Mali

Separatist Tuareg forces on Wednesday announced they had set up a blockade on the major roads in northern Mali, where the army has made inroads in recent weeks.

The United Nations mission in Mali officially ended its 10-year deployment in the country on Monday, in a pullout ordered by Mali's military leaders. … A "liquidation phase" will follow the withdrawal deadline of January 1, involving activities such as handing over equipment to the authorities. 

German troops have begun their withdrawal from Gao, as the United Nations continues to dismantle its peacekeeping mission in Mali before the end of the year.

Chad and Mauritania, the two remaining countries in a West African alliance set up to fight militant Islamists, have said they're paving the way to dissolve the group. They made the announcement after Burkina Faso and Niger quit the G5 Sahel group on Saturday and Mali quit in 2022.

Junta-led Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have ditched the G5 anti-jihadist force. Experts say their intended new confederation to tackle Islamist insurgents in the Sahel is bound to fail unless they mend ties with ECOWAS.

Mali's judiciary has announced an investigation into several ethnic separatists and Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist leaders for terrorism and money laundering, as security deteriorates in the country.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali on Saturday said it had left a ninth of its 12 bases as part of its forced withdrawal from the junta-led country battling separatist and jihadi rebellions.

Mali's army has recaptured the strategically important northern town of Kidal from an alliance of predominantly Tuareg armed groups known as the Cadre Strategique Permanent, or permanent strategic framework. … The rebel groups, who have controlled Kidal since driving out the army in 2014, admitted they withdrew for tactical reasons after having fought an army advance for several days. 

Mali’s army said Tuesday it has retaken the northern city of Kidal from rebels, after a raid that left many insurgents dead. The reported capture, not confirmed by independent observers, would mark a symbolic victory for Mali’s army as they have been virtually absent from the city, with ethnic Tuareg rebels controlling much of the northern part of the country.

The 19 interpreters wrote to the German government on 7 August asking for protection as the jihadist groups that operate in northern Mali regard those who work with the UN as traitors.