MALI
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Sahel: Germany and Mali agree ‘smooth’ pullout of UN-backed troops
Germany and Mali agreed Thursday to pursue a "smooth withdrawal" of German troops from the troubled African nation after the UN decided to end its decade-old peacekeeping mission there, Berlin said. Mali's defence minister Sadio Camara assured his German counterpart...
Mali: Ethnic Tuaregs brace for attacks from army and Russian mercenaries ($)
The departure of the French forces and the forthcoming exit from Mali of the UN peacekeeping mission known as MINUSMO, are creating a new set of problems for the Sahelian nation of Mali. In particular, the northern political elite representing the Touareg nation are experiencing a major leadership crisis. There is a lack of consensus among Tuareg leaders as to the way forward, but all of them anticipate the central government in Bamako to take advantage of the absence of foreign observers to launch an offensive against the populations of the north.
The militarization of the Sahel: Governments run by soldiers ($)
Military regimes now dominate the governments of the Sahel nations. The countries in the region have experienced a series of coups that enabled soldiers to take over power.
Sahel: Malian journalist Mohamed Youssouf Bathily acquitted over PM ‘assassination’ claim
A prominent Malian TV and radio journalist was acquitted on Tuesday on charges that he falsely claimed a former premier had been murdered while in detention under the ruling junta. Mohamed Youssouf Bathily was placed in custody on March 13 after allegedly saying...
Sahel: Mauritania urges Mali to rejoin W.African anti-jihadist force
Mauritania's president on Monday urged Mali to rejoin a West African anti-jihadist force and regional grouping known as the G5 Sahel, which it quit last year Mali announced its decision in May 2022, slamming a "loss of autonomy" and "instrumentalisation" within the...
Sahel: Niger-French troops arrest two alleged IS fighters
Two leading jihadists from the Islamic State's Sahel affiliate have been arrested in a joint operation by Niger and French forces, a senior security source said Monday. The two members of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) were captured in western Niger on...
Sahel: Russia pledges continued support to Mali as UN ends MINUSMA mandate
Russia has renewed its "unstinting support" for Mali after the end of the UN peacekeeping mission in the desert state, Bamako's foreign ministry said Friday. Moscow's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov "renewed his country's unstinting support towards Mali in the...
Sahel: UN Mission to leave Mali, but no timetable set yet
By Amélie Bottlier-Depois: With the imminent end of the UN's Mali peacekeeping mission seemingly no longer in doubt, negotiations at the UN are still foundering over the timetable for their departure, which Bamako wants "without delay", according to diplomatic...
Mali: Civilians killed by terrorists in Gabero region
At least 13 civilians have been killed by suspected jihadists in chronically unstable northern Mali, elected officials who requested anonymity said on Wednesday. "The provisional toll is now 13 dead, a dozen wounded and hundreds of people fleeing several villages in...
Sahel: Cocaine trafficking surges in the Sahel, as armed groups seek to profit from illicit trade
Annual cocaine seizures in the Sahel surged from 13 kilograms (28 pounds) in 2020 to 863 kilos just two years later as armed groups sought to profit from the illicit trade, the United Nations' drug agency said in its 2023 report. The largest seizures of the drug in...
UN peacekeeping missions in Africa at a crossroads
By Amélie Bottollier-Depois: When Mali recently called for a UN peacekeeping force to depart the country "without delay," it was the latest sign of unease in parts of Africa over the role of the so-called Blue Helmet operations. Mali Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop...
Sahel: Mali’s new constitution paves the way for more instability ahead
Mali’s Problems in Four Minutes Opinion By Arezki Daoud: Yesterday, we reported how the Tuareg community in northern Mali has rejected the latest constitutional referendum imposed by the ruling military junta in Bamako. Not only the constitution gives tremendous power...
Sahel: Mali has a new constitution
Malian voters overwhelmingly approved changes to the constitution in a referendum, marking a key step in the ruling junta's declared plans to restore civilian rule, provisional results showed Friday. The military has made the draft constitution a cornerstone for the...
Sahel: More trouble in Mali as Touareg groups in north are up in arms over recent junta actions
Armed groups that signed a landmark peace accord in insurgency-hit Mali have alleged widespread fraud during voting in a weekend referendum for a new constitution. The Permanent Strategic Framework (CSP), gathering political and military movements in northern Mali,...
Sahel: Burkina Faso endorses Mali’s call for the withdrawal of UN mission
Burkina Faso on Sunday hailed the "courageous decision" by Mali's military regime to call on the UN to withdraw its Minusma peacekeeping force, as both countries fight a jihadist insurgency. Mali's Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop on Friday had called for the immediate...
Mali rulers pushing for a breakup with UN, accusing it of spying
Mali's ruling junta has asked prosecutors to probe the UN's peacekeeping mission for "espionage" following a report which said hundreds of people were massacred last year by Malian troops and their allies. In a statement published on social media on Tuesday, the...
Mali accuses UN mission of fueling communal tensions, calls for its immediate withdrawal
Mali's foreign minister called Friday for the UN Security Council to withdraw the peacekeeping mission in his country "without delay," denouncing its "failure" to respond to security challenges. The country's military rulers have increasingly imposed operational...
Mali junta wants people to vote for new constitution to enable power grab
Malians go to the polls on Sunday to pass judgment on the governing junta's constitution, which has fueled speculation that the country's strongman ruler will seek election. The vote is the first organized by the military since it seized power in August 2020 of a...
Mali leader speaks to Russia’s Putin on deepening ties
Russian President Vladimir Putin and the head of Mali's junta, Colonel Assimi Goita, discussed security and economic relations between their two countries, both sides reported on Wednesday. During the phone talks, "at the initiative of the Malian side", the two...
Sahel: Al-Qaeda-linked group claims deadly Mali attack on UN peacekeepers
An Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist group on Tuesday claimed responsibility for an attack last week in Mali's deeply troubled north that killed two United Nations peacekeepers. Mali has been grappling with a political and security crisis since 2012 when separatist and...
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