Mali

Mali’s armed forces are stepping up their efforts to protect strategic trade routes linking the capital Bamako to neighbouring Senegal. … Last week, transport companies suspended operations along the route after al-Qaeda linked militants Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) announced a blockade on the capital and began stopping and setting fire to fuel trucks.  

Choguel Maiga, the former prime minister of Mali, was taken into custody on Wednesday after he was charged with embezzlement.

Mali has arrested around 20 soldiers suspected of wishing to overthrow the junta, which itself took power in the West African country in a coup, sources told AFP on Sunday.

Terror groups are increasingly using new tactics, notably armed suicide or kamikaze drones, according to a government statement released following several attacks on cities in western Mali on 1 July. The use of commercially available small civilian drones for strikes by terrorist and armed rebel groups is not limited to Mali, and has become prevalent throughout the Central Sahel. 

Militant Islamist groups in Africa continue to be highly active agents of instability across five theaters on the continent. The 22,307 fatalities linked to these groups over the past year sustain a record level of lethality observed since 2023 and represent a 60-percent increase from the 2020-2022 period. Nearly half of the fatalities (10,685) in the past year have been in the Sahel. Somalia represents roughly a third of the continental fatalities (7,289). Along with the Lake Chad Basin, these three regions account for 99 percent of the militant Islamist-linked fatalities in Africa the past year.

Mali’s armed forces and the allied Russia-backed Wagner Group have committed dozens of summary executions and enforced disappearances of ethnic Fulani men since January 2025, Human Rights Watch said today.

The use of commercially available small civilian drones for strikes by terrorist and armed rebel groups is not limited to Mali, and has become prevalent throughout the Central Sahel. Separatist and terror groups in the region likely draw inspiration from the successful use of drones by regular armies in other conflict zones, such as Libya and the Middle East. 

While by any measure Mali’s armed forces repelled the assailants, the attacks were a significant show of force by JNIM. By targeting Kayes, the group took aim at a region that is home to large gold mining operations and that previously was largely insulated from jihadist violence. At the same time, the group showcased its ability to carry out simultaneous attacks in at least seven different locations. 

Mali's military government has granted General Assimi Goïta a renewable five-year term as president of the west African country, clearing the way for the junta chief to remain in power until at least 2030. 

Mali and Russia have signed a series of agreements aimed at expanding mutual trade and strengthening economic ties.