Mali

A convoy from the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA) hit an improvised explosive device north of Mopti on Monday, killing at least two ‘blue helmets’, from Egypt, and wounding four others. In a statement, MINUSMA said the peacekeepers were part of a logistics convoy on its way to Timbuktu.

An envoy from West Africa's regional bloc arrived in Mali on Thursday, an AFP journalist saw, for talks with the military junta over restoring civilian rule in the volatile country.

Chad says it will increase its contribution to the United Nations Minusma peacekeeping mission in Mali, … .

President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that France will withdraw its troops from Mali nine years after it first intervened to drive Islamic extremists from power but intends to maintain a military presence in neighboring West African nations. … European leaders simultaneously announced Thursday that troops from the European-led military task force known as Takuba also would withdraw from Mali.

In maps.

EU countries are intensifying talks on how to deal with an increasingly hostile junta in Mali that has deepened ties with Russian mercenaries.

Mali's transitional government has created working groups with members of West Africa's regional bloc, the African Union and the United Nations to work toward a return to constitutional order, it said on Wednesday.

Mali's prime minister on Monday accused France of having sought the partition of the west African country during its military mission there, the latest flare-up in relations between Paris and Bamako.

Germany's defense minister on Sunday expressed doubt as to whether Germany's military mission in Mali can continue. Christine Lambrecht told German broadcaster ZDF: "I am currently very skeptical about whether we can actually continue to be involved on the ground. I don't have the impression that we are welcome any longer."

The EU has blacklisted Mali's prime minister as it struggles to maintain influence in the strategic and mineral-rich Sahel region in West Africa.