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☆ Russia's pulling combat forces from another continent to fuel its latest offensive push in Ukraine, Western intel says
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewRussia has moved some combat forces from Africa to help support its latest offensive efforts in northeastern Ukraine, according to a new Western intelligence assessment. The Russian defense ministry created the Africa Corps last year as a way to expand its footprint on the continent and also in the Middle East. Photo by Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty ImagesRussia's defense ministry "almost certainly redeployed detachments from the Africa Corps to the Ukrainian border during April 2024 in preparation for this offensive," the defense ministry said. Other Africa Corps detachments are believed to have deployed to Syria, Libya, Burkina Faso, and Niger, the UK said. French Army via APThe recent deployment of certain Africa Corps units to the Kharkiv region appears to underscore Russia's commitment to its new offensive.

Persons: —, Wagner, Kostiantyn Liberov, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Volodymyr Zelenskyy Organizations: Service, Africa Corps, Business, Nazi, French Army, AP, Libkos, Staff of, Armed Forces, Facebook Locations: Russia, Africa, Ukraine, Moscow, Vovchansk, Ukraine's Kharkiv, Kharkiv, Ukrainian, Syria, Libya, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — An unregulated gold mine collapsed late last week in Mali, killing more than 70 people, an official said Wednesday, and a search continued amid fears that the toll could rise. Artisanal miners — small-scale, informal ones — are often accused of ignoring safety measures, especially in remote areas. Political Cartoons View All 253 Images“The state must bring order to this artisanal mining sector to avoid these kinds of accidents in the future,” Berthé said. Artisanal gold mining is estimated to produce around 30 tons of gold a year, and represents 6% of Mali’s annual gold production. The country also has an estimated 2 million gold miners operating in around 300 artisanal mining sites, Pona said.

Persons: Karim Berthé, Abdoulaye Pona, ” Berthé, “, Pona Organizations: and Mining Directorate, Associated Press, Mali Chamber of Mines, Mines, International Trade Administration, U.S . Department of Commerce, of Mines Locations: BAMAKO, Mali, Kangaba district, Koulikoro, Africa’s, Bamako, “

☆ Dozens Feared Dead in Collapse of Informal Gold Mine in Mali
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( Elian Peltier | More About Elian Peltier | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Scores of people have died in the West African nation of Mali after an informal gold mine collapsed last week, the country’s Ministry of Mines said on Wednesday, highlighting the risks that countless artisanal miners face in one of Africa’s largest gold-producing countries. Several West African countries have experienced a new boom in informal mining, also known as artisanal mining, over the past two decades. It has provided a livelihood to thousands of people, fed trafficking routes and attracted armed groups. In northern Mali, for instance, Tuareg rebels and insurgents affiliated with Al Qaeda control mining sites. About six tons came from artisanal mining.

Persons: Seydou Traoré Organizations: country’s Ministry of Mines, Associated Press, Al Locations: West African, Mali, Bamako, Al Qaeda

An armored vehicle escorting a MINUSMA logistic convoy from Gao to Kidal, is parked as trucks pass by, Mali February 16, 2017. Shortly after the last U.N. convoy rolled out, the ethnic Tuareg rebels announced they had taken over the base. The Tuareg rebels signed a 2015 peace agreement brokered by MINUSMA but maintained control of much of the north from Kidal. The first sign of trouble came in early August, when fighting broke out between Mali's army and Tuareg rebels around the U.N.'s camp in Ber in the north. As in Kidal, peacekeepers destroyed equipment before leaving that could have been transported in trucks earlier, if the government had allowed.

Persons: MINUSMA, Sylvain Liechti, jeopardising U.N, couldn't, Fatoumata Sinkoun Kaba, Yvan Guichaoua, Edward McAllister, David Lewis, Michelle Nichols, Mahamat, Alexandra Zavis, Daniel Flynn Organizations: UN, DAKAR, United Nations, U.N, Reuters, Authorities, Security, Islamic State, Department of Peace Operations, Department of Operational, Wagner Group, MINUSMA, University of Kent's Brussels School of International Studies, Thomson Locations: Gao, Mali, Kidal, West Africa, Malian, al Qaeda, Algeria, Mauritania, Ber, Tessalit, Algerian, Bamako, Dakar, Nairobi, New York, N'Djamena

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Fifteen U.N. peacekeepers in a convoy withdrawing from a rebel stronghold in northern Mali were injured when vehicles hit improvised explosive devices on two occasions this week, the United Nations said Friday. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said eight peacekeepers injured Wednesday were evacuated by air and “are now reported to be in stable condition.”He said seven peacekeepers injured by an IED early Friday also were evacuated by air. JNIM, an extremist group with links to al-Qaida, claimed responsibility for the earlier attacks, in which at least two peacekeepers were injured. An employee with MINUSMA earlier told The Associated Press that the peacekeepers left Kidal in convoys after Mali’s junta refused to authorize flights to repatriate U.N. equipment and civilian personnel. That deal was signed after Tuareg rebels drove security forces out of northern Mali in 2012 as they sought to create an independent state they call Azawad.

Persons: U.N, Stephane Dujarric, ”, Dujarric, Gao, António Guterres, MINUSMA, “ Organizations: UNITED NATIONS, United Nations, . Security, Associated Press, Analysts Locations: Mali, Kidal, Gao, Niger

☆ Mali rebels say they have taken base vacated by UN peacekeepers
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The UN mission, known as MINUSMA, has until Dec. 31 to pack up after Mali’s military junta ordered it to leave in June. Its withdrawal from other bases has already prompted fighting between Mali’s army and the rebels, who are vying for control of areas vacated by the peacekeepers. Kidal is the eighth MINUSMA base to close in central and northern Mali and is one of the most important. It lies in a zone historically controlled by the rebels that Mali’s junta wants to take back. Mali’s military authorities have expressed concern that the UN has left bases without handing them over to the army.

Persons: MINUSMA Organizations: Reuters, United Nations, UN, Peace, Security, Development, ”, Islamic Locations: Mali, Kidal, West, al Qaeda, Islamic State

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — New fighting erupted between the Malian military and armed rebel groups in an area south of Kidal late Friday, with both sides claiming to control the town of Anefis as night fell. The violence is the latest in a string of increasing attacks by the rebels, known as the Permanent Strategic Framework for Peace, Security and Development (CSP-PSD). Political Cartoons View All 1202 ImagesThe 2015 peace deal called for the ex-rebels to be integrated into the national military among other things. Former colonizer France, which led a 2013 military intervention to oust jihadis from power, has since moved its forces outside Mali. Since the peacekeepers completed the first phase of their withdrawal in August, attacks in northern Mali have more than doubled.

Persons: Wagner, “, Staff Gal, Oumar Diarra, Assifmi Goita, jihadis Organizations: Malian, Peace, Security, Development, Analysts, Staff, Islamic, colonizer Locations: BAMAKO, Mali, Kidal, Anefis, Malian, Azawad, West, colonizer France

"The public in West African countries has become increasingly wary of hosting a Western military presence," said Mucahid Durmaz, a senior analyst at London-based risk firm Verisk Maplecroft. "The French exit from Niger will push Western troops further away from the central Sahel." The U.S. has refused to call the Niger takeover a coup, meaning it can avoid severing ties for now. Unlike France, American forces do not actively engage with Niger forces against Islamist militants and could be open to working within a transition to civilian rule. Tens of thousands of people gathered outside the French military base in the capital calling for the troops' departure.

Persons: Mahamadou, Mucahid Durmaz, Verisk, Emmanuel Macron, Russia's, Washington's, Defence Lloyd Austin, Washington, Nathaniel Powell, Joe Biden, Macron, Aissami Tchiroma, It's, Oxford Analytica, Paris, Jalel Harchaoui, John Irish, Edward McAllister, Abdel, Kader Mazou, Andrew Gray, George Obulutsa, Andrew Heavens Organizations: French Army, REUTERS, London, Russia's Wagner, Defence, Oxford, Protesters, France, Military, Royal United Services Institute, Thomson Locations: France, Nigerien, Niamey, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger PARIS, DAKAR, West Africa, West, Russia, United States, Libya, The U.S, Nairobi, American, West African, Afghanistan, AFRICA, French, Africa, It's, CHAD, GUINEA France, Chad, Paris, Sahel, Europe, Ukraine, Italy, Germany, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Gabon, London, Brussels

☆ A sneaky move at a Kremlin meeting may show why Putin took his time in eliminating Prigozhin
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-17 | by ( Paul Iddon | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

If so, the process of removing Prigozhin may have begun at a Kremlin meeting days after his uprising. On June 29, five days after the rebellion was called off, Putin gathered Prigozhin and his commanders in the Kremlin, according to a report in the Russian outlet Kommersant. "Reports of the meeting — and the lack of notable cases of dissension following Prigozhin's death — suggest that the meeting likely achieved its goals," Orr said. Chekalov, a senior deputy to Prigozhin, oversaw logistics, coordinating numerous Wagner activities and operations in Libya and Syria. ALEXEY DANICHEV/POOL/AFP via Getty ImagesUnder Prigozhin, Wagner amassed a business empire using lucrative concessions from governments and backers in the countries where it operated.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Wagner, Prigozhin, Alexei Troshev, nodded affirmatively, Matthew Orr, RANE, Orr, Dmitry Utkin, Valery Chekalov, Anton Mardasov, Mardasov, ALEXEY DANICHEV, Prigozhin's, Pavel Organizations: Service, Wagner Group, Kommersant, Reuters, French Army, Associated Press, Russia's Ministry of Defense, PMC Convoy, PMC Redut, Russian, Ministry of Defense, Getty, Belarusian Defence Ministry, Wagner PMC, SVR Locations: Wall, Silicon, Moscow, Russian, Tver, Eurasia, Prigozhin, Libya, Syria, Mali, Africa, East, Russia, Belarus, St . Petersburg, Saharan Africa, Ukraine, Osipovichi

☆ Factbox: Military interventions by West African ECOWAS bloc
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The main regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has imposed sanctions and said it could authorise the use of force as a last resort if soldiers do not restore ousted president Mohammed Bazoum to power. Below are previous ECOWAS military interventions:LIBERIAIn 1990, West African leaders sent a neutral military force to Liberia to intervene in the civil war between the forces of President Samuel Doe and two rebel factions. West African forces were deployed again at the tail end of the brutal 14-year conflict, which finished in 2003. GUINEA-BISSAUIn 1999, ECOWAS sent around 600 ECOMOG troops to preserve a peace deal in coup-prone Guinea-Bissau. In 2004, they were integrated into a U.N. peacekeeping force.

Persons: Abdourahmane Tiani, Balima, Mohammed Bazoum, Samuel Doe, Charles Taylor, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, Yahya Jammeh, Adama Barrow, Anait Miridzhanian, Alessandra Prentice, Kevin Liffey Organizations: REUTERS, Economic, West African States, ECOWAS, West, ECOWAS Monitoring, Human Rights Watch, Bissau . Rebels, Islamic, Restore, Thomson Locations: Niger, Niamey, LIBERIA, Liberia, SIERRA LEONE, Nigerian, Sierra, Freetown, GUINEA, BISSAU, Guinea, Bissau, IVORY, Ivory Coast, MALI, Mali, al Qaeda, Central, Northern Mali, Islamic State, Burkina Faso, GAMBIA, Gambia, Senegal

The planned end of the MINUSMA mission follows years of tensions between the U.N. and Mali's military junta that came to a head this month when Mali Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop asked the force to leave "without delay". The U.N. mission is credited with playing a vital role in protecting civilians against an Islamist insurgency that has killed thousands. Under the draft text, MINUSMA would have until Dec. 31 to undertake an "orderly and safe" withdrawal, which the Security Council would review by Oct. 30. A UN peacekeeping spokesperson said: "Subject to the decision of the Security Council, the United Nations is ready to work with the Malian authorities on an exit plan for MINUSMA." The U.N. had been expected to extend its mandate for another year this month, before Mali asked it to leave.

Persons: Adama Diarra, Abdoulaye Diop, Russia's Wagner, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, MINUSMA, David Lewis, Edward McAllister, Michelle Nichols, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: UN, United Nations, Reuters, Mali Foreign, Security Council, Thomson Locations: Kouroume, Mali, Kourome, Timbuktu, Mali Mali, NAIROBI, DAKAR, Mali's, Russia, Belarus, China, United States, Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, al Qaeda, West Africa, Gao, Algiers Accords

The U.N. mission is credited with playing a vital role in protecting civilians against an Islamist insurgency that has killed thousands. "The Security Council ... decides to terminate MINUSMA's mandate as of June 30 2023," said the draft resolution circulated among council member states last week. A draft resolution could still be changed before publication, but two of the sources said they expected no changes to be made. The 15-member Security Council is due to vote on Thursday. Under the draft resolution, operations would be pared down to providing security to U.N. personnel, facilities and convoys.

Persons: Adama Diarra, Abdoulaye Diop, Russia's Wagner, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, MINUSMA, Moscow's, David Lewis, Edward McAllister, Michelle Nichols Organizations: UN, United Nations, Reuters, Mali Foreign, Security, Security Council, Thomson Locations: Kouroume, Mali, Kourome, Timbuktu, Mali Mali, NAIROBI, DAKAR, France, Mali's, Russia, Belarus, China, United States, Britain, Germany, Sweden, al Qaeda, West Africa, Gao, Algiers Accords

☆ The Kremlin spent over $1 billion on Wagner's mercenary army just to see them capture a destroyed city and then turn around and invade Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Vladimir Putin revealed that the Kremlin spent over $1 billion on the Wagner Group over the past year. The Moscow-funded mercenaries spent months capturing one almost totally destroyed city in Ukraine. Servicemen of the Wagner Group military company guard an area at the headquarters of the Southern Military District in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, Saturday, June 24, 2023. Private military companies like the Wagner Group are technically illegal in Russia. The potential for significant bloodshed was averted, but not before the Kremlin-financed Wagner Group managed to down several Russian aircraft and kill the pilots.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, —, Wagner, Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Mark Milley, Prigozhin, Alexander Lukashenko, they'd, Antony Blinken, they've Organizations: Kremlin, Wagner Group, Service, Defense Ministry, Southern Military District, Private, Bakhmut, French Army, AP, Joint Chiefs, Staff, Reuters, Saturday, CBS News Locations: Moscow, Ukraine, Russia, Bakhmut, Concord, Rostov, Don, Africa, East, Donetsk, Mali, Belarus, Kyiv

And it has also helped to placate Tuareg-led rebels in northern Mali who halted their separatist uprising with the 2015 Algiers Accord. Mali, Russia and Wagner deny wrongdoing in Moura or targeting civilians anywhere in Mali. RESTRICTIONSMINUSMA launched in 2013 after the separatist rebels and al Qaeda-linked insurgents occupied northern Mali. Bamako and the Kremlin say Russian troops, not Wagner mercenaries, are present in Mali but only to train the army and supply equipment. As a result, MINUSMA has struggled to counter a tide of anti-U.N. posts online, losing the battle for public opinion in Mali.

Persons: Wagner, Ahmedou Ould, Abdallah, MINUSMA, General Antonio Guterres, Abdoulaye Diop, U.N, Fatoumata Sinkoun Kaba, Souleymane Dembelé, Ulf Laessing, Konrad Adenauer, Ould Mohamed Ramdane, Ramdane, Yvan Guichaoua, Friedrich, Ebert, Edward McAllister, David Lewis, Tiemoko Diallo, Daniel Flynn Organizations: Wagner Group, Islamic, CMA, Malian Foreign, Security, Reuters, El, Kremlin, French, Department of Peace, UN, U.S, Thomson Locations: DAKAR, NAIROBI, Russian, West Africa, Gao, Timbuktu, Mali, Algiers, Bamako, Islamic State, al Qaeda, Mauritanian, Sahel, Moura, Russia, U.N, Burkina Faso, Niger, Central African Republic, United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, France, Egypt, Brussels, U.S, Dakar, Nairobi

☆ One U.N. peacekeeper killed and four injured in north Mali attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DAKAR, June 9 (Reuters) - At least one United Nations peacekeeper was killed and four others seriously injured when their patrol was attacked in northern Mali on Friday, the peacekeeping mission MINUSMA said. MINUSMA said on Twitter the patrol first encountered an improvised explosive device and was then hit with a direct fire attack. It did not name perpetrators but said it was a "complex attack" and that updates on casualties would follow. Islamist militants, some with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State, have been waging an insurgency in northern Mali since they hijacked a Tuareg rebellion in 2012. At least 303 MINUSMA personnel have been killed in hostile acts in Mali since the start of the mission in 2013, making it the deadliest U.N. peacekeeping mission in the world.

Persons: MINUSMA, Sofia Christensen, Toby Chopra, Sriraj Organizations: United Nations peacekeeper, Twitter, Islamic, United Nations, Thomson Locations: DAKAR, Mali, Ber, Tombouctou, al Qaeda, Islamic State, Sahel

☆ Mali threatens to defend against French sovereignty violations
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Its relations with Mali have soured since an August 2020 coup and it is withdrawing troops sent in 2013 to help fight the insurgency. France's representative denied the "defamatory" accusations, defended its intervention in Mali as fully transparent and said the country had never violated any airspace. Other European countries have ended their military involvement in Mali this year, often citing the junta's collaboration with Russian fighters. Islamist militants have since advanced further into eastern Mali, seizing territory and killing hundreds of civilians as thousands more fled. Mali has faced instability since 2012, when Islamist militants hijacked a Tuareg rebellion in the north.

☆ Death toll rises to four U.N. peacekeepers killed in Mali attack
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

DAKAR, Oct 18 (Reuters) - A United Nations peacekeeper has succumbed to injuries sustained in an attack in northern Mali on Monday, bringing the death toll to four, the U.N. mission in Mali said on Tuesday. The United Nations had previously said three peacekeepers were killed and three others seriously injured when their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in the northern region of Kidal. read moreIslamist militants, some with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State, have been waging an insurgency in northern Mali for the last decade. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Nellie Peyton Editing by Alexander WinningOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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