simply not working. The African Union's much-vaunted African Security Architecture built on the effective functioning of Regional Economic Communities' acting as first responders to trouble in their region has been a dismal failure. We are witnessing the unravelling of the Economic Community of West Africa States as former members of the bloc have withdrawn to form their own Alliance of Sahel States bloc. Meanwhile, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has failed dismally in its interventions in both Mozambique and the DRC. Similarly, failure has bedevilled the plethora of foreign interventions from multiple external actors – including the French, Russians, Türkiye, the US, China, the various Gulf States and the United Nations. ALSO READ: China's clever trade deal with Africa – removal of tariffs on most goods Indeed, based on the magnifying conflict trajectories one could well argue that the situation is far worse now than before the intervention began. This failure could well be the result of donor-driven agendas at military transformation and the instilling of a military doctrine which scarcely speaks to the uniqueness of the African battlefield. Often, American and European military training programmes seek to create clones of their armed forces on a continent with a different political and economic reality and a hugely disparate military culture. It is in this context that General Eeben Barlow sets out his highly innovative approach to conflict – and especially that plaguing the continent in the form of asymmetric warfare. He details his theories and practice in his book, Composite Warfare: The Conduct of Successful Ground Force Operations in Africa. His approach has been informed by his 40 years experience as a front-line officer and CEO of the most successful private military company in the world – Executive Outcomes. ALSO READ: Google Open Buildings helping strengthen community resilience Barlow describes 'composite warfare' as a '…proven, intelligence-driven, whole-of-government approach that integrates multiple domains of warfare such as land, air, sea, intelligence, information and cyberspace, along with the pillars of state to achieve a desired national strategic outcome'. The revised and expanded 2025 edition of Composite Warfare speaks to African conditions and arose out of the author's successful engagement across a myriad African battlefields. It is bottom-up, it is flexible and speaks to offensive, defensive and containment strategies. Moreover, the whole-of-government approach speaks to the reality of more comprehensive approaches to address much of the insurgencies scarring African nations, where a military approach needs to be combined with both better governance and economic development. The author demonstrates the mastery of his subject by effortlessly straddling strategic, operational and tactical concepts. To the uninitiated on the complexity of the African theatres of conflict, there are case studies and maps and figures which clarify the concepts deployed. ALSO READ: Africa elects its next 'super banker' One of the great strengths of the book lie in its ability to simplify complex strategic phenomenon and therefore will be ideal to be used as a prescribed text for every military college. Another great advantage of the book is the logical sequence in which it was structured. It is lear to me that the author took tremendous care in setting out the context of the African battle space, providing much-needed background on the nature of conflict and war in Africa. Parts II and III then take the reader through conventional and unconventional manoeuvres covering such diverse areas as the advance, the attack the defence, armed antigovernment conflicts, guerrilla warfare and the planning of counter-anti-government operations. Part IV, comprising five chapters, focuses on compositive warfare operations. It is in this chapter where one vividly sees how the whole-of-government approach works in practice from the principles of composite warfare to unconventional mobile operations and the African pillars of war, to structuring ground forces for composite warfare operations, as well as reflections on how to respond to issues of stability in Africa's fragile and failed states. The numerous appendices, some never before published, add to the value of this work. This book is a tour de force and with it, Barlow has cemented his reputation as Africa's best strategic studies thinker and practitioner. Will policymakers listen to the sage words of Eeben Barlow? NOW READ: Kenyan author and literary giant Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o dies
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Guinea-Bissau president threatens to expel ECOWAS mission, bloc says
(Reuters) - Guinea-Bissau's President Umaro Sissoco Embalo threatened to expel a political mission sent to his country by the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), the political and economic bloc said on Sunday. A dispute over when Embalo's presidential term, which began in 2020, should end has heightened tensions that risk unrest in a nation with a history of military coups. The tiny West African nation's political opposition says Embalo's term should have expired last week, while the Supreme Court of Justice has ruled that it ends on September 4. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Embalo, who chaired ECOWAS from mid-2022 to mid-2023, said on February 23 that presidential and legislative elections would not be held until November 30. ECOWAS said in a statement on Sunday it had deployed a mission from February 21 to 28 together with the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) to help reach a consensus on how to conduct an election this year. But it added: "The Mission departed Bissau in the early morning of 1st March, following threats by H.E. Umaro Sissoco Embalo to expel it." On Wednesday, Embalo visited Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Guinea-Bissau is a former Portuguese colony that gained independence in 1974.
Reuters
02-03-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Guinea-Bissau president threatens to expel ECOWAS mission, bloc says
March 2 (Reuters) - Guinea-Bissau's President Umaro Sissoco Embalo threatened to expel a political mission sent to his country by the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), the political and economic bloc said on Sunday. A dispute over when Embalo's presidential term, which began in 2020, should end has heightened tensions that risk unrest in a nation with a history of military coups. The tiny West African nation's political opposition says Embalo's term should have expired last week, while the Supreme Court of Justice has ruled that it ends on September 4. Embalo, who chaired ECOWAS from mid-2022 to mid-2023, said on February 23 that presidential and legislative elections would not be held until November 30. ECOWAS said in a statement on Sunday it had deployed a mission from February 21 to 28 together with the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) to help reach a consensus on how to conduct an election this year. But it added: "The Mission departed Bissau in the early morning of 1st March, following threats by H.E. Umaro Sissoco Embalo to expel it." On Wednesday, Embalo visited Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Guinea-Bissau is a former Portuguese colony that gained independence in 1974.
