Sahel-Maghreb-coastal africa : news and discussions

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Shanu
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Re: Sahel-Maghreb-coastal africa : news and discussions

Post by Shanu »

Beginning to see a pattern in the way things are running.

2014- Iraq 'Sunni Triangle'
2015 - Syria (but a certain Mr. Vladimir derailed that).
2016 - Libya
2017 - Yemen?

This seems to be a rolling strategy of gradual escalation where one after another countries get consumed in the Jihadi fire. Question is, when will this fire burn the hand of the arsonist? Or will it remain just under control?
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Re: Sahel-Maghreb-coastal africa : news and discussions

Post by Shanu »

Pentagon is seeking separate funding for the Libya war in 2016.

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/3117 ... operations
The Pentagon is seeking $200 million in the 2017 budget for counterterrorism operations in Libya and other portions of North and West Africa, but Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday that Libyans must take the lead in eliminating the Islamic State threat in their country.
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Re: Sahel-Maghreb-coastal africa : news and discussions

Post by Shanu »

Finally the impact of the IS Libyan unit dawns on the North African Governments.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-africa ... KKCN0VK1OD
"ISIS (Islamic State) are moving towards southern Libya to avoid the likely air strikes from the European coalition," said Colonel Mahamane Laminou Sani, director of documentation and military intelligence for Niger's armed forces.

"If something like that happens, the whole Sahel is (affected)," he added on the sidelines of the annual U.S.-led 'Flintlock' counter-terrorism exercises in Senegal.

The arid region stretching from the Sahara Desert to the Sudanian Savanna, is already home to roving al Qaeda (AQIM) fighters who were scattered but not defeated by a 2012 French military intervention in Mali.

A closed-door seminar for senior military officials in Dakar this week organised as part of Flintlock is focussing on the militant challenge in northwest Africa which "is becoming more lethal, more complicated and more menacing," according to a document handed to participants.

The United States military has its own Africa Command, focussed on combatting militancy and other threats, though it says it is rarely involved in fighting, concentrates on training and is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany.

Niger and Chad are already grappling with incursions in the south from militants loyal to Nigeria's Boko Haram which is allied to the Islamic State.

A Western intelligence source on the sidelines of the conference said Islamic State fighters had already entered Niger, although this could not be independently verified.
Dunno about the quality of the military in the Sahel, but this comment from a Colonel of Chad does not evoke confidence.
Col. Moussa said he expected NATO to help protect Chad's northern border. "It's them who got involved in Libya, it's up to them to fix it."
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Re: Sahel-Maghreb-coastal africa : news and discussions

Post by Shanu »

US hit a building in Western Libya's Sabratha yesterday to target a Tunisian terrorist. While the usual CIA sources say it was a IS training camp, the local Mayor says it was a workers' quarter. Nevertheless, 40+ were dispatched. A building inside a city is a difficult location for a military training camp, isn't it?

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us- ... smsnnews11

The only interesting thing or may be not, is the absolute silence of the Human Rights activists in this mass scale culling of ordinary people to target just one individual. Posting here, so that we do not forget that next time they give us gratuitous advice about liberty and freedom, this is what they actually mean. :evil:
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Re: Sahel-Maghreb-coastal africa : news and discussions

Post by Shanu »

Not to let a very important milestone go unnoticed here in BR.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/08/world ... .html?_r=0

53 KIA, including military, civilians and IS in Tunisia - in the first major cross-border attack from Libya to establish an 'Islamic Emirate' . Dominos may start falling soon and Tunisia is the first in line. Even 200 km long border trenches did not prevent this attack. The only good thing is Tunisians expected an attack and so were not overwhelmed. One can only imagine how little less prepared and significantly poorer nations like Niger and Chad will do to similar onslaught.
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Re: Sahel-Maghreb-coastal africa : news and discussions

Post by Shanu »

A few updates from Libyan theater.

UN has come up with a report on Libya expressing concern about the spread of IS in the western parts of the country - in Sabratha and capital Tripoli, and their numbers are swelling with arrival of recruits from Sub-Saharan Africa.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/isla ... 17513.html
The experts monitoring U.N. sanctions against Libya said, the militant group has successfully recruited marginalized communities in the central city of Sirte, which it controls. It has also increased its operational capacity in the city of Sabratha and the capital Tripoli through local recruitment reinforced by foreign fighters, the experts said.
"While ISIL does not currently generate direct revenue from the exploitation of oil in Libya, its attacks against oil installations seriously compromise the country's economic stability," the six-member panel said in the report. "Libyans have increasingly fallen victim to the terrorist group's brutalities, culminating in several mass killings."
On the other hand, the Western Governments are engaged in blame game as to who is responsible' for the Libyan mess. Ombaba is calling 'distracted' Cameron and 'too busy praising his air toys' Sarkozy for the post war collapse.

http://www.newsweek.com/misunderstandin ... ner-435998

And the French, in their true form, are threatening sanctions to force Libyans to form their own unity Government.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/m ... ent-logjam
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And in the midst of all this, IS is creeping closer to Misrata, with yet another harassing attack on Abu Qurayn, killing three guards.

And their new leader is threatening North African countries with a 'flood of fighters'. This week's Tunisia-style attacks may become all too common across the vast expanse of Sahel.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/worl ... 711153.ece
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And now an attack on the last working oil field in Libya. After successfully closing down the ports of Ras Lanuf and As Sider, IS has now attacked a water plant near Sarir oil field in Eastern Libya. For the common folks, Sarir is the primary source of income for the Eastern Government based out of Tobruk. Looks like IS has penetrated the sparsely populated Central Libyan deserts quite effectively. Western supported militia and the cities and oil fields they control are like islands in the midst of the rising sea tide of Islamic State.
Suspected Islamic State militants staged an attack on a water plant about 80km (50 miles) from the major Sarir oil field in eastern Libya late on Monday, plant officials and an oil facilities guard said.

Security forces foiled an attempted suicide car bombing by killing the driver, before engaging the attackers in clashes, the guard said.

Any threat to the Sarir area would cause particular alarm because more than half of Libya's remaining oil production comes from the region.

No group immediately claimed the attack, but Islamic State fighters have previously targeted oil installations in Libya, stepping up their campaign against export terminals in the east of the country at the start of this year.

There was no damage to Sarir but a crisis committee was being convened on Tuesday to address the growing threat, said Omran al-Zwai, a spokesman for Arabian Gulf Oil Co (AGOCO), which runs production from the field.
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Re: Sahel-Maghreb-coastal africa : news and discussions

Post by Shanu »

Its amazing how much we are learning about Islam and its motley crowd of minority sects because of these Caliphate wars.

Here is a nice report on the Ibadi Muslims of North Western Libya. I thought they are present only in Oman. But they form a major minority group (10% of the Libyan population) in a country of Maliki Sunnis. Qaddafi hated them like any other Sunni despot, killed their leader and Qaddafi's removal has now opened up the opportunity to these people to limited self-determination. And yet, now they face an even bigger existential threat in the form of IS. Some highlights.
It has never been easy for local Ibadis. Apart from adhering to an isolated branch of Islam in a country overwhelmingly dominated by the Maliki school of jurisprudence, Libyan Ibadis are mostly Amazigh, also known as Berbers.

The Amazigh are native inhabitants of North Africa, but an ethnic minority. Touareg tribes in the interior of the Sahara desert share the same ancient language. Arabic literature has in the past represented them as infidels and a contemptible class, and they have faced corresponding persecution and discrimination.

Today, unofficial estimates put the number of Amazigh in Libya at roughly 600,000, about 10 percent of the total population. Last year they elected representatives to an Amazigh Supreme Council that is meant to advocate their interests nationally.

Following Qaddafi's ouster in 2011, Ibadis steadily began reasserting their faith and establishing schools and mosques in towns like Jadu. Azuza has several duties as the town's head of religious affairs, including helping with the revision of religious textbooks.

"We tell every teacher to watch out because every now and then we come across Wahhabism between the lines of history, science, or even math books," he claimed, suggesting that countries like Saudi Arabia were responsible for inserting the messages.
Note this point about Islamic sponsored text books of general studies, all the non-Sunni sects are now realizing the danger of the Saudi Oil Jihad funding.
Azuza, who previously spent time in Qaddafi's prisons, was blunt about the new threats. He pointed to Sabratha, a city that lies north of Jadu along the coast, where IS militants entered last month and beheaded 12 security officers before retreating. IS fighters are suspected of hiding out in the city, which lies about 26 miles east of Zuwara, Libya's only coastal Amazigh Ibadi enclave.

"The dangers we may have to face in the short term are even bigger than those during Qaddafi's times, and I'm not exaggerating," Azuza said. "ISIS is spreading like wildfire, and we, as non-Sunnis, are highly aware we can turn into their most immediate target."
https://news.vice.com/article/libyas-ib ... amic-state

It is so sad, that these indigeneous people of North Africa now face their final extinction, just like the Yezidis in Iraq.

Added later - missed sharing this last line.
"It doesn't matter who is in power down the valley," Flifel reflected. "We are neither Arab nor Sunni, so we know we are pretty much by ourselves in Libya."
This is exactly why the colonial nation state construct in the ME & Africa needs to go. It only ensures the complete domination of Sunni Arabs in countries who are otherwise far more diverse.
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This is what the UN sponsored Government creation attempt looks like in Libya - much like the Chalabi experiment in Iraq after Saddam's fall. Posting in full - to capture the current confusion.
The fluid, and dangerous situation in Libya needs to be clearly explained to everyone. Not only are observers confused but so are policymakers. Stakeholders are asking themselves: What exactly is the UN-mandated Government of National Accord (GNA) doing in Tripoli? What is this perilous game unfolding?

One must also ask: Why are mainstream newspapers not telling the true story? Because they are neophytes who don’t understand the complexity of the situation. They are spoon fed information and churn out reporting like stenographers that is as useless as can possible be.

So far, the GNA has zero authority.

Let’s be clear: The GNA as per agreement is not in Libya: seven out of nine Presidential Council members, including GNA Prime Minister Fayyez Serraj, are in Tripoli trying to gain a foothold of governance. Their arrival, by Italian frigate, followed by a spate of reports about where Serraj and his cronies were exactly, fleeing back to Tunisia or elsewhere, is almost comical except it isn’t: The tragedy unfolding is over frozen money in the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) and the Central Bank of Libya (CBL). These Tripoli based Libya Dawn outfits still hold their own political agenda that has nothing to do with a new Libya.

The December 2015 Libyan Political Agreement (LPA) states that the House of Representatives (HoR) in Tobruk has to agree on the Presidential Council of the 9 UN chosen men which includes the UN selected Serraj. Then, according to the LPA document, Serraj is supposed to select - emphasis on select - the Cabinet of Ministers so to say THEN the GNA would be in place in Libya if all there that is. The confusing explanation process is intentionally provided to mislead and rush through the financial “freedom” of the LIA and the CBL which are headed by two dubious characters, Libyan Oil Company CEO Mustafa Sanallah and Sadiq El Kabir have both taken charge of their institutions as independent fiefdoms without the GNA, (which still doesn't exist remember) actually saying anything about their moves. Talk about ungovernability!

But wait a minute: Libyan UN Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi says Hassan Bouhadi is the UN recognised head of the LIA. The fight over LIA is now complete and rife with competing interests. It is enough to send any stakeholder to the insane asylum.

There’s more: Just with Panamagate hitting the UK’s Prime Minister David Cameron and his minions, it should be noted that there are rumours that some privileged Brits are betting on the UN imposed GNA for personal reasons. Sanallah has deals with Glencore and Vitol to sell Libyan oil and pay nice commissions. Let’s note the US is potentially implicated too: Glencore is the company created by Marc Rich the man pardoned by the then outgoing president Bill Clinton. Perhaps the press should be wondering about this unreported angle in this new age of compliance?

This farcical drama is creating a fluid situation in Libya. Factions, cities, militias continue declaring for or against UN-backed government. UN Ambassador to Libya Martin Kobler is saying ridiculously that there are four governments in Libya including IS in Sirte. And speaking of the extremists, Libya Grand Mufti Sadiq Ghariani “advised” Serraj and his representatives to leave the capital or face “grave consequences.” While this scandal unfolds, IS is finding time to hit a few oil facilities in Bayda.

Enter General Khalifa Haftar; the Libyan general who will take none of this rubbish. Libyan Petroleum Forces Guard Brigade 152 has bolted from Ibrahim Jidran to join Haftar. So much for those who 'bought' Jidran! To boot, regular armed forces commanders from eastern Libya and a number from the south and west, including Libyan national Army’s Colonel Idris Madi, Brigadier General Abdusssalam Al Hassi, and Zintani military leaders, gathered in Marj yesterday for discussions with Hafter and the army’s high command about the situation in the country since the arrival of the UN-endorsed Presidency Council in Tripoli. Joining the meeting is Ali Gatrani and Cyrenaican (East Libya) tribal leaders, majors and members of the HoR in Tobruk. This is a critical moment of unity for the East and illustrates the coming push by the East to dominate the West and buck the UN imposed government. Hazardous to say the least! The centrifugal forces unleashed by misguided Western steps in Libya is opening the gates of hell in Libya. It is perhaps time to say goodbye to Libya as a unified state.

To be sure, Haftar is meeting with HoR President Ageela Saleh in an aim to rally forces behind the HoR to ensure that commanders and units do not start working with the GNA nor the Presidency Council, nor Serraj until the HoR approves. Hell will likely freeze over before this outcome is likely. Haftar and his allies are seeing that outside interference is dominating the crisis in Tripoli and money isn’t the issue; Libyan pride is at stake and selfishness is tantamount to treason against the spirt of the Libyan peoples. - Exclusive to the Times of Oman
http://timesofoman.com/article/80810/Op ... in-Tripoli

Looks like a free for all oil smuggling venture for the Western elite.
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Re: Sahel-Maghreb-coastal africa : news and discussions

Post by Shanu »

The cookie is crumbling just fine..

Staff from 4 Libyan oil wells are evacuated and a fifth is on the line as IS prepares to take over. These fields are primarily in the Merada basin 250 km south-east of Sirte. This is the primary oil supply region to the big Libyan oil ports of Es Sider and Ras Lanuf.

Just last week 5 Petroleum Security guards were killed. And IS is appearing to be preparing a invasion army in Nowfiliyah - their staging ground for the last major attack which stopped just short of Es Sider.
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Re: Sahel-Maghreb-coastal africa : news and discussions

Post by Shanu »

IS progress continues - this time in the western Libya.

They attacked two military camps - one near Bani Walid and the other 80 km south of Misrata.

6 camp residents killed, including 3 who were beheaded. Weapons and ammunition looted.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya ... SKCN0XA0UH
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Re: Sahel-Maghreb-coastal africa : news and discussions

Post by Singha »

All of us need to get familiar with libyan geography and factions...a long term fight is sure.
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Re: Sahel-Maghreb-coastal africa : news and discussions

Post by vijaykarthik »

IS will obviously hit W Libya. For the US / Bhest perspective, the East of Libya [Tobruk / Derna] is where the accepted govt is. The E of Libya is occupied by the Islamists / MB and Tuareg tribes. So, if the idea of IS is true, they will obviously move towards W Libya as that is the identified enemy.
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Re: Sahel-Maghreb-coastal africa : news and discussions

Post by Shanu »

^^
But Sir, the UN mandated Government is now in Tripoli. This is the Government who will 'mandate the 2nd NATO intervention" in Libya. How will that work if Western Libya falls. The Eastern Government has the real Libyan army, and they have mostly kept IS at bay, except in parts of Benghazi and Derna.

On the other hand, the UN mandated Government has the support of a sum total of 10 towns - according to Western media onlee. And the IS is nibbling at some of these towns like Sabratha and Bani Walid. Also please look where these towns are - one on the west and the other just south of Tripoli. With IS foothold in these towns, the UN mandated Govt's position is even worse than a lame duck. Soon the new Libyan president will be like the Mayor of Tripoli, with NATO special forces protecting his Presidential palace and Italian ships in the harbour for safe passage.
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Re: Sahel-Maghreb-coastal africa : news and discussions

Post by Singha »

Bbc..classic sahara style raiding..


Ethiopia says armed men have killed 140 people near its border with South Sudan and abducted at least 39 children.
Ethiopia's Communications Minister Getachew Reda said the attackers were members of South Sudan's Murle tribe.
He said security forces were chasing the attackers and had killed 60 so far.
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IS launching Mad Max style attacks in Libya. A convoy of 60 vehicles attacked the Petroleum Security Guards (PSG) forces south of Brega - the largest oil refinery in Libya.

According to Reuters the Head of PSG, Ibrahim Jathran is injured. Probably his forces evacuated him to Brega or some nearby town.
A major force 60-vehicles strong" mounted the attack south of Brega, 700 kilometres (435 miles) east of Tripoli, the LANA news agency said.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/ar ... plant.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya ... SKCN0XK0D4
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Re: Sahel-Maghreb-coastal africa : news and discussions

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IS made a strategic breakthrough in the Libyan stalemate today after taking over Abu Grein. This is the highway junction from which separate roads emerge to Tripoli and Misrata on the west, Sirte to the east and the Saharan oasis towns to the south (The Fezzan Road to Sabha).

It was under the control of Libya Dawn forces based out of Misrata. The defeat opens up possibilities of a direct IS attack on Misrata itself - IS is now more than halfway through on the Sirte Misrata road. But before that, IS has to contend with the push-back that both Libya Dawn and UN backed Tripoli Government is planning. Interesting battle on the cards.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/05/i ... 50158.html
Advances by the Islamic State of the Iraq and Levant (ISIL) group along the southern coast of Libya's third largest city of Misrata have prompted armed groups in the city to deploy militiamen to counter the offensive.

The mobilisation came on Friday after ISIL took over the Abu Grein crossroads, which lies 120 kilometres south of Misrata where the highway along Libya's Mediterranean coast meets the main road south into the desert interior. this is why Abu Grein is important, it cuts off the Southern desert towns and makes it easier to pluck them off one by one

In a statement, ISIL said it captured five villages along the coast on Thursday in an advance from their stronghold in the city of Sirte 140 kilometres to the east, the SITE Intelligence Group reported.

ISIL captured Sirte in June last year and has since transformed it into a training camp for Libyan and foreign fighters.

Misrata hospital said it had received eight dead and 105 wounded after ISIL's assaults, without specifying whether they were all security force personnel or also included civilians.

The head of the Misrata military council, Ibrahim Bel-Rajab, said he had ordered all brigades under his command to head to Abu Grein without delay, Libya's LANA news agency reported.

"Numerous armed vehicles of ISIL have been spotted in this area," he said.

The developments came as the UN-backed unity government in Tripoli announced the formation of a new military command to take charge of the battle against ISIL.
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Re: Sahel-Maghreb-coastal africa : news and discussions

Post by devesh »

http://www.africanews.com/2016/06/04/ch ... st-attack/

Chinese military team in Mali to gather intelligence after terrorist attack

Chinese military envoys are in Mali to gather intelligence and assist in recovery works following a terrorist attack which targeted UN facilities in Gao, Mali causing the death of a Chinese member of the UN Mission and injuring four others.

Al-qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb(AQIM) has claimed responsibilty for the attack after reporting on social media that they had battled with “crusader occupation forces,” a monitoring firm SITE intelligence Group said.

Two of those seriously wounded were later transferred to Senegal due to lack of equipment for treatment in Mali.
Chinese Ambassador to Senegal, Zhang Xun visited the wounded soldiers on Friday.

“There is a big open wound on his left thigh, roughly 20 by 20 centimeters squared, to which we did a radical debridement during the surgery. We’ve also done a manual reposition to the fracture on his right calf, with plaster for external fixation. There will be further surgical treatment,” Chinese surgeon, Wang Hongyi who has been supervising one of the soldiers said.

The wounded peacekeepers hope to continue with their mission after recovery.

“When I recover, I hope to go back to join my comrades and finish what we started,” one of the wounded peacekeepers, Si Chongchang said.

The Chinese government had condemned the attack on Wednesday calling for immediate investigations by UN and Malian government.

“The Chinese military is shocked by this terrorist attack,” Defense Ministry spokesperson Wu Qian said in a statement.

The UN is concerned by the recent series of attacks directed against MINUSMA which have killed 12 peacekeepers and injured many in May alone.

“In the coming days, the Secretary-General intends to present to the Security Council proposals to strengthen the Mission’s posture and capabilities. He reiterates the long-standing demand to ensure that MINUSMA forces are adequately equipped to operate in a dangerous and unpredictable environment such as Mali,” a spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said.

China started participating in the United Nations peacekeeping operations in 1990. More than 2400 of its peacekeepers have been assigned in UN missions across Africa.
looks like the French-Mali join action against the Jihadis didn't completely rout the militias. Nightwatch predicts they're making a comeback.
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Re: Sahel-Maghreb-coastal africa : news and discussions

Post by Rony »

Egypt, Ethiopia ready armies to battle over massive dam on Nile river
On Monday and Tuesday, relations between Ethiopia and Egypt further deteriorated due to a dispute over the Renaissance Dam, a huge gravity dam on the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia.

After Addis Ababa announced it would proceed with filling the dam, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi placed his nations army on the “highest state of alert,” reported Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, a London-based pan-Arab media outlet.

In the past, Egypt communicated its willingness to engage in armed conflict to protect its access to the Nile and even reportedly considered bombing dam construction in 2013.

Ethiopia reportedly installed anti-aircraft missiles near the dam, which remains under construction.


At the beginning of May, Egypt sent a letter to United Nations Security Council members claiming that Ethiopia had taken hostile actions and requested the reinstitution of mediated negotiations

Conflict over the dam began to spiral out of control in March when Ethiopia refused to sign an agreement prepared by the U.S., which would have required Addis Ababa to accede to regulation of the dam by external actors.

Ethiopian officials maintain they are within their rights to fill the dam as they see fit, without clearing filling operations with any other states.

Both Egypt and Sudan oppose Ethiopia maintaining unilateral rights to fill the dam, fearing the structure will reduce the amount of water the Blue Nile carries to the Nile River, the primary source of water for these nations.

Ultimately, other countries on the Nile fear the Ethiopian dam will choke off water supplies and cause drought and famine.


On Monday, Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew announced Ethiopia “sees no reason to postpone the filling of the reservoir of its dam,” reported Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Filling is set to begin in July.

Egyptian report: an Israeli missile defense system for Ethiopia to protect the Renaissance Dam
High-ranking Egyptian sources revealed that Cairo recently monitored the provision by Israel of a new defense missile system to the Ethiopian government to secure the area of ​​the Renaissance Dam, which is disputed with Egypt. The sources, who spoke to Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed, said, “A highly confidential, sovereign report submitted by the concerned authorities to the Presidency of the Republic, includes developments regarding the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which included information about providing Tel Aviv with Addis Ababa with a modern missile defense system for deployment in the vicinity of the Renaissance Dam. And also providing it with advanced technology related to the operations of the dam and the generation of electricity.
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Re: Sahel-Maghreb-coastal africa : news and discussions

Post by MeshaVishwas »

Okay, I was too bored and started intense searching on YouTube for some content, found this interesting but reeeally long video on Egypt commissioning a new base opposite Medinah on the Red Sea:

Mighty impressive display.

Really curious about what Sisi's play is, he is backing Haftar, pissing Turdogan, arming really well(Latest is that Italy will sell them more Fremms, a batch of Typhoons and M-346s and other paraphernalia) and keeping it tidy with upper riparians of the Nile.

He is already Trump's fav dictator, controls undoubtedly the best military machine in the continent of Africa.

Entertaining watch this saga.
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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/06/ ... 49555.html
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has ordered his army to be ready to carry out any mission inside or outside the country to protect its national security amid tensions over Turkey's intervention in neighbouring Libya.

He also warned forces loyal to the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli not to cross the current front line with renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar's eastern-based self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA).
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/sa ... ya/1884428
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Sunday supported Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi's statements on Libya.

"Saudi Arabia stands by and supports Egypt on the right to protect its borders and people," Saudi Arabia official news agency said in a statement.

Additionally, the Foreign Ministry of the UAE said it supports all actions by Egypt to ensure its stability and security.

Al-Sisi alluded Saturday to the possibility of sending "external military missions if required," and said "any direct intervention in Libya has already become legitimate internationally,” while in Matrouh, near the Libyan border.

Al-Sisi told his army to "be prepared to carry out any mission here within our borders, or if necessary outside our borders."

"Sirte and Jufra are a red line," he said.
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