Mali

At the United Nations Security Council, and in other forums in Africa and Europe, diplomats are debating different options for increasing international support to the Group of Five Sahel (G5 Sahel) Force. The aim is to enhance its operational capacity and effectiveness in an effort to restore stability in the Sahel. Despite the presence of the UN Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), the G5 Sahel Force, and French and European Union missions, the security situation in the Sahel has significantly deteriorated over the last few years.

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Three United Nations peacekeepers have been seriously wounded in a rocket attack on a military base in northern Mali, UN and local officials said.

The death of Chad's President Idriss Deby could be a major setback for counterterrorism efforts in Africa's restive Sahel region, according to Chadian activists, African politicians and security experts.

The armed forces of Mali are responsible for dozens of cases of killings, mistreatment, and disappearances during counterterrorism operations in the country’s central Mopti region, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday.

A new report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has detailed how environmental changes, including limited land, freshwater and other natural resources, are at least partly driving the growth of extremist groups operating in Mali.

[…] Up to 600 troops will be deployed in Mali as part of the European Union's training mission EUTM, 150 troops more than under the current mandate, government and defence sources said. … The cabinet also gave the green light for extending by one year Germany's participation in the United Nations' peacekeeping force in Mali, upholding the current level of up to 1,100 troops which are mainly based in the northern town of Gao.

The Council approved conclusions reaffirming the importance of a solid and long-term partnership between the EU and the Sahel, and of stepping up that partnership through an ambitious EU strategy setting the framework for its policies and actions in the region.

Mali’s transitional government has announced presidential and legislative elections will take place next February, saying it was honouring the timetable it promised to the international community after taking power months after a military coup last year.

With a deteriorating security situation in central and northern Mali, the UN peacekeeping chief told the Security Council on Tuesday that ‘blue helmets’, the Malian Defence and Security Forces, continue to suffer repeated attacks and significant losses, while some large towns “live under constant threat from armed groups”.