Anti-personnel mines are back in Europe

To mark Poland’s official withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention or the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty, Julia Głębocka, Human rights researcher for Amnesty International Poland, reflects on what the return of these indiscriminate weapons means for human rights in Europe. Not Read More …

UNSMIL Mine Action Programme hosts the African Group

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya’s Mine Action Programme Tuesday met with the African Group, led by Ghana and chaired by DSRSG/RC Aeneas Chuma, with participation from Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan, and Tunisia. The session Read More …

African Union expresses deep concern as Africa faces growing challenges for mine action

The African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council’s (PSC) 1271st session, on 1 April, dedicated to the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, highlighted growing challenges for mine action in Africa. The session served as an Read More …

China to strengthen mine clearance cooperation with African countries

China is willing to strengthen mine clearance cooperation with African countries and help Africa eliminate the threat of mines as soon as possible, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Monday. She noted that peace and security cooperation is an important Read More …

Addressing mine ban treaty challenges: New contamination and compliance

The annual Intersessional Meetings of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpile, Production, and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (aka Ottawa Convention, AP Mine Ban Convention, or Mine Ban Treaty) closed on 21 June in Read More …

Trafficking in the Sahel: Guns, gas, and gold

In the first of a series of features exploring the fight against trafficking in the Sahel, UN News takes a closer look at what’s behind the growth of the phenomenon. A tangled trafficking web has been woven across the Sahel, Read More …

U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal Soldiers deploy to Tunisia for African Lion

BIZERTE, Tunisia – U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians recently deployed to Tunisia for Exercise African Lion in support of the Southern European Task Force-Africa. Soldiers from the Fort Drum, New York-based 754th Ordnance Company (EOD) participated in U.S. Africa Read More …

ISIL 2.0: How the group became a franchise

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, or ISIS) has changed form several times over the years. With its origins in the aftermath of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, ISIL was forged from an alliance between Read More …

Sahel Conflict Set to Worsen in 2022 – Analysts

Islamist militant attacks increased this past year in the Sahel region, leading to political instability that saw a coup in Mali, an attempted coup in Niger, and calls for Burkina Faso’s president to resign. Burkina Faso experienced the deadliest terrorist Read More …

UAE begins first flights to support counter-terrorism operations in the Sahel

The UAE has launched “logistical support flights” as part of French-led counter-terror operations in the African Sahel. The first flight took off from Abu Dhabi watched by Maj. Gen. Saleh Mohammed Al-Ameri, commander of joint operations at the Ministry of Read More …

Chad deploys 1,200 troops to quell Sahel violence

Chad plans to deploy 1,200 troops to combat armed groups in a violence-wracked Sahel border zone as France eyes a reduction of its military presence in the vast, volatile region. Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and France are holding Read More …

Pakistan: ‘Two militants involved in sectarian killings’ held by CTD

Sindh’s Counter-Terrorism Department on Tuesday claimed to have arrested two militants affiliated with a banned sectarian outfit. The CTD said the arrested men were involved in high profile targeted killings of religious scholars and were members of the proscribed Sipah-e-Muhammad’s Read More …

Landmines, improvised explosive devices pose deadly risks for displaced in Sahel and Lake Chad

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is calling for stronger efforts to mitigate the risks for refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) posed by landmines and improvised explosive devices in Africa’s conflict-ridden Sahel and Lake Chad basin regions. Since the beginning Read More …

UN chief: Terrorists strengthen foothold in Africa’s Sahel

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is warning that terrorist groups have strengthened their foothold across Africa’s Sahel region, which is experiencing escalating violence. The U.N. chief said in a report to the U.N. Security Council circulated Wednesday that the expanding foothold is Read More …

EU doubles Sahel force funding but African leaders issue warning

European leaders on Friday doubled their funding for a force tackling jihadists in the Sahel, but African leaders warned the money must come quickly if it is to be effective. The European Union announced an extra 50 million euros ($61 Read More …