Algeria has announced plans to build a 120-kilometer wall along its border with Libya, local media sources report. The wall along the 1,000-kilometer border is another step in a list of upgraded security measures Algeria is undertaking to improve its counter-terrorism initiatives. Measuring three metres in height, and lined with barbed wire, the wall is intended curb the movement of ISIS militants and arms smugglers from entering the country. Growing reports of incursions by armed militants and criminals, alongside growing attacks and kidnappings in Algeria's remote south, have spurred calls for construction of the barrier. According to Geoff Porter, president of North Africa Risk Consulting, Algeria seeks to avoid "trespassing on another sovereign territory" by militants and smuggling networks. Tunisia earlier this year completed the first phase of its own separation wall on the Libyan border. (MEM, Sept. 2)

Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed June 20 to peacefully resolve a border dispute after clashes and a tense stand-off over Islamabad's plan to build a barbed-wire separation barrier at its Torkham border crossing. Fighting broke out on June 12, leading to fatalities on both sides—including two children on the Afghan side of the line. The crossing, in Pakistan's Khyber Agency, was re-opened afrter both sides agreed to de-escalate following a high-level meeting in Islamabad. Tensions began in April, when Pakistani authorities demolished the homes of some 300 Afghan families living in Torkham to clear way for the "gate," as the barrier is being called. The houses were bulldozed after a number of Afghan nationals refused to comply with a four-day deadline to vacate the area and cross into Afghanistan. The families protested that they had legal residency, and that the expulsions were being carried out improperly.

Security forces opened fire on protesters storming Baghdad's Green Zone on May 20, killing three and wounding some 20. A journalist covering the protest was also killed. Thousands of demonstrators had gathered in the capital's Tahrir Square before several hundred tried to enter the fortified Green Zone, which houses government institutions and foreign consulates. Security forces responded to the breach by opening fire on the protesters, using tear-gas and live rounds. Protesters had reportedly entered the prime minister's office before they were forced to retreat. The incident marked the second time in recent weeks that protesters mobilized by Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr succeeded in breaching the Green Zone, demanding reform and an end to corruption. After this new breach, Sadr issued a statement to his followers, saying: "I respect your choice and your peaceful spontaneous revolt. Curse the government that kills its children in cold blood." (Rudaw, Rudaw, Rudaw, May 20)

Far-right protesters marched through Berlin on May 7 to demand that Chancellor Angela Merkel step down for allowing more than a million migrants and refugees from the Middle East into Germany since last year. But the some 1,000 protesters, chanting "No Islam on German Soil," were confronted by more than five times as many anti-fascist counter-protesters who chanted "Nazis out!" Some anti-immigrant protesters held signs calling Merkel "Volksschaedling"—"enemy of the people," a term used by the Nazis. Riot police separated the two groups. (EuroNews, The Telegraph, Reuters) That same day, dozens of hooded anarchists clashed with riot police who blocked their approach to the Austrian border during a protest against plans to tighten controls to prevent the passage of migrants. Police fired tear-gas to disperse protesters wearing motorcycle helmets and gas-masks who tried to occupy the Alpine Brenner border crossing. Claiming that as many as 1 million migrants are massing in Libya with the aim of crossing into Europe through Italy, Austrian authorities are preparing to build an "emergency fence" on the Italian border. (WP, EuroNews, AP)

One day after storming parliament, Iraqi protesters began camping out May 1 within the confines of Baghdad's International Zone, or "Green Zone." The Green Zone, a secured area that includes embassies and government buildings, was breached by protesters mobilized by Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. A state of emergency was declared for the city and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi demanded arrest of protest leaders. The demonstration was launched to protest alleged corruption within the Iraqi government. Al-Sadr called on the government to speed long-delayed plans for a non-partisan, technocratic cabinet.

In a surprise dawn raid March 7, ISIS attacked National Guard, army and police barracks in Ben Guerdane, the first Tunisian town west of the border with Libya. At least 53 people were killed in the figting, including several civilians. The dead included a 12-year-old girl. "Our country is at war against barbarism," said Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi. "This is an unprecedented attack, planned and organized. Its goal was probably to take control of this area and to announce a new emirate." The attack was repulsed, but a curfew has been imposed in Ben Gardane and the border with Libya is closed until further notice. (AP, Libya Observer, ANSA, Al Jazeera, March 7)

Unidentified warplanes or drones bombed Libya's eastern city of Derna Feb. 7, reportedly hitting Shura Council locations. Shura Council sources confirmed to local media that two of their fighters were killed. A woman and her child were also among dead—by some accounts, killed in a strike on a hospital in the city. A wing of the city's al-Wehda hospital was said to be "completely destroyed." The Shura Council is aligned with the Islamist-led Libya Dawn coalition that controls most of Libya's west, and has been battling ISIS forces for control of the city.  (Libya Observer, Reuters, AFP, Feb. 7) Derna is an Islamist-controlled enclave in eastern Libya, which is mostly controlled by the more secularist "official" government. The "official" government last month rejected a UN-brokered deal to unite the two rival regimes—both of which are now threatend by the growing ISIS presence in the country.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Sept. 25 announced that the flow of refugees into Europe shows no signs of easing or stopping, as approximately 8,000 refugees a day seek to enter Europe. Amin Awad, the regional refugee coordinator for then UNHCR stated that problems now facing governments may turn out to be only the tip of the iceberg. Awad stated that the UN is planning for the potential displacement of 500,000 people from the Iraqi city of Mosul if Iraqi forces fight to recapture the city from Islamic State. Also that day, the UNHCR reported about the high number of migrants entering Europe along the Serbian-Croatian border. More than 50,000 migrants have entered through the town of Tovarnik, Croatia since mid-September.