Mali

France’s defense minister said she would not allow the honor of French forces to be “sullied” on Thursday, two days after the UN said a French strike killed 19 civilians in Mali.

Ten days after armed groups carried out a deadly attack on three villages near the western Niger town of Tillia, UN humanitarians have repeated their call for greater protection of civilians and all those displaced by violence in the Sahel.

The new president of Niger on Monday called France’s anti-jihadist force in West Africa a “relative failure” despite years of efforts, and said a partial troop drawdown would have only a limited impact.

A French airstrike in central Mali on January 3 killed 19 civilians and three armed men, according to excerpts from a United Nations investigation due to be released later on Tuesday, contradicting French claims that only Islamist militants were hit.

The incident happened in the western Gao region of Mali and was the second time this year France has been accused of killing civilians. The French military reported the strike had killed a group of militants 60 kilometers north of Deliman. 

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Islamic State’s West Africa affiliate claimed responsibility on Sunday for an ambush last week that killed 33 Malian soldiers … Fourteen soldiers were also injured in Monday’s attack near the northern town of Tessit, near the border with Niger.

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Le diplomate tchadien quitte Bamako et la Minusma pour devenir le chef du bureau des Nations unies pour l’Afrique de l’Ouest et le Sahel. … „Je pars avec le sentiment que les Maliens comprennent de plus en plus le rôle et la mission de la Minusma. … .“

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of El-Ghassim Wane of Mauritania as his new Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).

[…] The election will be held in line with the Transition Charter adopted in September 2020 in the West African country.