Côte d’Ivoire has been one of the Top 10 nations to contribute troops to the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali, but the government has announced it’s pulling out of the mission in a letter sent to the UN. The letter, according to Radio France International (RFI), confirms Abidjan’s decision…
The United Nations Security Council agreed on Thursday to extend sanctions imposed in Mali against those who are interfering with the progress of a 2015 peace agreement for the Sahel nation. The sanctions, now in force until the end of August 2020, were first put in place in 2017. They…
MINUSMA, the United Nations mission in Mali, has confirmed that some 100 civilians including women and children were killed in the village of Sobanou-Kou in the Mopti region during an attack by armed men on Sunday night. Witnesses and local officials say there are many wounded as well in this…
On Thursday, President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta of Mali declared three days of mourning for the country’s 26 soldiers killed in an attack one week ago at a military base in Dioura, in the central part of the Sahel nation. The number of dead continues to rise, according to Malian sources….
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
During a briefing Friday with the UN Security Council, the head of United Nations peacekeeping operations said he is extremely concerned over the increasing number of attacks by armed groups in Mali. Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the undersecretary general for peacekeeping operations, also lamented delays with the implementation of the 2015 peace…
The head of the United Nations mission in Mali (MINUSMA) says that the country is prepared for a successful election on Sunday, despite the recent rise in violence against civilians and the chronic challenges presented by regional Islamic extremists. Mahamat Saleh Annadif, speaking with the MINUSMA radio network in Mali,…
A revised death toll now stands at three people killed, one a civilian, following the car bomb attack Friday on the G5 Sahel Force headquarters in Mali. The al Qaeda-affiliated militant group JNIM (Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims) has claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack in Sévaré, in a…
The commanders from three United Nations peacekeeping missions in Africa briefed the UN Security Council on Wednesday on the evolving security challenges they face in their respective roles. Jean‑Paul Deconinck, commander for United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), was joined by Frank Mushyo Kamanzi, the commander of United…
The United Nations needs to “change the way we are doing business” when it comes to peacekeeping operations, because the high-risk environments encountered in today’s conflict zones – especially on the African continent – come with new and greater threats to the traditional mission. That’s the conclusion of a newly…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Gutteres urged the international community to support the regional G5 Sahel Joint Force in northwest Africa, while warning that the window of opportunity for bringing stability to Mali was slowly narrowing. Guterres, speaking at a ministerial meeting at UN headquarters Wednesday, said delays in implementing…
French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday promised €8 million this year, along with equipment and technical support, as he joined the presidents of the G5 Sahel countries in Bamako Sunday to formally launch the Sahel joint force (FC-G5S). It is expected to be operational in the fall, and based in the…
The G5 Sahel summit next Sunday in Bamako is likely to serve as a turning point in the years-long struggle for security, in a region where the threat of terrorism has only appeared to deepen and armed ethnic and jihadist groups remain firmly entrenched. The G5 nations – Burkina Faso,…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
The United Nations Security Council has adopted a resolution that gives the go-ahead for the Group of Five Sahel joint force (FC-G5S), a counterterrorism effort of up to 5,000 military and law enforcement personnel drawn from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. Issa Konfourou, Mali’s ambassador to the United…
At a time when attacks on humanitarian aid workers and UN experts are painfully top of mind – as illustrated by recent events in Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan – a provocative new report from Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) questions how the mission and safety of…
Following a vehicle bombing attack Wednesday that killed at least 77 people and left dozens more injured, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres issued a statement condemning the incident and called for continued commitment to the peace process. The attack came shortly after 9 a.m. at the camp in Gao, in Mali’s southeastern region,…