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Algeria: Intense counter-terrorism campaign leads to surrender of wanted Malian insurgent
Wanted Malian Islamic State insurgent Aissa Abzou, also known as “Sultan Oueld Badi”, surrendered to the army in Tamanrasset on 11 August. Two machine guns and an important quantity of ammunition were seized. Sultan Oueld Badi is a member of the Islamic... read moreLibya: Critical Incidents Map for July 2018. Libya risk remains highly elevated
For the period of 1 July to 7 August 2018, there were 64 critical incidents affecting Libya’s stability rating. Those incidents resulted in at least 18 deaths and 1,004 arrests. As a result, the MEA Risk Incidents Index (or Instability Index) for the period was 1.90.... read moreDifficult time for Nigeria’s ruling APC party and President Buhari, more violence ahead likely
Last week, Mohammed Ali Ndume, the Senator representing Borno South in the Nigerian Senate and a member of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), insisted that his party still maintained the majority position in the Senate despite the end-of-July’s defection of 15... read moreTunisia: Insurgent groups resort to bank robbery amid heavy crackdown on support networks
On 1 August, a group of armed insurgents stormed the Amen Bank agency of Cite Ennour, in Kasserine, and stole 30,000 dinars in cash. No casualties were reported. The car used by the insurgents was sold in the black market a few days before the attack, which suggests... read moreFive insurgents, seven soldiers killed in Skikda clash as army disrupts meeting of AQIM leaders
Just when the Algerian authorities thought that the al-Qaeda threat was declining, the insurgency organization delivered a massive blow to the army in the northeast. On 30 July, five Islamic insurgents and seven soldiers were killed in a violent clash during a... read morePresentation: Sources of instability in the Sahel
http://www.jaydenx.com/MEARisk/Audio/Understanding-unrest-in-the-Sahel.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: iTunes | Android | RSSThis is a presentation made by MEA Risk’s Arezki Daoud on understanding the sources of instability in the Sahel at a... read moreSources of instability: Restive southeast Tunisia struggles with economic despair
MEA Risk – May 31, 2018: Economic Brief:: A parliamentary report released this week in Tunisia caught our attention because it addressed, in an honest way, the major issues facing the restive southeastern Tunisia, and by extension many other regions. On May 24,... read moreLibya: Paris conference on Libya unlikely to yield positive outcome
May 31, 2018 – By Arezki Daoud, Lead Analyst, MEA Risk LLC: The headlines in some of the world’s media read as if something new happened in Paris this week. One of them says “Libyan factions agree to December 10 elections at Paris talks,” suggesting to the... read more
Morocco vs. EU: illegal migration and Western Sahara challenge agricultural agreement
Morocco and the European Union are at an impasse when it comes to their joint agricultural trade agreement. At the center of the raw is Morocco’s insistence on including fisheries and farm products from the contested Western Sahara province, which European courts...Egypt: Tension heats up in North Sinai, with threats for more to come elsewhere in Egypt
Suspected militants of the ‘Welayet Sinai’ (Province of Sinai) organization, affiliated to IS are suspected to be behind the killing of two Coptic Christians over the past few weeks. Attacks specifically targeting Christians have been on the rise recently, with the...Algeria: Police foil suicide attack in Constantine, background and takeways
A suicide attack targeting a police station in Bab el-Kantara, Constantine province, was foiled on 26 February. A suicide bomber was seeking to enter the police station, but was prevented to do so by an officer who opened fire on him. The bomber’s explosive belt...China to strengthen economic presence in Africa, seeks to widen political influence
Last month, China flexed its muscles against Nigeria when the West African country agreed to upgrade the second-tier Taiwanese diplomatic mission based in Abuja to full embassy status. Beijing did not like the move and has been threatening Nigeria to block any...French military presence in Africa unlikely to change post 2017 presidential elections
Despite a deadly year of terror in France, partly tied to the country’s involvement in major conflict zones, Paris is looking to maintain such involvement, and may even increase it. The upcoming presidential elections are not likely to witness a major policy change,...As counter-terror campaign intensifies in Algeria, Libya’s weapons making their way into the country
In the first four months of 2016, the Algerian army has killed 31 Islamist insurgents, and captured 33 others nationwide. Furthermore, an arsenal of war big enough to wreck havoc was siezed, including over 300 war weapons were retrieved, 202 hideouts were destroyed...Broadcast: Europe’s Radicalized Muslim Population
Europe’s integration policies related to its immigrants have been less than effective in stemming the rise of extremism. Decades of misconceived immigration strategies have led to the rise of radical movements, to the point now that new measures to strip the...Oil prices & the impact on Sovereign Wealth Funds Libya as a case
The drop in oil prices in the last 12 months has taken markets and investors by surprise. State institutions such as Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF) have been affected and state budgets have suffered. SWF will grow slowly and in many cases will see some of their assets...The Other Time Bomb: Food Dependency in Middle East/North Africa
North Africa’s stability is not only undermined by the terror risk coming from Daesh and other insurgency groups, but it is also more acutely affected by broad governance issues and its inability to deal with pressing economic, social and environmental problems. One...How Algeria’s new budget may lead drug trafficking to soar
The recently adopted budget for fiscal year 2016 has been subject to vivid opposition from several political figures and civil society associations ever since a draft version was made released in late 2015. Developed on the basis of a reference price of $37 the barrel...
