The Latest Breaking News from Mali

France on Thursday announced the withdrawal of its military mission in Mali, Operation Barkhane, after nine years of battling jihadists in the region. At the request of Malian authorities, France launched an intervention in January 2013 to oust Islamists who had taken over much of the north.

Mali has defaulted on more than 53.99 billion franc CFA ($93 million) in interest and principal payments since January due to regional sanctions, data from the West Africa monetary union's debt agency Umoa-Titres showed on Wednesday.

West Africa’s latest successful coup, in Burkina Faso on 24 January 2022, has renewed unease about coups “returning” and democracies “dying” in Africa. The recent attempt in Guinea-Bissau, too, recalled the first decades after independence, when coups were rampant.

Paris (AFP) - French President Emmanuel Macron this week will announce that French troops will be withdrawn from Mali and redeployed elsewhere in the Sahel following a breakdown in ties with the country's military regime, concurring sources say.

French President Emmanuel Macron will chair a top-level meeting at the Elysee Palace on Wednesday evening to discuss further steps regarding the country's military presence in Mali, said French government spokesman Gabriel Attal.

Germany sees no reason to keep its troops in Mali if the country delays presidential and legislative elections by four to five years, Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said in a statement on Tuesday.

European foreign ministers discuss the security situation in Mali ahead of this week's AU-EU summit. Also, one month after the re-opening of schools in Uganda, our correspondent takes a look at how children are faring after the world's longest Covid-related class closure. Students' access to education had been crippled for…

The conditions are no longer in place to continue the fight against Islamist militants in Mali and President Emmanuel Macron has asked to re-organise French troops in the region, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Monday.

Western foreign ministers will hold crunch talks on their countries' future presence fighting Islamist militants in Mali on Monday, four European sources said, with three saying regional and international leaders will also meet on Wednesday.