The Latest Breaking News from Sahel

A recap of top issues in West Africa in 2022, including heated political campaigns and armed groups gaining ground.

A German humanitarian worker held hostage in the Sahel for more than four-and-a-half years has been freed, his organisation said on Saturday. But four other hostages from Western countries are still being held by jihadist groups in the region.

Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo on Tuesday warned that a rampant Islamist insurgency in West Africa's Sahel is threatening to engulf the entire region.

West African coastal states are holding talks on boosting military cooperation against jihadist violence spilling over from the Sahel. This follows recent announcements that several international peacekeeping contingents are being withdrawn from Mali.

France announces the end of Operation Barkhane. A decade of fighting in Africa's troubled Sahel region has seen over 2,000 jihadist fighters killed, but despite the French military intervention, violence continues. Also, protesters voice their opposition to Uganda's pipeline project that will see drilling take place within the country's largest…

French President Emmanuel Macron announced Wednesday a strategic shift for its military forces deployed in the Sahel region of Western Africa which are helping several countries contain jihadist insurgencies.

Violence in the Sahel is escalating, killing more than 11,000 people in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso since 2012. Such conflict has emerged for a number of reasons, including religious insurgencies and access to water and grazing resources. Climate change leading to environmental degradation exacerbates these clashes.

The Wagner Group has fought on behalf of the Kremlin in a range of arenas including Syria, Libya, central Africa and, most recently, in the Sahel, where its soldiers replaced French forces in Mali, Kim Sengupta reports

Captain Traore was named the head of state after the coup that deposed Damiba amid growing violence in the Sahel.