Mali

Mali’s ruling junta has strongly warned Algeria and other partners about threats to a major peace deal with northern armed groups, in a letter obtained by AFP Wednesday.

Weeks ahead of a referendum meant to move Mali closer to constitutional order, the senior United Nations official in the country — emphasizing that the situation stands at a critical juncture, amid sustained security and humanitarian crises — welcomed a new strategic review of the Organization’s peacekeeping mission as a fresh opportunity to chart the best way forward.

Three Senegalese peacekeepers serving in Mali were killed, and five others seriously injured, when their vehicle hit an explosive device, the UN Mission in the country, MINUSMA, reported on Tuesday.

Les autorités maliennes n'hésitent pas à renvoyer des représentants onusiens pour faire comprendre qu'elles ne tolèrent aucune critique, au niveau national et international, de leur politique pro-russe.

In a strategic shift, the Malian authorities have turned away from France and chosen Russia as their main military ally. Relations between Bamako and other Western and regional partners are also deteriorating. Mali and its partners should work to rebuild more balanced diplomatic relations.

While on a trip to Mali, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced more military support for the Malian military junta. Moscow says it will assist Mali in its bid to defeat an Islamist insurgency in the Sahel.

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Tuesday he deeply regrets Mali’s recent decision to declare the top UN human rights representative as persona non grata.

Top UN-appointed independent rights experts on Tuesday called on the authorities in Mali to launch an immediate probe into the mass execution of civilians last year, allegedly by Government forces and the Russia-based private military contractor, the Wagner Group.

Mali mission currently unsustainable says representative.

Defence Minister Boris Pistorius is considering withdrawing Germany's troops from the U.N. stabilisation mission in Mali earlier than planned, since under current conditions they cannot fulfill their mandate, he told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung in comments published on Monday.