Mali

West African bloc ECOWAS on Wednesday expressed "deep concern" over a deepening dispute between Algeria and its southern neighbour Mali, as the two countries remained at loggerheads over an incident involving a downed drone last week.  

The foreign ministers of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger are in Moscow for their first official talks with Russia, as the three Sahelian countries work to strengthen ties with Moscow after cutting relations with France and its allies. 

Togo appears to be openly courting a new confederation made up of junta-led Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger for whom access to the small nation’s port would be a game-changer. Foreign Minister Robert Dussey has stepped up overtures to the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), originally set up as a defense pact in 2023 but which now seeks closer integration.

The Sahel region of Africa is the "epicentre of global terrorism" and now, for the first time, accounts for "over half of all terrorism-related deaths", according to the Global Terrorism Index (GTI). Its new report says that in this semi-arid area to the south of the Sahara Desert 3,885 people out of a worldwide total of 7,555 died.

The Front for the Liberation of Azawad, the Tuareg independence movement based in the country’s north, accused the Malian soldiers and Russian Wagner Group mercenaries of intercepting two civilian vehicles bound for Algeria from the eastern Malian city of Gao and “coldly executing” at least 24 people among the passengers on Monday. 

The West African regional bloc ECOWAS has formally recognized the withdrawal of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso, after more than a year of diplomatic tensions. 

A joint force of 5,000 troops from military-led neighbours Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali will soon deploy in their troubled central Sahel region, Niger's defence chief said on state television. … Niger Defence Minister Salifou Mody said the new force would have its own air assets, equipment, and intelligence resources and operate across the territory of the three nations, which have formed a cooperation pact known as the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).

Nine civilians including women and children were killed in an attack on a vehicle in Mali's Segou region last week, a civil society group and a rebel coalition said late Saturday, accusing the army and Russian mercenaries of being responsible.

[…] Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger plan to withdraw from Ecowas in January after refusing the bloc's demand to restore democratic rule. … In the period between 29 January and 29 July 2025, the trio can be readmitted to the bloc should they decide to rejoin the community, a communique from Ecowas noted.

Mali’s armed forces, supported by Russian mercenaries, committed abuses against civilians since the withdrawal of a U.N. peacekeeping mission late last year, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Thursday.