Mali

At least 15 soldiers and three civilians were killed in coordinated "terrorist" attacks in Mali, the chronically unstable country's army said Wednesday, the latest deadly violence to rock the Sahel state.

The commander of French anti-jihadist force Barkhane, General Laurent Michon, on Thursday accused “mercenaries” from Russian group Wagner of “preying” on Mali. … Michon spoke as French forces finalize a withdrawal from Mali, bringing out military equipment via neighboring Niger. “The mining code in Mali has changed and now… a certain number of measures have been taken to exploit three gold sites for Wagner,” he alleged.

Mali is expelling the spokesman of the UN's peacekeeping force in the country, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday, citing posts he made on Twitter about a diplomatic incident with Ivory Coast that has soured relations with the UN.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday he wanted a "rethink of all our (military) postures on the African continent" and had asked his ministers and army chiefs to work on it.

The presidents of Chad and Niger pledged Wednesday to revive the G5 Sahel military grouping to boost the fight against jihadist insurgents after Mali quit the West African force.

The Malian government on Thursday said it would suspend troop rotations by the UN peacekeeping mission, MINUSMA.

Mali's military government has arrested nearly 50 Ivorian troops who provide support to a contingent of the U.N. mission, calling them “mercenaries.”

The blue helmets – who were serving with the UN Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) - died when their armoured vehicle ran over an improvised explosive device some 60 kilometres northeast of Gao on Tuesday.

West African leaders on Sunday lifted sanctions on Mali's military regime, accepting a March 2024 return to civilian rule and agreed to allow Burkina Faso two years for its transition back to democracy.

The French-led Takuba task force of EU special forces has officially ceased operating in Mali, France announced Friday, ending an anti-jihadist effort launched in March 2020 that soured after two military coups overthrew the civilian government.