Tag: Mauritania

Mauritania’s former desert jewel, forgotten and fading

by Amaury HAUCHARD PICTURES BY JOHN WESSELS Agence France-Presse TICHITT, Mauritania (AFP) — A few centuries ago, Tichitt was a citadel of trade where Saharan merchants bearing gold, salt and cloth would stop to water their camels and haggle. Today, red-and-white signs in the sand dunes point to where this once great hub of commerce and centre of Islamic culture lies. But visitors to Tichitt, a UNESCO world heritage site, are few now, and the great […]

Mauritania confirms first coronavirus case

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania (AFP) — Mauritania has confirmed its first case of novel coronavirus, the country’s health minister said on Friday, adding to the growing number of cases in West Africa. In a televised statement, Health Minister Mohamed Nedhirou Ould Hamed said the case involved a foreigner who tested positive on Friday. “He was immediately isolated and the state has all the means at its disposal to take care of those suffering from the virus,” the […]

AU summit overshadowed by ‘security failings’ in Sahel after attacks

by Hademine Ould Sadi © Agence France-Presse NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania (AFP) – French President Emmanuel Macron joined African leaders gathered in the Mauritanian capital on the final evening of a summit overshadowed by security issues after jihadist rebels hammered two fragile Sahel states in successive attacks. Macron held separate talks with the leaders of a five-nation African anti-terror unit backed by France to discuss financial and security hurdles the “G5 Sahel” force faces. Five separate attacks […]

Pentagon looks at stepped-up Africa role to counter IS

by Sylvie Lanteaume Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – The United States is considering a stepped-up military presence in Africa to pursue Islamic State group jihadists looking for new havens after the fall of their “caliphate,” American officials say. After IS lost its de facto capital Raqa in Syria this month, and its Iraqi stronghold of Mosul earlier, the group “has aspirations to establish a larger presence” in Africa, the US military’s top officer General Joseph […]