Mali

The United Nations on Monday urged Mali to free 46 detained Ivorian soldiers, after the junta in Bamako attacked UN chief Antonio Guterres over his comments on the two-month standoff.

The deterioration of the security environment in the western Sahel is marked by an array of differing actors, drivers, and motivations, calling for contextualized responses.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres and African leaders have launched a high-level panel to assess the situation in the Sahel and make recommendations on ways to foster international engagement and map out responses to the region’s complex challenges.

Mali’s military-appointed prime minister has lashed out at France and the United Nations in a grievance-filled address over his nation’s deteriorating security situation while praising the “exemplary” cooperation with Russia.

The protestors waved Malian flags and chanted anti-UN slogans. Others carried Russian flags as they marched through the streets of the capital. … The protestors accused the mission of undermining Mali's sovereignty. 

The defence ministers and chiefs of staff of the G5 Sahel countries held an extraordinary meeting in Niamey on Thursday to consider a "new strategy" for the anti-jihadist force after Mali withdrew in May, AFP learnt Friday.

Germany has again suspended its reconnaissance patrols in eastern Mali that are part of a UN peacekeeping mission after failing to get flyover rights, the military said Monday. The permission is needed for flights between Gao, home to the German military’s main base in Mali, and Niamey, the capital of neighbouring Niger.

In place of the government, fighters from the Coordination of Azawad Movements take charge of maintaining security in the strategic town of Kidal.

The Sahel countries are facing the following dilemma: how to fight terrorism without the cooperation of that scourge epicenter ei Mali?

Militant Islamist group violence is accelerating in Mali, advancing a complex insurgency in north, central, and increasingly southern Mali that further threatens the country’s stability.