Mali

As relations between France and Mali sour rapidly, Paris is wondering whether it is time to stop providing military backup to a country run by a junta that has defied the international community.

Mali's authorities banned a German military plane with 75 troops on board from overflying the country late on Wednesday, forcing it to divert to Gran Canaria, the German defence ministry said.

A contingent of some 90 Danish soldiers has arrived in Mali to join European special forces supporting the country’s anti-jihadist operations, Denmark’s military said Tuesday.

Russia already has "hundreds" of mercenaries in Mali, but there was no sign they were using EU-trained Malian soldiers, the EU foreign service has said.

The U.N. peacekeeping mission to Mali, or MINUSMA, has temporarily suspended all flights after West African and EU states imposed sanctions that disrupted air and land transport.

Mali has asked France for a review of bilateral defense accords against the backdrop of growing tensions between Paris and the ruling junta in Bamako, a French diplomat said Monday.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) called on Friday for concerted international action to end armed conflict in Africa’s central Sahel region, which has forced more than 2.5 million people to flee their homes in the last decade.

Sweden has decided to withdraw its troops this year from a European special forces mission to the Sahel region, and will review its U.N. contribution after the arrival of private Russian military contractors in Mali, its foreign minister said.

Antonio Guterres says he is working with the AU and ECOWAS on creating ‘conditions’ to allow for accelerated transition.