Mopti, Mali | AFP | After a busy day juggling paperwork and meetings, Brehima Traore, deputy director of a hospital in war-torn Mali, may have hoped for some rest. Then his phone rang: he was needed in the operating room. Traore is one of the doctors who keeps the hospital in …
Read More »Mali heads to polls despite coronavirus, insecurity
Bamako, Mali | AFP | Malians vote Sunday in a long-delayed parliamentary election, despite a raging jihadist conflict, the recent kidnap of a leading opposition politician and the coronavirus pandemic. Experts see the vote as a key step towards leading the West African state out of its spiral of violence and …
Read More »Attacks, ethnic massacres leave ghost villages in central Mali
Mopti, Mali | AFP | After years of ethnic massacres and unrelenting jihadist attacks, central Mali has been left a harrowed area of deserted villages and displaced people. An Islamist insurgency erupted in the north of the vast west African state in 2012, claiming thousands of military and civilian lives since. …
Read More »Niger stampede kills 20 at handout for refugees
Niamey, Niger | AFP | Fifteen women and five children were trampled to death on Monday in a stampede for food and money for refugees in southeast Niger, a regional governor said. The accident occurred at a youth and culture centre in Diffa, the main town of a region of the …
Read More »French defence chief heads to US to press Sahel case
Paris, France | AFP | France’s defence minister departs for Washington on Sunday hoping to convince officials to keep US soldiers in West Africa, where French authorities are under pressure after years of trying to bolster local forces against Islamic extremists. Florence Parly’s visit comes just days after her tour of …
Read More »France’s Macron looks to give ‘new force’ to Sahel anti-jihadist campaign
Port-Bouet, Ivory Coast | AFP | French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Ivory Coast on Friday to celebrate Christmas with French troops, saying Paris would work to give “new force” to the regional fight against Islamist militants. The jihadist insurgency in several poor Sahel nations will be a top item on …
Read More »France’s Macron to mark Xmas with troops on Africa visit
Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP In keeping with tradition, President Emmanuel Macron on Friday will celebrate Christmas with French soldiers posted abroad, travelling this year to Ivory Coast as Paris seeks to strengthen regional ties against Islamist militants. Far from protest strikes gripping France, Macron will share a dinner cooked by …
Read More »Despair, jihadism and revolt: Mali’s torn heart
Mopti, Mali | AFP | Untroubled by time, the mighty Niger River glides through the Sahel city as women wash their clothes in its brackish waters and cows slumber nearby in the heat. But this peaceful image is an illusion, for Mopti, a city of 150,000 people, is on a dark, …
Read More »France claims death of top jihadist leader in Mali
Aboard a French government plane, Mali | AFP | France on Tuesday announced the death of a top jihadist leader in Mali as it sought to reassure the West African nation of European support in the fight against militant bloodshed. French troops killed Moroccan Ali Maychou of the Group to Support …
Read More »WhatsApp becomes battleground in Mali’s jihad conflict
Bamako, Mali | AFP | A digital war is unfolding in Mali alongside a jihadist conflict that has claimed thousands of lives: the battle to sway young minds is being waged on the mobile phone. “Jihadists today are recruiting on WhatsApp. We have to stop the bloodshed,” said Hama Cisse, a …
Read More »