First Independent Mena Newspaper
Burkina Faso has denied claims that it awarded a mining permit to Nordgold just because it is a Russian company, its mines minister told the media on Sunday (5 February), rebuffing Western concerns that the ruling junta is seeking closer ties with Moscow. Burkina Faso allows all companies to operate in the west African country […]
UN experts on Tuesday (31 January) called for an independent investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Russian private military contractor Wagner Group and government forces in Mali. This comes just days after the US formally designated (26 January) Russia’s Kremlin-affiliated Wagner Group as a transnational criminal organization responsible for widespread […]
Several thousands of demonstrators rallied in Burkina Faso’s capital on Saturday (28 January) in support of the ruling junta, a few days after the confirmation of the departure of France special forces from the country by February. Packing Nation Square in central Ouagadougou, demonstrators held signs bearing slogans including “Down with imperialism,” “Down with French […]
At least 28 people, including soldiers and civilians, have been killed in two separate attacks by rebel fighters in northern Burkina Faso, a regional governor and the army said in separate statements. The army said on Monday (30 January) that a combat unit in Falagountou, in the country’s north near its border with Niger, came […]
Laurent Gbagbo, Cote d’Ivoire’s ex-leader, has called on regional grouping ECOWAS to establish counter-terrorism brigade to curtail terrorism that has plagued the region. Gbagbo was speaking at a meeting of his party PPA-CI, at Bayota, a town in south-central Ivory Coast. “The problem in the Sahel today is the jihadists,” he said. For a 77-year […]
Mali acquired Thursday military equipment including fighter jets and helicopters from Russia to beef up the army in the fight against terrorists. The delivery included one Soukhoï Su-25 attack aircraft, trainer jet Aero L-39 Albatros and several Mi-8 helicopters. Colonel Assimi Goïta, the leader of the transition in the African country, and Igor Gromyko, the […]
The United Nations Secretary-General has warned of the worsening security situation in central Mali, deepened by Al-Qaida and Islamic State extremist groups that are driving insecurity. Both extremist groups continue to clash near populated areas in the northern Gao and Menaka regions, the UN chief Antonio Guterres said in a new report to the UN […]
Four Malian gendarmes were killed and three wounded on Sunday (15 January) in an ambush in the west of the Sahelian country, as diplomats, analysts and human rights groups say indiscriminate violence against civilians has grown since the arrival of the Wagner Group mercenaries more than a year ago. Two gendarmerie vehicles were reportedly burned, […]
The 49 Ivorian soldiers arrested in Mali, in July, described as “mercenaries”, then charged in mid-August with “attempt to undermine the external security of the State” and imprisoned, have been pardoned by President Col. Assimi Goïta. Three of them, women, were released in mid-September. The pardon comes one week after 46 of the soldiers were […]
Armed men Monday (2 January) attacked a civil defense post in a small southwest town in Mali in what was a rare attack near the capital Bamako, killing five people, Mali’s security ministry has said. The ministry said in a statement Tuesday (3 January) the unidentified armed individuals attacked the defense post in the town […]