Mali

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — France’s president announced the death of Islamic State in the Greater Sahara’s leader late Wednesday, calling Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi’s killing “a major success” for the French military after more than eight years fighting extremists in the Sahel.

French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted that al-Sahrawi “was neutralized by French forces” but gave no further details. It was not announced where al-Sahrawi was killed, though the Islamic State group is active along the border between Mali and Niger.

BAMAKO, Aug 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Former Malian interim President Bah Ndaw and his prime minister, Moctar Ouane, have been freed from house arrest by the authorities who deposed them in May, a committee monitoring the post-coup transition has said.

Their detention by military officers in May marked Mali’s second coup since the overthrow of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita the previous August.

BAMAKO, Aug 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Three Malian soldiers were killed by an improvised explosive device as they were driving to an airport in the restive northeast, the country’s armed forces said.

  A military vehicle “en route to the airport in Menaka hit an improvised explosive device this Sunday,” the army said on Twitter.

BAMAKO, Aug 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A bus collided with a lorry killing 41 people and injuring 33 more during heavy rains in central MALI, the government said.

Transport Minister Dembele Madina Sissoko said the dead included a baby after the passenger bus collided with a lorry carrying agricultural produce near the town of Segou.

He stressed it was a provisional toll, and blamed bad weather.

Three of the injured were seriously hurt, Sissoko added.

BAMAKO, July 20 (Reuters) - Mali's interim President Assimi Goita was the target of an attempted stabbing attack during Eid al-Adha prayers at Bamako's Grand Mosque, the West African nation's presidency said in a statement on Twitter on Tuesday.

"The attacker was immediately overpowered by security. Investigations are ongoing," the presidency said.

Two military sources told Reuters that Goita was unharmed following the attack.

BAMAKO, June 25 (Reuters) - Fifteen U.N. peacekeepers, including several from Germany, were wounded in northern Mali on Friday in an attack on their camp involving a vehicle-borne explosive, the U.N. mission in Mali and the German military said.

The attack targeted a temporary base set up by the peacekeepers near the village of Ichagara in northern Gao region, where Islamist insurgents linked to Al Qaeda and Islamic State are active.

The wounded were being evacuated, the U.N. mission said in a post on Twitter without giving further details.

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Mali’s transitional president and prime minister will be released from detention gradually after resigning in the presence of international arbitrators who are in the West African nation to mediate the political crisis, the adviser to the military authority who detained the two leaders said late Wednesday.

The resignation by the leader of an 18-month civilian transitional government risks plunging the troubled nation into further instability.

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Mali’s transitional president and prime minister remain detained Tuesday after being taken by force to the military headquarters hours after a government reshuffle left out two members of the junta that had seized power in a coup nine months ago.

BAMAKO, Feb 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Mali’s government has created a body to open talks with Islamist militants whose insurgency has made vast portions of the country ungovernable, the interim prime minister said on Friday, in the face of objections by France.

A year ago ousted former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said his government was prepared to negotiate with al Qaeda-linked militants.

National talks in the aftermath of the August coup that overthrew Keita endorsed that policy.

BAMAKO, Nov 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — France is on the verge of cutting back its military presence in the volatile Sahel region to make room for reinforcements from other European countries, army sources said.

French troops first deployed to Mali in 2013 after an insurgency broke out in the country a year earlier.

Despite their presence, violence has spread to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

The conflict has killed thousands of soldiers and civilians and caused many more to flee their homes.