Mali

Halfway through 2022, the crisis in the Sahel continues to worsen. … 2022 is on track to be the deadliest year for both Burkina Faso and Mali since the Sahel crisis began more than a decade ago. 

Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said in a letter to the Chinese presidency of the UN Security Council on Monday that France was committing “acts of aggression.”

Mali's foreign affairs minister, Abdoulaye Diop, has accused the French military command of breaching Malian airspace to collect information and drop arms and ammunition to Islamist militants, in a letter to the UN.

The French military said the withdrawal of its forces from Mali has been completed after more than eight years of presence in the West African country.

UN troop rotations in the peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA) resumed on Monday with a new approval mechanism one month after they were suspended by the ruling junta, which accused 49 Ivorian soldiers of entering the country without permission. 

German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said in a statement that because Malian leaders of the U.N. mission to Mali, MINUSMA, denied overflight rights, the German mission must stop all reconnaissance and transport operations until further notice.

Mali’s military government has received several fighter jets and helicopters from Russia, which has become a close and controversial ally in its fight against Islamist militants.

Forty-two Malian soldiers died in a sophisticated weekend attack by suspected jihadis using drones and artillery, authorities said Wednesday, the latest violent incident to rock the troubled Sahel country.

Mali has ordered a private airline to evict foreign soldiers, including UN troops, from its Bamako airport base following last month’s arrest of 49 Ivorian soldiers there. … The SAS (Sahel Aviation Services) airport hub serves as a “logistical base” for several of Mali’s international partners, including Ivorian soldiers as well as German, Austrian, Belgian, Swedish, and Pakistani troops deployed on international missions, namely with the UN.

The US did not mention a specific threat to its employees, but said there was an increased danger of violence affecting Westerners in a country that has been plagued by jihadist attacks for years.