Bamako, Mali | AFP | Flags flew at half-mast in Mali on Thursday as the government announced 48 of its citizens drowned in the Mediterranean on a single day over the weekend, all trying to reach Europe. The west African nation accounted for the fifth largest contingent of arrivals to …
Read More »Bank official, tech exec announce Mali presidential bids
Bamako, Mali | AFP | A regional bank official and the head of an African tech initiative both announced candidacies for the Malian presidency on Wednesday, as the 2018 race for the troubled Sahel nation heats up. Modibo Kone, a rural development expert at the West African Development Bank, and Hamadoun …
Read More »Mali president eyes amnesties under ‘national consensus’ law
Bamako, Mali | AFP | Mali will adopt a law on “national consensus” that may amnesty rebels who took part in a revolt in 2012, President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said in a New Year’s speech. Keita, in a nationwide message late Sunday, said the law would draw on a so-called …
Read More »Mali army kills 5 jihadists after ambush
Bamako, Mali | AFP | Mali’s army said Thursday it killed five jihadists but lost one soldier repelling an attack in the centre of the vast, landlocked nation. The assault happened at a military outpost near the remote town of Niono at around 0130 GMT, a military statement said. The …
Read More »Security Council authorizes UN support for G5 Sahel troops
United Nations, United States | AFP | The Security Council on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution authorizing UN peacekeepers in Mali to provide logistical and operational support to the new G5 Sahel anti-jihadist force there. The resolution, drafted by France, was the subject of tough negotiations with the United States, which …
Read More »Army general joins race to challenge Mali’s president in 2018
Bamako, Mali | AFP | A Malian army general and former government minister has resigned his post to stand in the country’s presidential elections in July 2018, sources close to the officer said Sunday. Moussa Sinko Coulibaly is the second person to declare his candidacy, after Kalifa Sanogo, the mayor of …
Read More »Several dead in gold mine clashes on Mali-Guinea border
Conakry, Guinea | AFP | Several people were killed in clashes between gold miners on the Mali-Guinea border this week, Guinean and Malian officials said Wednesday. Despite having areas rich in gold, both Guinea and Mali are among the world’s poorest countries, with many miners going it alone or in …
Read More »Four UN peacekeepers, soldier killed in Mali attacks: UN
Bamako, Mali | AFP | Four UN peacekeepers and a Malian soldier were killed in attacks in Mali on Friday, the UN’s MINUSMA mission to the country said. Twenty people, including another Malian soldier and several UN peacekeepers were injured in the attacks. The first attack happened in the morning …
Read More »Kagame, Senegal’s Sall urge support for new African security doctrine
Dakar, Senegal | AFP | African leaders on Monday used a regional forum to call for extra support as the continent moves to assure its own security after years of Western interventions. The annual Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security this year brings together the presidents of Mali, Rwanda …
Read More »UN official, in Mali, warns over ‘violations’ in anti-terror raids
Bamako, Mali | AFP | A senior UN official, on a visit to Mali, has warned about “violations committed during anti-terrorist operations” after Bamako said French troops killed Malian soldiers during a raid against jihadists. An official from Mali’s defense ministry on Tuesday confirmed that Malian soldiers captured by jihadists …
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