Mali

A suicide bomber in a car attacked a French reconnaissance mission in central Mali on Monday, wounding six of the soldiers and four residents, the French army said. 

The NATO Support and Procurement Organisation (NSPO) has signed a Framework Technical Arrangement with the Ministry of Armed Forces of the French Republic for the provision of services in Mali (Africa), in support of the Takuba Task Force. The support provision includes food and base services, engineering services, infrastructure maintenance, fuel services and intra-theatre air and ground transportation.

Immediate action is required now to initiate critical reforms and lay the groundwork for credible elections in Mali, where the security situation is as worrying as ever, the Head of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) told the Security Council on Monday.

President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday announced a major drawdown of France’s military presence in the Sahel where forces have been battling jihadist insurgents for nearly a decade. At a news conference, Macron said the existing Barkhane operation would end, with France’s presence becoming part of the so-called Takuba international task force in which “hundreds” of French soldiers would form the “backbone”.

This month, the United Nations Security Council will renew the mandate of the 8-year-old United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) at a time of multiple transitions and great uncertainties, … .

For several years, the United Nations (UN) and its member states have debated how best to support some of the ongoing military operations in the Sahel, a region suffering from rising levels of violence, as well as political, humanitarian, and environmental crises. Since December 2017, the UN offered to support the G5 Sahel Joint Force through a complicated set of arrangements. Today, there are growing calls for the UN to establish a dedicated support office to finance the G5 Sahel Joint Force out of the UN’s assessed peacekeeping contributions. 

Colonel Assimi Goita has become the new interim president of Mali. The young army officer has instigated two military power grabs in the impoverished country, provoking international concern.

The leader of the latest military coup has named a new prime minister. Choguel Maiga, a Malian political veteran, was a key player in the protest movement against deposed president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in 2020.

The African Union has suspended Mali’s membership in response to last week’s military coup and threatened sanctions if a civilian-led government is not restored, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

France said Thursday it will suspend joint military operations with Malian forces after the country’s second coup in nine months, “awaiting guarantees” that civilians will return to positions of power.