Mali

A UN envoy demanded Thursday access to the Malian village of Moura, site of an alleged massacre late last month by local forces and suspected Russian fighters.

The UN’s peacekeeping chief in Mali on Thursday, made an urgent call for adequate resources for the mission to carry out its mandate, and meet the growing demand to address a deteriorating security situation across the north and centre of the restive country. 

A UN human rights expert on Wednesday called for a full and independent investigation into alleged mass crimes committed in central Mali’s Mopti region late last month, and pleaded with all parties to ensure the “absolute protection” of civilians and an end to the current vicious cycle of violence. … According to news reports, and a detailed report from the the authoritative NGO Human Rights Watch, released on Tuesday, around 300 civilian men were allegedly killed over a period of five days, during the Government sanctioned operation carried out against suspected jihadists.

[…] Little progress was made during the reporting period regarding the implementation of the Agreement [on Peace and Reconciliation in Mali].

Jihadists, armed militias and the armed forces in Mali killed close to 600 civilians in 2021, the UN said Thursday, with casualty numbers rising towards the end of the year. In the last six months of 2021, civilian killings rose 16 percent, according to a report by the United Nation's peacekeeping mission in the troubled Sahel state, known as Minusma. 

ECOWAS Special Envoy and former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan has ended a two-day visit to Mali without any agreement on a date for elections to return the country to civilian rule.

The European Union’s top diplomat said Monday that he has ordered the suspension of combat training for soldiers in Mali until he receives guarantees from the government there that the trainees will not be working with Russian mercenaries.

Mali's ruling junta ordered French broadcasters RFI and France 24 off the air on Wednesday night, complaining they had falsely accused the army of committing abuses.

Malian soldiers and jihadists have carried out a wave of summary executions since December in the conflict-torn Sahel state, says Human Rights Watch, which is urging the government to investigate.

Casualties in the West African state are eclipsing those in its neighbour Mali, … . According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), a leading aggregator of conflict statistics, a total of 1,315 events of organised political violence, including explosions and violence against civilians, were recorded in Burkina Faso last year. It was a twofold increase from 2020’s figures.