Mali

In this conversation with Liam Walpole from the Oxford Research Group, DIIS researchers Peter Albrecht and Signe Cold-Ravnkilde talk about the many challenges regarding protection of civilians in the Sahel and the broader West African region.

An upsurge in military action against armed groups in West Africa’s vast Sahel and Lake Chad regions has prompted the United Nations refugee agency to call on all warring parties to protect people caught up in the violence.

Parliamentary elections went on as planned in Mali Sunday, despite threats of Jihadist violence and fears of spreading the novel coronavirus. Low voter turnout was expected Sunday for the run-off legislative elections. The first round of elections, held on March 29th after repeated delays, was marred by intimidation and jihadist attacks — including the kidnapping of opposition leader Soumaila Cisse.

Today, Brigadier General František Ridzák was appointed as new EU mission force commander for the European Union military mission, which contributes to the training of the Malian Armed Forces (EUTM Mali). His mandate will start on 12 June 2020.

As the COVID-19 pandemic plagues the world, the head of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali told the Security Council on Tuesday that the mission continues to fulfill its mandate while doing whatever it can to prevent the coronavirus outbreak from overrunning the country. To date, Mali has recorded 46 positive COVID-19 cases, including one case within the UN mission, and five deaths.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission MINUSMA, the European Union’s capacity-building mission EUTM, the French-led counterterrorism force Barkhane, and the regional troops FC-G5S are all in Mali to support the national government in stabilising the country. Despite their efforts, the security crisis in Mali is severe and deteriorating. This report provides an analysis of the state of relations in the multi-actor constellation in Mali, as seen from the perspective of Swedish deployments to MINUSMA and EUTM.

[…] The United Nations reports violence in Burkina Faso has forcibly displaced more than 838,000 from their homes since January 2019. The UN refugee agency reports the escalating militant attacks also are affecting some 25,000 Malian refugees living in remote camps near the border separating the two countries.

Few turned out to vote in Mali's long-delayed parliamentary elections over the weekend, as the country grapples with the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic, the kidnapping of main opposition leader Soumalia Cisse, and an ongoing security crisis in the state's north and central regions. An official turnout figure was not available at the closing of the polls.

Voters in Mali went to the polls Sunday to elect members of the 147-seat National Assembly. The parliamentary election in the war-torn West African country, which should have taken place after President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita’s 2018 reelection, has been postponed several times since then out of security concerns.

France and several of its European allies have officially set up a new task force, called Takuba, made of special forces that will fight armed groups in the West African region of Sahel alongside the armies of Mali and Niger. … The statement said Takuba, which means "sabre" in Tuareg, is planned "to have an initial operational capability (IOC) by the summer of 2020 and expected to become operational (FOC) by early 2021".