Tag: Mali
Algeria shoots down Malian UAV, escalating tensions
A Malian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), or drone, shot down over the border in Algeria has escalated tensions between the two countries as they...
What France loses by closing its military bases in Africa
Senegalese president Bassirou Diomaye Faye announced on 31 December 2024 that all foreign military bases in his country would close by 2025. On the...
US-Mali Defence cooperation enters a new chapter
The United States has taken a significant step in strengthening defence ties with Mali, with the Malian Armed Forces hosting a high-level military law...
Russia delivers military hardware to Mali
Russia has delivered over 100 military vehicles to Mali, including tanks, trucks, and infantry fighting vehicles.
It is suspected the shipment may have come from...
Africa’s 2024 Security Trends in 10 Graphics
Africa’s persisting conflicts are compounding crises of governance on the continent, straining already fragile regions and opening the door to foreign exploitation through proxy...
West Africa could soon have a jihadist state – here’s why
The Sahel region of Africa, between the Sahara and the tropical savannahs to the south, has emerged as a significant base of groups that...
Africa’s constantly evolving militant Islamist threat
The threat from militant Islamist groups in Africa over the past decade has steadily grown—with almost three times the number of annual violent events...
Terrorism is spreading in west Africa – foreign and regional collaboration...
The United States military has completed its withdrawal from Niger after 11 years of military cooperation with the west African country.
This follows a major...
Organized crime fuels terror in Sahel nations
The military juntas leading Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have pledged to confront the terrorist groups plaguing their countries. However, a recent United Nations...
Conflicts causing record level of forced displacement in Africa
The number of African refugees, internally displaced persons, and asylum seekers grew by 14 percent over the past year—to more than 45 million people.
The...
Chad’s break with France: why it happened and what it means...
For over six decades, Chad was a crucial ally to French and US forces in their counter-insurgency operations in the Sahel. But both lost...
Military rule is on the rise in Africa – nothing good...
In the last few years, there has been a spate of military coups in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Sudan and Guinea. Military rule, long...
Rethinking responses to coups in West Africa
ECOWAS should use its special summit on regional integration in 2025 to reconsider its approach to managing coups.
Recurrent coups since 2020 and the decision...
Terrorist attacks multiply in junta-led countries
The number of violent events involving extremist groups in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger has nearly doubled since 2021.
That is according to a Reuters...
Mali is still unsafe under the military: why it hasn’t made...
The scale of casualties suffered by the Wagner group and Malian forces during a recent assault in the Tinzaouaten region reveal vulnerability in Mali’s...
Russia-Ukraine war spills into west Africa: Mali attacks signal dangerous times...
Russia suffered significant blows to its reputation in mid-2024. An attack on its territory by Ukraine came as a surprise. In west Africa, the...
Countering terrorism in Africa requires effective multilateral responses
Growing terrorism is a major threat to international peace and security and needs greater attention, while the South African Government must be bold and...
Exclusive: General Béhanzin on defence and security in West Africa and...
In an exclusive interview, General Francis Béhanzin, the former Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace, and Security at the Economic Community of West African States...
Ecowas: why withdrawal of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso signals fresh...
On 27 January 2024, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger announced their plan to withdraw from membership of the Economic Community of West African States...
Mali receives more Bayraktar TB2 UAVs
The Armed Forces of Mali have received another consignment of Baykar Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from Turkey.
The Malian Presidency said the aircraft...
MINUSMA exits Mali
General acknowledgement that the now finished United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission in Mali was a difficult and life-threatening deployment can be judged from 311...
UN Mali peacekeeping mission closes shop
The Malian capital, Bamako, yesterday (11 December) hosted a ceremony to mark the conclusion of MINUSMA (United Nations Multi-dimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali),...
Nepali EOD company saved countless lives in Mali
The lifesaving contributions of a Nepali explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) company to operations in landlocked Mali where a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission is...
Terrorists target the Sahel’s gold mines as a source of financing
Artisanal gold mines in the Sahel have become the targets of terrorist groups operating in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. The groups smuggle gold...
Kidnappings in the Sahel – a favoured weapon of war
Over 180 kidnappings were recorded in the war-torn countries of Mali and Burkina Faso in the first half of 2023 – an average of...
Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have a new defence alliance
On 16 September 2023 in Bamako, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger established the Alliance of Sahel States, a mutual defence pact. The agreement was...
Experts warn of security vacuum in wake of exiting peacekeepers
Peacekeepers are on the move across Africa. But rather than rushing in to quell violence, they are withdrawing from some of the continent’s worst...
Security issues troubling MINUSMA withdrawal
United Nations (UN) peacekeeping personnel in Mali are, security issues notwithstanding, proceeding with drawdown of the MINUSMA mission in the landlocked West African country.
The...
Heightened tension not stopping MINUSMA withdrawal process
Another step on the withdrawal road saw MINUSMA troops exit outposts in Mali’s Kidal that were supporting the reconstituted Malian Armed Forces (Forces Armées...
Senegalese peacekeepers exit Mali
The withdrawal of 116 Senegalese peacekeepers from the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission in Mali –MINUSMA – brings to three thousand the number of...
Bangladesh singled out for MINUSMA commitment
Bangladesh’s commitment to peace in Mali started with air and airfield support and grew to signals and an infantry quick reaction capability over a...
MINUSMA drawdown on track
The closure of the last of MINUSMA’s four outposts in Mali – Ménaka – marks yet another successful part of the mission’s drawdown and...
MINUSMA camp closures
An integral component of the exit of a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission from any country, in this instance MINUSMA and Mali, is camp...
Civilian support for military coups is rising in parts of Africa:...
On the night of 13 January 1963, Togo’s President Sylvanus Olympio was shot dead by rebels in the first military coup staged in Africa....
MINUSMA equipment being moved ahead of mission shutdown
With the clock ticking toward the scheduled departure of the United Nations Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) on 31 December this year, troops and police...
Record increase in extremist attacks shows Malian junta’s ineffective strategy
Mali’s ruling junta has repeatedly pledged to restore peace to the country after using the terror threat as justification for coups in 2020 and...
Mali catastrophe accelerating under junta rule
The threat of militant Islamist groups is spreading to all parts of Mali as the military junta stakes its claim to stay in power...
UN troops to withdraw from Mali: what will change in terms...
On 30 June 2023, the UN Security Council voted unanimously to end the mandate of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali...
ISS: MINUSMA leaves Mali – will regional leaders step up on...
On 30 June the United Nations (UN) Security Council voted unanimously to end the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) as of...
UN Mali mission mandate not renewed
Ten years after its establishment, the mandate of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) has expired, with the world body’s...
ISS: Prigozhin’s rebellion throws Wagner’s African future into doubt
The brazen but brief rebellion that Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin launched in Russia at the weekend, and the deal he cut with Russian President...
MINUSMA Peacekeeper Day message
Today (Monday, 29 May) is International Day of United Nations (UN) Peacekeepers with the world body’s mission in Mali (MINUSMA) noting blue helmeted peacekeepers...
Chaos in Mali fuels uncertainty about MINUSMA future
A recent militant attack in central Mali illustrated the extreme challenges facing the United Nations peacekeeping mission, known as MINUSMA, and its uncertain future...
Mali takes delivery of new armoured vehicles, including Chinese APCs
Mali’s armed forces (FAMA) have commissioned into service dozens of military vehicles, including Chinese armoured and all-terrain vehicles, as the country continues to build...
Malian Air Force commissions Bayraktar TB2 UAVs and other aircraft
Mali’s Air Force continues to expand through new equipment deliveries, with the most recent batch of hardware accepted into service including Bayraktar TB2 unmanned...
ISS: New targets needed to manage West Africa’s military transitions
Since August 2020, five coups have occurred in three West African countries – Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea. The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau have weathered...
Malian military junta scuttles security partnerships while militant violence surges
The military junta in Mali has alienated regional and international security partners amid escalating violence by militant Islamist groups, leading to a spike in...
Senegalese peacekeepers’ deaths condemned
The death in Mali of three Senegalese peacekeepers and wounds suffered by another five is condemned by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) which...
Burkina Faso inches closer to Wagner mercenaries
As it seeks to expand its presence in the Sahel region, Russia appears to be following the same playbook in Burkina Faso that it...
Wagner Group in Africa: Russia’s presence on the continent increasingly relies...
Mercenaries have been a fixture in Africa since the second half of the 20th century. They have been used to protect incumbent leaders or...
