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Security in the West Africa in relation to travel
Jan 2019 - Posts Merged
The violence and kidnapping once common in the Sahara has spread down to the Sahel and West Africa in recent years (see this) but afaict, doesn't get reported much in the MSM. It's a combination of Islamist attacks, IEDs, abductions and so on, plus an escalation in age-old inter-tribal (herder/farmer) feuding which has become more lethal. This thread has merged posts of such reports on HUBB for the last year or so. To help keep this resource useful, distracting chat will be (re)moved. Chris S We just crossed Mali starting from Bamako were we couldn't find any info about safety going north. we drove to Segou , no problem there and the army and police told us it was OK to proceed. We went then to Djenne same thing , no problem since a while . same goes to Mopti but there was some shooting few weeks back on the Niger river in direction of Tambouctou. We went and spent few days in Sangha (pay Dogon) there is no problem there and they didn't see any problem since 5 years . ( great place to visit) .We wanted to drive on the piste toward Burkina Faso but it was no recommended due to some "bandits" anyway those are fresh info and we did it thanks to a good friend advice , the police and army were present along the road but they all say it was good to go. |
Good to hear. Did you see other tourists?
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Mali
Actually we saw one japanes tourist in Djenne and none in pay Dogon.
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I'm planning to drive to Timbucktu in Dec/Jan. Did you guys hear anything on that route?
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Seeb. That would be foolish to be totally honest with you! The region up there is severely under strain from AQIM, I have a friend working in the north and the situation isn't good!
Can you wait until another time? When things quieten down hopefully? |
Mali update security Nov 2017
I was really hoping that the situation had miraculously changed by now! I guess I'll have to do it another time
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Here's a comparison between 2012 and 2017. As you can see, it has deteriorated drastically
If going to Burkina, I suggest going Kayes - Kita - Bamako - Bougouni - Sikasso and you should be ok. There's actually been an abduction in Karangossa, north of Sikasso, and an attack against a checkpoint between Bamako and Bougouni that I don't see marked on the map. But the southwest is calm. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DO1zwyrWkAAc6kU.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DO1zwy1WAAAP4uT.jpg |
Security in the West Africa in relation to travel
Just received this unfortunate report through:
A vehicle carrying four Spanish tourists was attacked by gunmen on 25 January near the Casamance town of Diouloulou, around 11 miles (18km) from the border with Gambia. The assailants reportedly stole a significant amount of money from the tourists and raped the three women among the Spanish group, before releasing the victims. During the attack, which took place at around 16.00 (local time), around 5,000 euros was reportedly stolen from the tourists. The victims were held captive for three hours. Police continue to search for the assailants. Although security has generally improved in Casamance, there was a separate incident on 6 January in which gunmen killed 14 people near the southern town of Borofaye. Arrests have now been made in that case which may be linked to illegal logging. Additional troops have also been deployed to the area to counter such criminal activity. |
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Hmmm.....Went through Diouloulou twice in October and twice in November (with my wife as pillion on the November run). This is bad news for those Senegalese in Abene and Kafountine trying to earn by supportingthe tourist industry. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
Damn
Every time I almost convince my wife a trip to Dakar would be ok something like this happens and she puts her foot down again. I thought the route in from the North was becoming a safe enough trip, but it seems not. I know this is South of the Gambia, but still. |
Casamance is pretty remote from Dakar and the rest of Senegal. Its troubles involve a separatist movement which hasn’t historically affected anyplace north of The Gambia. I’d be more concerned about street theft and standard scams in Dakar than about whatever might be happening in Casamance.
Fears about Africa are not necessarily rational in any way. To enjoy her trip, your wife will have to find a way to adjust to the fact that civil unrest might be under way one or two countries distant wherever you actually are at any given time. I’d say the same thing about traveling in, say, the USA. Hope that’s helpful. Mark |
For what it's worth, I spent the last 5 days in Dogon couno and today rode to from Bandiagara to Ouagadougou. Spoke extensively to local police and others who said there should be no problems. However at the Mali border there was an abandoned police post riddled with bullet holes which was slightly off-putting[emoji15] and in fact found nowhere to officially exit Mali. The BF frontier official said they see very little traffic along that route ; despite the good road.
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I went through Dioloulou to the Seleti border post last Saturday, taking my wife to Banjul Airport. We even made a detour looking for tall growth forest around Dioloulo (without finding much) along the Gambian border.
We hadn't heard of any attack nor was their any talk about it locally. The news wasn't out. As it was, two of my travelling partners went through Dioloulou the same way on that Thursday when the attack happened, around noon, without any problems. Very unusual with this incident happening in daylight. I've been to many corners of the Casamance this trip, and there are gendarme posts telling you where you can't go because of insecurity, land mines etc. We were even interrrogated after trying to get near the Bissau border south of Oukout. But otherwise all of Casamance was very laidback and no feeling insecure in Cap Skirring, Ziguinchor or lovely Abéné. |
Motorbikes not allowed anymore in parts of Mali
Motorbikes not allowed anymore in parts of Mali. Two Belgians arrested near Djenné
https://www.voaafrique.com/amp/mali-...mpression=true |
Interesting as I rode my Moto to Djenne and on to Mopti area last week without a problem!
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