Mali

Ivory Coast says it will withdraw from the UN’s peacekeeping operations in troubled Mali, a move coinciding with Britain’s announcement that it will quit the mission. A letter to the MINUSMA mission seen by AFP Tuesday said that Ivorian troops would withdraw by August 2023.

Britain announced Monday that it would cut short its troop deployment with the UN’s peacekeeping mission in Mali after relations with the country’s Russian-backed junta soured.

Mali's army and jihadist groups have carried out massacres and hundreds of human rights violations, the U.N. said in a report that details previously undocumented abuses against civilians. The U.N. Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) report, seen by AFP on Thursday, catalogues 375 rights violations in the country between July and September, attributing 163 to jihadist groups and 162 to the Malian army.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday announced that France was ending its Barkhane anti-jihadist mission in Africa after over a decade, saying a new strategy would be worked out with African partners. … He indicated that future strategy would be based on a far closer cooperation with African armies to make France's own deployment lighter and more dynamic.

A leading commander in Mali’s army has called on ethnic Tuaregs to fight jihadists in the north of the country in a WhatsApp audio message authenticated Monday by AFP. General El Hadj Ag Gamou, himself a Tuareg and a major figure in the Malian army’s fight against the Islamic State in the Great Sahara (ISGS) — which is affiliated with the Islamic State organization — called on the military help of all Tuaregs inside and outside the country.

Mali’s military government has been strengthening its relationship with Russia as anti-French sentiments peak in Bamako.

Mali's security situation has become "significantly worse" due to the ruling junta's choices, including an alleged decision to partner with Wagner, a Russian private security firm, a senior US official said Wednesday. 

Extremist groups are again trafficking weapons from Libya and other sources into the Sahel, signaling a potential escalation of violence. Analysts say the increase comes after a period of relatively low trafficking levels.

Mali's foreign affairs minister on Tuesday said the military government would exercise its right to self-defence if France continued to undermine the West African country's sovereignty and national security.

The situation in Mali continues to justify sustained international attention and engagement, the top UN official in the West African country told the Security Council on Tuesday. … He briefed ambassadors on progress in the transition and peace process, while also addressing ongoing insecurity and rising humanitarian needs.