Mali

‘It’s no longer just the Sahel, it’s coastal West Africa’: A surge in violence across West Africa’s Sahel has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and left thousands dead since January, as Islamist militants with links to al-Qaeda and so-called Islamic State extend their reach across the region at a time when they are losing ground in their Middle Eastern strongholds.

West African states fighting Islamist militancy in the region should not take France’s military presence for granted because Paris will not be there forever, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Tuesday.

Violence is tearing Mali and the Sahel apart. But who are the armed groups behind the bloodshed? Where are international actors stationed in the region? And what motivates them all? This project maps jihadist and non-jihadist groups and pinpoints the presence of external actors in the region as of May 2019.

A Nigerian UN peacekeeper has been killed and another injured by unidentified assailants in Timbuktu, in northern Mali, the UN says. A separate incident in Tessalit left three Chadian peacekeepers injured. Nearly 200 members of the UN mission have died since it was set up in 2013, making it the deadliest peacekeeping operation in the world.

The foreign minister of Burkina Faso called Thursday on the international community to consider creating a counterterrorism coalition, like the ones for Iraq and Afghanistan, to better combat terrorism in Africa's Sahel region. The region currently has the G5 Sahel Joint Force, which includes troops from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. … "Regarding the urgency of the actions to be undertaken, the member states of the G5 Sahel cannot succeed alone," he said.

Repeated and increasingly sophisticated armed attacks in the Sahel and food shortages linked to last year’s severe drought, have reached unprecedented levels, putting the future of a “whole generation” at stake, three top UN humanitarian officials said on Wednesday.

At least 18 civilians were killed in two related attacks this week in central Mali, the United Nations MINUSMA peacekeeping mission said on Saturday, as the death toll from fighting between local hunters and herders continues to climb.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel started her tour of West Africa on Wednesday, a trip that will see her visit Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger for key talks over the next three days. The bulk of Merkel's visit will focus on security and supporting counter-terrorism efforts in the restive Sahel region.

Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita appointed finance minister Boubou Cisse as prime minister on Monday, days after the government resigned following pressure to respond to the vigilante massacre of about 160 Fulani herders which shocked the nation.