Nine Malian soldiers were killed and five wounded in an area regularly targeted by jihadist groups, as the commander of France’s counter-terrorism force for the region said an operation on the Burkina Faso border was ongoing. “A supply mission for the national armed forces fell into an ambush between Dogofri and Nampala. The initial toll … Read more
France says it has killed about 20 suspected fighters in a forest near Mali’s border with Burkina Faso. French Mirage fighter jets bombed several suspected arms depots in the Foulsare Forest, southwest of the northern Malian city of Gao, late on Saturday, a French counterterrorism unit said in a statement on Sunday. Troops from Operation … Read more
Five Malian soldiers have been killed by suspected Islamist militants on Tuesday in the northern city of Timbuktu, BBC Afrique reports. According to an official statement, the soldiers were killed in a raid carried out at dawn on a camp in the remote Gourma Rharous area about 120 km (75m) from Timbuktu. Officials have blamed … Read more
France and Mali on Friday ruled out any talks with jihadist groups responsible for repeated attacks on Malian and foreign forces, rejecting calls to bring them to the negotiating table. A peace conference in Mali last Sunday called for talks with the leaders of two violent Islamist groups. Militants linked to Malian jihadist Iyad Ag … Read more
A Tuareg-led group in Mali said five of its fighters were killed Saturday in an attack blamed on jihadists, a week after a national peace summit called for talks with militants in the country’s north. “Our base in Gargando was attacked early Saturday by Islamist terrorists,” Oumar Ag Keling, a member of the Tuareg-led Congress … Read more
Mali’s government should start talks with the leaders of two Islamist groups that have staged deadly attacks on Malian and French soldiers and U. N. peacekeepers, a peace conference said on Sunday. The week-long conference held under the auspices of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita urged talks with Amadou Koufa, leader of the Macina Liberation Front, … Read more
A national peace summit in Mali ended Sunday with a call for negotiations with jihadists in the country’s north, according to a resolution seen by AFP. The conference, enshrined in the country’s 2015 peace deal, was intended to bring together the government, armed groups that support it, former rebels and the political opposition. But an … Read more
A new jihadist alliance claimed responsibility Saturday for an attack that killed three members of Mali’s security forces on March 29, according to a statement released by jihadist monitoring group SITE. Three Malian jihadist groups with previous Al-Qaeda links recently joined forces to create the “Group to Support Islam and Muslims” (GSIM), led by Iyad … Read more
Former rebels in Mali on Tuesday reversed a decision to boycott a national reconciliation conference after receiving assurances from the government, a spokesman said. The talks were agreed in a 2015 peace deal signed by Tuareg-led rebels, the government and pro-Bamako militias aimed at ending successive separatist uprisings in Mali’s north, most recently in 2012, … Read more
Former rebels and Mali’s opposition parties Monday boycotted a national summit enshrined in the country’s 2015 peace deal, laying bare divisions with the government and armed groups it relies on for security. The talks were agreed in the accord signed by Tuareg-led rebels, the government and pro-Bamako militias aimed at ending successive separatist uprisings in … Read more
A jihadist alliance uniting Malian insurgents loyal to Al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for an attack that killed 11 soldiers close to Mali’s border with Burkina Faso, its first such attack. The Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM) announced their merger in a video released earlier this month showing five jihadist leaders seated together, led … Read more
Tensions between armed groups who encircled Mali’s fabled Timbuktu have prevented the head of a new regional body from taking charge in the former rebel-held city despite government assurances he would start work on Monday. Boubacar Ould Hamadi, a member of the former rebel alliance that rose up in 2012 in Mali’s north, was originally … Read more
At least 11 soldiers were killed in Mali on Sunday in an attack on an army base near the border with Burkina Faso, as rival armed factions surrounded the flashpoint city of Timbuktu. The jihadist attack on the border village of Boulekessi killed 11 troops and wounded five more, according to an official toll from … Read more
Three jihadist groups operating in the Sahel region have merged to form one single organisation, Mauritania’s private news agency ANI said Thursday, citing a video distributed by the Islamists. Among the groups joining the merger south of the Sahara are Mali’s Al-Qaeda-linked Ansar Dine and Al-Murabitoun, led by Algerian extremist Mokhtar Belmokhtar. The new movement … Read more
An interim authority for Mali’s troubled northern Kidal region, a stronghold of the former Tuareg rebellion, was finally installed on Tuesday, the first step toward improving security enough to allow local elections. The creation of interim bodies in four other northern regions is scheduled for later this week, a government statement said. Hassan Ag Fagaga, … Read more
Dozens of young Muslims opposed to alcoholic beverages smashed bars and liquor stalls in the northern Malian city of Timbuktu on Saturday, saying they were “places of depravity”, local sources said. “The youngsters were very organised, having targeted what to destroy,” said a resident reached by phone who asked not to be identified. “Beer bottles … Read more
A key step on the road to peace in northern Mali will take place Saturday when interim local authorities begin work, smoothing the path to municipal elections, the Malian government said. Tuareg-led rebels led an uprising in 2012 that was hijacked by jihadists, throwing northern Mali into chaos, but the rebels signed an accord in … Read more
Clashes have forced 600 people to flee their homes in central Mali as traditional herding communities battle with farmers over accusations of jihadist infiltration and land use in areas hit by climate change. Malian television said Tuesday night hundreds had fled villages close to the city of Macina after clashes between Fulani herders and Bambara … Read more
Key provisions of a peace deal signed by the Malian government and ex-rebels in 2015 are finally due to be rolled out imminently, according to an official document obtained by AFP Friday. Tuareg-led rebels led an uprising in 2012 that was hijacked by jihadists, throwing Mali into chaos and triggering a UN-French military intervention the … Read more
Al-Qaeda’s North African affiliate says a group linked to it carried out the suicide attack that killed at least 50 people in northern Mali. A vehicle packed with explosives detonated at a camp housing soldiers and members of rival armed groups in the region’s main city, Gao. Mali’s northern desert region has been restive since … Read more