MALI
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France’s massive challenges in the Sahel
France is increasingly optimistic about the effectiveness of its anti-jihadist campaign in the Sahel, but experts caution that short-term successes will not by themselves bring lasting victory. President Emmanuel Macron will travel to the Mauritanian capital...
Sahel: Civilian death toll from central Mali’s crises nears 600 so far this year
Geneva, June 26, 2020 - Unrest in central Mali, plagued by jihadist attacks and inter-community violence, has killed 580 civilians so far this year, the United Nations said Friday. Michelle Bachelet, the UN's high commissioner for human rights, said security was...
Sahel: Understanding the political crisis in Mali
Bamako, June 25, 2020 (By Amaury Hauchard and Laurent Lozano) - Mali's government is facing a rising wave of protests, a development which is alarming the international community keen to prevent the fragile West African state from sliding into chaos. Following are key...
Mali: Mass rally in Bamako to demand resignation of president
Bamako, June 19, 2020 (By Amaury Hauchard, Serge Daniel and Kassim Traore) - Tens of thousands of people rallied in Mali's capital Bamako on Friday to demand the resignation of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, heeding the call of the country's newly resurgent...
Mali braces for mass protest despite presidential call for talks with opposition
Bamako, June 17, 2020 (By Kassim Traore) - Malian opposition leader Mahmoud Dicko on Wednesday urged people to protest en masse on Friday, despite recent government overtures to the resurgent political opposition in the war-torn West African state. Dicko, an...
Mali: Two UN troops killed in attack in Tarkint
Bamako, June 14, 2020 - Gunmen have killed two UN peacekeepers in a region of northwestern Mali wracked by jihadist violence, the UN said Sunday. A UN convoy travelling between the towns of Tessalit and Gao was attacked Saturday evening by "armed individuals" who...
Mali’s beleaguered president says he is open to talks with opposition
Bamako, June 14, 2020 - Mali's beleaguered President, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, made overtures on Sunday to the opposition coalition which is demanding his resignation, saying he is ready for talks. "My door is open and my hand always extended," Keita said on public...
Sahel: Week after death of Jihadist leader, insurgents ambush troops in central Mali, kill dozens
Bamako, June 15, 2020 - Around 40 Malian troops were dead or listed as missing after their convoy was ambushed in central Mali, military sources said on Monday, blaming the assault on jihadists. About a dozen vehicles came under attack on Sunday at Bouka Were, some...
Insurgencies: New details on the elimination of AQIM’s leader
Paris, June 11, 2020 (By Didier Lauras) (Photo: Wikipedia fair use) - In a desert wilderness in Mali, close to the Algerian border, pitted with isolated rocks and weighed by oppressive heat, French special forces and combat helicopters begin an operation. At its...
Sahel: Government forces sowing terror in the Sahel
Bamako, June 10, 2020 - Amnesty International on Wednesday accused armies in Africa's sprawling Sahel region of unlawfully killing or forcibly disappearing some 200 people this year, adding that many incidents could amount to war crimes. The rights monitor said that...
Sahel: The who’s who of foreign forces in the Sahel
French troops who killed senior Al Qaeda leader Abdelmalek Droukdel in the Sahel region of Africa this week work alongside several allied military missions. Here is a roundup of anti-jihadist operations in the area. Barkhane Operation Barkhane is the biggest French...
Sahel: With Droukdel dead, here’s Al-Qaeda/IS’ trio of leaders to watch
Three leaders have been left dominating the jihadist insurgency in the Sahel, following the death of a top al-Qaeda commander in the West African state of Mali this week (see below). French forces killed Algerian national Abdelmalek Droukdel, the head of al-Qaeda in...
Mali: Religious leader takes center stage in Mali political crisis
Officials from the UN, West Africa and the African Union (AU) have met an influential Muslim cleric behind demonstrations against Mali's beleaguered president, the coalition behind the protests said on Monday. Tens of thousands of people joined a rally in Bamako last...
Mali: Four inmates die in prison riot in Bamako
Four prisoners in Mali's capital Bamako have died after a "mutiny" which saw inmates break out of their cells and attack prison guards. The violence occurred on Friday while anti-government protesters were demonstrating in Bamako, according to government spokesman...
Sahel: Growing concern over soldiers’ misconduct in the Sahel
By Amaury Hauchard: Accusations of alleged forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings are mounting against national armies in the Sahel, worrying their allies in the fight against jihadist insurgents in the semi-desert African region. The Sahel has seen years of...
Insurgency: France claims it killed Al-Qaeda’s Droukdel, arrests ISIS commander
French forces have killed the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Algerian Abdelmalek Droukdel, in northern Mali, France's defence minister said. Droukdel was killed on Thursday near the Algerian border, where the group has bases from which it has carried out...
Sahel: The people of Mali launch their anti-regime Hirak movement
Tens of thousands of people rallied in Mali's capital Bamako on Friday demanding the departure of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, in a show of force from his recently energised opponents. The protest follows several demonstrations last month in the West African...
Mali: Teachers in Mali say school reopening without proper protection, go on strike
Bamako, June 2, 2020 - Teachers in the West African state of Mali went on strike Tuesday, the first day schools reopened after being closed for two months, over fears of inadequate protection against coronavirus. Details of the number of students affected were...
Mali: Bus crash kills 20 people near Narena
Bamako, May 20, 2020 - Twenty people have been killed and 11 seriously injured after a minibus and a lorry collided in the south of Mali, the country's transport ministry said on Wednesday. The accident occurred on Tuesday at 8 pm on a major road linking the capital...
Mali: Anger in Bamako over arrest of anti-corruption activist Clement Dembele
Bamako, May 19, 2020 - About one hundred people took to the streets in Mali's capital Bamako on Tuesday to protest the recent arrest of a prominent anticorruption activist in the poor West African state. A security official, who requested anonymity, said that...
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