New information 2019 : Sahel hostages: a new enigma.

  1. Over the last week of February 2019, a successful Barkane operation in northern Mali may have provided the answer to questions put on this page back in July 2017 (see below). Which government or organization has facilitated the release of the two hostages and were handed over to? From which airport did they return home? Finally, who has received the ransom payment if any was paid?
  2. Barkane is reported to have arrested, at the end of February, a former Malian gendarme and his companion, a few hundred kilometers north of Timbuktu. A credible rumor accredits the idea that both have spoken to their captors. They may have reported important information about the hostages including the purchase of a costly property costly in one of the Sahel capitals. The amount of the ransom is not mentioned. But in Barkane, they for sure, do know.

Sahel Sahara, the turning point?

With its huge territory, the Sahel is presently a dense concentration of political, economic, environmental and demographic challenges. Their management, especially in the security field, requires setting priorities. Is the international community on that path?

Sahel: terrorism threatens social cohesion.

Almost all over the planet, except where there is little enquiring about the phenomenon, jihadism, or « violent extremism », is a continuous threat to the nations’ social fabric. In African countries, terrorist activities undermine national communities and endanger the difficult construction of the nation-state.