Mali

The European Union has been called upon to adopt a "bold political strategy" in its engagement with the Sahel region. In an open letter addressed to the EU Vice President, Human Rights Watch said the body's "Integrated Strategy in the Sahel"  - which came into effect in April 2021 - has become largely outdated following military coups in central Sahel.

Mali's military junta has dissolved all political parties in the country amid a growing crackdown on dissent since the army seized power. "All meetings of members of political parties and organisations of a political character are dissolved across the national territory," according to a presidential decree read out on state TV on Tuesday.

A prominent opposition leader in Mali will stand trial next month for criticising the country’s military rulers, as tensions escalate over a plan to dissolve political parties and delay a return to civilian rule. 

A national political forum in Mali has proposed making military leader Assimi Goïta the country’s president, with a five-year renewable term starting in 2025.  

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.