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☆ Spike in Russian flights from Syria to Libyan desert base as Moscow eyes new Mediterranean hub
▼ + stars: | 2024-12-31 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | Tim Lister | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —In the weeks since Bashar al-Assad was ousted as Syrian leader, Russia has launched multiple flights to an airbase in the Libyan desert. Now the conflict-riven North African nation of Libya is central to Russian efforts to project power into the Mediterranean. CNN saw imagery of these systems waiting to be flown out of Syria shortly before the Russian flights started. A Russian Ilyushin Il-76MD plane flies over Moscow during a rehearsal for the Victory Day parade in May 2022. The flights are not consistent with the previous pattern of Russian Africa Corps rotations to Bamako, it added.

Persons: Bashar al, Assad, Antonov, Sefa, Hmeimim, Harchaoui, Khadim, Wagner, Khalifa Haftar, Yunus, Bek Yevkurov, Guido Crosetto, ”, Luciano Portolano, ” Harchaoui, Haftar, Ulf Laessing, Konrad Adenauer, Laessing, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, It’s, Ahmed al, Sharaa, ” Laessing, Vladimir Putin Organizations: CNN, IL, Royal United Services Institute, Africa –, Central African, American Enterprise, Africa Corps, Maxar, NATO, Italian, Tripoli –, Haftar’s United, Maxar Technologies, Tartus Locations: Russia, Libyan, Africa, Libya, Hmeimim, Benghazi, Syria, Russian, Moscow, Anadolu, London, Belarus, Central African Republic, Sudan, Mali, Burkina Faso, al, Bamako, Russian Africa, Tartus, Khadim, Tripoli, Haftar’s United Nations, Tobruk, Ukraine, “ Russia, Turkey, Niger

☆ Mali in meltdown as militants advance and U.N. withdraws
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Edward Mcallister | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/5] A man walks toward Sankore mosque, also known as the former University of Sankore, in Timbuktu, Mali September 25, 2023. "This conflict is escalating fast," said Ulf Laessing, the Bamako-based head of the Sahel programme at the Konrad Adenauer foundation. Back in 2012, French forces and the U.N. intervened to halt the advance in Mali. In Mali, fighting began in August between the army and an ethnic Tuareg group called the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) around a base vacated by the U.N. "The problem is Mali has too few troops and too little mobility," said Michael Shurkin, director of global programs at 14 North Strategies consultancy.

Persons: Stringer, Sory Touré, jihadists, Ulf Laessing, Konrad Adenauer, Russia's Wagner, Jama'at Nusrat al, Michael Shurkin, Iyad Ag, Shurkin, Mohamed Massaya, Salaha, Aicha Sababou, Edward McAllister, Alexandra Zavis, Edmund Blair Organizations: University of Sankore, REUTERS, U.N, United Nations, Islamic, Reuters Graphics, CMA, Ghali, Transitional Council, Reuters, Authorities, Thomson Locations: Sankore, Timbuktu, Mali, DAKAR, jihadists, al Qaeda, Islamic State, West, Burkina Faso, Niger, Bamako, France, U.S, Sahara, Benin, Togo, Ivory Coast, Al Qaeda, Gao, Dakar

☆ Niger coup leaders blamed insecurity; conflict data paints a different picture
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Edward Mcallister | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

In Burkina Faso, where there were two coups last year, deaths rose 80% to more than 4,000 in 2022. Military spokespeople in Mali and Burkina Faso did not respond to requests for comment. Military leaders in Mali and Burkina Faso kicked out French forces after their coups. Niger army operations could falter, he said. "You saw it in Burkina Faso after the second coup.

Persons: Abdourahmane Tiani, Balima, Mohamed Bazoum, Ibrahim Yahaya Ibrahim, Wagner, Leonardo Santos Simao, Tiani, Simao, Bazoum, Ulf Laessing, Konrad Adenauer, Edward McAllister, Michelle Nichols, Alexandra Zavis, Giles Elgood Organizations: REUTERS, Security, Islamic, Crisis, Wagner Group, Reuters, spokespeople, United Nations, Economic, West, Sunday, Local, Military, Burkina Faso, European Union, Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Thomson Locations: Niger, Niamey, DAKAR, U.S, Mali, Burkina Faso, al Qaeda, Islamic State, West Africa's, Brussels, Boko, Nigeria, West Africa, West African States, Burkina, French, France, New York

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

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