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JNIM’s rapid ascent reshapes Sahel security landscape, warn experts

Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qaeda affiliate, has emerged as the most powerful militant force in West Africa, now commanding up to 6,000 fighters and staging coordinated, high-impact attacks across the Sahel, experts warn. According new analysis titled ‘JNIM Expanding Geographic Reach and Staging Coordinated Attacks in the Sahel’, JNIM’s recent assaults in Timbuktu […]

Africa Headlines International

UN pledges to fund AU-led peace missions after challenging year for peacekeepers in Africa

The United Nations Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution on the financing of African Union-led peace support operations that also aims to “bolster the international community’s efforts to tackle peace and security challenges on the continent,” according to a statement by the UN Secretary General. The UN chief Antonio Guterres, who has repeatedly called […]

Africa Headlines International

Mali: UN peacekeeping mission officially ends its decade-long deployment

The United Nations mission in Mali, known as MINUSMA, officially ended a 10-year deployment in the West African country on Monday (11 December), its spokesperson said, in a pull out ordered by Mali’s military leaders. The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) was established in April 2013 to support political processes in […]

Africa Headlines International

Chad’s soldiers sent to Mali for peace keeping operation return home

Chad’s transitional leader Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno welcomed home earlier this week the country’s contingent that operated in Mali under the UN peace keeping Mission known as MINUSMA for 10 ten years. The Chadian leader congratulated the soldiers and paid tribute to those lost during the counter-terrorism and peace keeping Mission in northern Mali, especially […]

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Mali’s Tuareg rebels claim takeover of abandoned UN camp near strategic town of Kidal

Separatist rebels in northern Mali have claimed to have taken over a camp in the strategic town of Kidal immediately after it was evacuated by the UN peacekeeping mission MINUSMA, a significant development in an ongoing battle for territory. The Tuareg-dominated alliance of armed groups, known as the Permanent Strategic Framework (CSP), which had agreed […]

Africa International

Mali: UN Mission Begins Departure from Kidal Camp

According to several sources within the mission, the United Nations mission in Mali is currently in the process of leaving its camp in Kidal, located in the north of the country. Kidal is a strategically important city and a major focal point in the ongoing battle between the central government and separatist armed groups who […]

Africa Headlines International

UN peacekeeping Mission in Mali withdraws from two camps near Kidal

The UN stabilization mission in Mali known as MINUSMA said Monday October 16 it pulled out from two camps in the Kidal region. “In a climate of high tension, (the mission) has begun the process of withdrawing from its camps in the Kidal region, starting with Tessalit and Aguelhok”, the mission said in a statement. […]

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Mali rejects delay in UN troops’ departure, Malian and Russian forces relocate to northern region

While the United Nations voiced concern on Saturday (14 October) over an escalation of fighting in northern Mali, the Malian foreign minister Abdoulaye Diop said that the withdrawal of UN peacekeepers from the region would happen on time by 31 December. The UN expressed its concern at the weekend that its drawdown could be hampered […]

Africa Headlines International

Mali adamant on seeing UN peacekeeping leaving by December 31st

Mali has refused to extend the timeline for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) to withdraw from the country beyond the deadline of December 31st, as previously agree despite confrontations between the Army and rebels and terrorist groups in the north. The UN Security Council adopted a resolution end of June […]

Africa Headlines International

Mali: army, northern rebels move closer to decisive confrontation in Kidal region

The Malian army is deploying towards a northern separatist rebel stronghold in the Kidal region in a high-risk operation which could foreshadow a major confrontation and become a turning point after a decade of conflict. A large convoy of the Malian army left Gao on Monday (2 October) and was reportedly headed to the localities […]