Help by Proxy

Mali severed diplomatic relations with Ukraine this week over allegations Kyiv was involved in an attack by separatist rebels late last month that killed dozens of Malian soldiers and mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group, Radio Free Europe reported. On July 25, rebels led by the Tuareg...

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A Dialogue of One

Participants in Mali’s national dialogue proposed extending the rule of the military junta for three more years, prolonging the country’s lagging transition to democracy since the army’s 2020 coup, Reuters reported. The military has governed Mali since the takeover, but tensions have risen in recent months...

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The Stronger Hand

Malian voters overwhelmingly approved amendments to the country’s constitution following a referendum that critics say is part of the military junta’s efforts to remain in power, despite the latter’s pledges to restore civilian rule, Agence France-Presse reported. Results published over the weekend showed that 97 percent...

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Comforting the Afflicters

Government troops and foreign fighters – allegedly soldiers affiliated with the Wagner Group, the Russian military contractor – massacred at least 500 people in the town of Moura in Mali in late March last year, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Around...

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Olive Branch

Mali’s military junta pardoned and suspended the sentences of 49 Ivorian troops over the weekend, bringing an end to a diplomatic spat that had underscored the West African country’s growing isolation and poor relations with its neighbors, the New York Times reported. Malian authorities had detained...

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Au Revoir

France’s armed forces completed their withdrawal from Mali this week, nine years after the French government sent troops to the West African nation to oust Islamic extremists from power, the Associated Press reported. The last army unit, part of the so-called Barkhane force, left the country...

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Too Many Cooks

Armed men riding motorcycles shot and killed two Red Cross workers in western Mali recently, according to the international humanitarian organization. Their killers were not identified. Still, for the past decade, Islamist militants with ties to Al Qaeda and also Islamic State have been expanding...

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Divorce, Finalized

Mali ended its military ties with France this week, a decision that underscores the deterioration in relations between the two countries following a series of disputes in recent months, Bloomberg reported. The country’s military junta accused France of violating its airspace and condemned the presence of...

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