Mali

27 November 2019; AFP: The black boxes from two French military helicopters that collided in Mali killing 13 soldiers have been found, a French military spokesman said Wednesday.

The crash occurred late Monday during an operation against jihadists in the Liptako region, near the borders with Burkina Faso and Niger. It was the heaviest single loss for the French military in nearly four decades.

3 November 2019; AFP: The Islamic State on Saturday claimed responsibility for a devastating raid that killed 49 Malian troops as well as a blast that led to the death of a French soldier who became the latest casualty in the conflict-torn region.

The strikes underscored the fragility of an area straddling several West African countries battling increasing jihadist violence that has claimed hundreds of lives.

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Jihadists attacked the Malian military near the border with Niger, leaving at least 53 soldiers and one civilian dead, in the second major assault against the country’s armed forces in a month, the government said Saturday.

The latest violence to target Mali’s armed forces took place Friday in Indelimane, located in Mali’s volatile Menaka region.

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Assailants raided a central Mali village early Monday, killing at least 95 people in the latest massacre in a growing ethnic conflict that has been enflamed by Islamic extremists, government officials said.

Nineteen people were missing after the ethnic Dogon village of Sobame Da was attacked around 3 a.m., said Interior Security Ministry spokesman Amadou Sangho. Homes were burned and animals slaughtered, the government said.

22 Apr 2019; DW: Mali's president has appointed a new prime minister, after the country's government resigned. Boubou Cisse, who had been serving as finance minster, is now charged with easing growing unrest.

Malian President Boubacar Keita named Boubou Cisse as prime minister on Monday, tasking him with forming a broad government to stem bloodshed.

Ethnic violence has claimed 600 lives since March 2018, with 160 people massacred in a single day last month.

19 Apr 2019; AFP: Ethnic violence that has gripped central Mali has led to the downfall of the government, accused of failing to stem bloodshed that has claimed about 600 lives.

A statement from President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita's office late Thursday said he had accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga and his entire cabinet.

Maiga was appointed in December 2017 and renamed to the job only last September, after Keita was re-elected.

5 Apr 2019; DW: Tens of thousands of protesters marched in Mali's capital Bamako on Friday, to protest what they described as President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita's failure to stop a surge of violence in the center of the country.

Protesters shouted anti-Keita slogans, including "IBK get out" as they attended the march that was called by Muslim religious leaders, organizations representing the Fulani herding community, opposition parties and civil society groups.

24 Mar 2019; DW: A pre-dawn attack on ethnic villages in central Mali left 134 victims dead and 55 injured, including pregnant women, children and the elderly. Violence has spread down from the north.

A deadly raid on the mainly-Muslim Peulh-Fulani villages of Ogossagou and Welingara in central Mali on Saturday shocked a population already targeted by attacks and reprisals.

23 Mar 2019; DW: Dogon tribe-members reportedly burned a large portion of a Muslim Fulani village. Tensions among ethnic communities have surged since the government started battling extremists in its desert territories.

Members of the Dogon tribe staged an attack on the Peulh village of Ogossagou in central Mali on Saturday, local officials confirmed. The Peuhl community is part of the Muslim nomadic Fulani group.

26 Jan 2019; DW: Two Sri Lankan peacekeepers with the UN's force in Mali have been killed and six others injured when their vehicle hit an explosive device in the central Mopti region, the UN said Friday.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the Security Council condemned the attacks.

"The secretary-general recalls that attacks targeting United Nations peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law," his office said in a statement.