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Central African Republic, Mali
United Nations ramp up use of intelligence drones across peacekeeping missions

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“The Sahel threatened by a jihadist tornado”

Sahel

The Sahel threatened by a jihadist tornado

As the Sahel security crisis worsens, with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) increasingly active, the states in the region find themselves in an ever more vulnerable position. In an attempt to stem the flow of jihadist propaganda which now risks overflowing into the coastal states, a number of security operations have been launched, among them Operation Barkhane, the G5 Sahel joint force, MINUSMA, and the Coalition for the Sahel. [...]

The new head of the MINUSMA forces Lieutenant General Cornelis Johannes Matthijssen. © United nations

In Mali, as in the Central African Republic, UN peacekeeping missions are increasingly reaching out to private contractors to hire drones to boost their intelligence capabilities, in a move backed at the highest level in New York. [...]

Published on 08.02.2022 at 05:00 GMT Reading time 2 minutes

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Defence, Business

Read this article in our running story

“The Sahel threatened by a jihadist tornado”

Sahel

The Sahel threatened by a jihadist tornado

Set up email notifications for these topics

African Union
Amisom
Bundeswehr
Cessna
Cornelis Johannes Matthijssen
Daniel Sidiki Traoré
Department of Peace Operations
Jean-Pierre Lacroix
Leonardo
MAG Aerospace
Minusca
Minusma
MONOSCO
Rami Eid
United Nation
Wagner

Mali
MINUSMA's thousand new Chadian peacekeepers to be deployed in the North

While Chad has yet to send an additional 1,000 Blue Helmets to the United Nations mission in Mali, MINUSMA, the latter has just announced the main deployment locations for the country's soldiers.

Subscribers only Defence, Diplomacy 23.06.2022

Rwanda
US contractor Axxeum to pamper Pentagon's Cessna gifts to Rwandan Air Force

US defence contractor Axxeum is preparing to send its teams of technicians to the Kigali military air base to maintain the two new Cessna C-208 EX Grand Caravan aircraft that are due to be delivered by Washington in July

Subscribers only Defence, Business 30.05.2022

Africa
Francophone Africa loses key United Nations posts

A number of senior UN posts, which have traditionally gone to diplomats from francophone Africa, are now being fought over by anglophone and lusophone African states. Meanwhile, the position for head of the Department of Peace Operations, Paris's preserve for the best part of two decades and currently headed by Frenchman Jean-Pierre Lacroix, is being chased by China.

Subscribers only Diplomacy 02.05.2022

Top: Senegal's Mankeur Ndiaye (left), replaced by Rwandan diplomat Valentine Rugwabiza (right) as head of the UN Mission in Sierra Leone. Bottom: Guinea's Bintou Keita (left), who was succeeded by Ghana's Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee as Assistant Secretary-General for Africa at the DOP (right).

Central African Republic, United Nations
Luanda keen for MINUSCA role

While Rwandan Valentine Rugwabiza has just been appointed head of the UN mission in CAR (MINUSCA), replacing the Senegalese diplomat Mankeur Ndiaye, another position within the UN operation has also attracted interest in recent weeks:

Subscribers only Diplomacy 03.03.2022

In Focus | Central African Republic
Guterres gets tough in wake of peacekeeper abuse scandals

The decision was as sudden as it was shrouded in mystery: on 15 September, four months before Gabon joined the Security Council, the UN told Gabonese peacekeepers deployed in the Central African Republic to leave the country, citing cases of sexual abuse.

Subscribers only Defence, Politics 21.02.2022

The Gabonese contingent of the Minusca in 2019.

Central African Republic
MINUSCA awaits appointment of new boss

The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is preparing to appoint a Rwandan diplomat to replace Mankeur Ndiaye at the head of the UN mission in the Central African Republic.

Subscribers only Diplomacy 18.02.2022

Mankeur Ndiaye, head of MINUSCA, with Rwandan diplomat Valentine Rugwabiza, who is expected to succeed him.

Mali
MINUSMA finally deploys its MAG Aerospace surveillance aircraft

Since late September, the UN peacekeeping force in Mali has been deploying surveillance aircraft supplied by the US military contractor MAG Aerospace. A bolstering of its capacities that comes at an opportune moment as the troops of France's Operation Barkhane get ready to withdraw from the north of the country.

Subscribers only Defence, Business 08.10.2021

Mali
MINUSMA commander Dennis Gyllensporre to step down

Swedish General Dennis Gyllensporre will step down from his role as force commander of MINUSMA in 2022. He was appointed in 2018 after Belgian General Jean-Paul Deconinck.

Subscribers only Diplomacy 23.09.2021

Mali
CAE, MAG and Leonardo among the contenders for MINUSMA's spy plane contract

The world's specialist airborne intelligence contractors, who are already active in the Sahel for the French and American armies, are [...]

Subscribers only Business 21.02.2020

Set up email notifications for these topics

African Union
Amisom
Bundeswehr
Cessna
Cornelis Johannes Matthijssen
Daniel Sidiki Traoré
Department of Peace Operations
Jean-Pierre Lacroix
Leonardo
MAG Aerospace
Minusca
Minusma
MONOSCO
Rami Eid
United Nation
Wagner

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Central African Republic, Mali
United Nations ramp up use of intelligence drones across peacekeeping missions