ESG Telegraph
  • Home
  • Latest News
  • Environment
  • Companies
  • Investors
  • Governance
  • Markets
  • Social
  • Regulators
  • Sustainable Finance
Featured Posts
    • Companies
    London’s ‘magic circle’ law firms make renewed bid to crack US
    • August 9, 2022
    • Markets
    Fed help isn’t coming | Financial Times
    • August 9, 2022
    • Latest News
    News Corp profits almost double as subscriptions drive post-pandemic recovery
    • August 9, 2022
    • Companies
    FirstFT: Rishi Sunak promises to ease cost of living crisis
    • August 9, 2022
    • Latest News
    Investors divided over how long Big Tech rally will last
    • August 9, 2022
Featured Categories
Belarussia
View Posts
Companies
View Posts
Energy
View Posts
Environment
View Posts
Food
View Posts
Governance
View Posts
Health
View Posts
Investors
View Posts
Latest News
View Posts
Markets
View Posts
Potash
View Posts
Regulators
View Posts
Russsia
View Posts
Social
View Posts
Supply Chain
View Posts
Sustainable Finance
View Posts
Technology
View Posts
Uncategorized
View Posts
ESG Telegraph ESG Telegraph
7K
9K
4K
1K
ESG Telegraph ESG Telegraph
  • Home
  • Latest News
  • Environment
  • Companies
  • Investors
  • Governance
  • Markets
  • Social
  • Regulators
  • Sustainable Finance
  • Latest News

Mali coup forces France to reorganise anti-terror operations in west Africa

  • February 15, 2022
  • Staff
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0

France is to reorganise its counter-terrorism operation in west Africa, according to foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, in the wake of a coup d’état in Mali and the arrival of Russian mercenaries to support the junta.

“We are going to reorganise to ensure the continuation of the fight against terrorism,” he told France 5 television late on Monday, adding that President Emmanuel Macron wanted forces to be redeployed but to remain in the west African Sahel region.

“If the conditions are no longer there for us to operate in Mali — and that is clearly the case — we’ll continue to fight terrorism next door with the Sahel countries which definitely want us to do so,” Le Drian said, although he stopped short of announcing an immediate full withdrawal.

Isis and al-Qaeda-linked groups control large parts of central and northern Mali, which jihadis briefly captured in late 2012, prompting a French military intervention that has become increasingly unpopular as violence has spread across the country and into neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso. Thousands have been killed and millions displaced across the Sahel.

Relations between Paris and Bamako have deteriorated sharply since Assimi Goita led a coup that overthrew the democratically elected government in August 2020 and then seized complete control in a second coup in May 2021, ousting interim civilian leaders who were seen as close to France.

Macron announced in July last year that France would halve its 5,000-strong force fighting Islamists in the Sahel as part of his attempt to avoid “infinite war” in the region.

Mali’s rulers have criticised the French drawdown as “abandonment” but at the same time been highly critical of France and a multinational special forces group called Takuba — set up by Paris to pursue the war against insurgents — for infringing its sovereignty.

Mali’s west African neighbours and the EU imposed severe economic sanctions on the country after the interim government proposed holding on to power until elections in 2025.

Denmark began withdrawing its special forces last month after being ordered to do so by Mali, and all western military operations in Mali are now in doubt.

Le Drian said there were now 1,000 mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner group in Mali, a country “run today by five colonels who have taken power”. He said: “It’s the junta that has cut itself off and lost the plot and which must accept the consequences.” Wagner mercenaries have been accused by the UN of gross human rights abuses and possible war crimes in Libya and the Central African Republic.

Mali’s August coup was the first in a string of putsches across west and central Africa as soldiers seized power in Chad, Guinea and Burkina Faso.

Additional reporting by Neil Munshi in Lagos

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
You May Also Like
Read More
  • Latest News

News Corp profits almost double as subscriptions drive post-pandemic recovery

  • Staff
  • August 9, 2022
Read More
  • Latest News

Investors divided over how long Big Tech rally will last

  • Staff
  • August 9, 2022
Read More
  • Latest News

Tech sector tax windfall shores up Ireland’s economy against recession

  • Staff
  • August 9, 2022
Read More
  • Latest News

Embattled Trump fans dig in at Michigan county fair

  • Staff
  • August 9, 2022
Read More
  • Latest News

Demography is not destiny | Financial Times

  • Staff
  • August 9, 2022
Read More
  • Latest News

Xi Jinping grasps ‘knife’ of internal security to complete grip on power

  • Staff
  • August 9, 2022
Read More
  • Latest News

Trump says FBI agents have raided his Mar-a-Lago residence

  • Staff
  • August 9, 2022
Read More
  • Latest News

Live news updates: Russia to suspend inspections of its nuclear weapons under treaty with US

  • Staff
  • August 8, 2022

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Featured Posts
  • 1
    London’s ‘magic circle’ law firms make renewed bid to crack US
    • August 9, 2022
  • 2
    Fed help isn’t coming | Financial Times
    • August 9, 2022
  • 3
    News Corp profits almost double as subscriptions drive post-pandemic recovery
    • August 9, 2022
  • 4
    FirstFT: Rishi Sunak promises to ease cost of living crisis
    • August 9, 2022
  • 5
    Investors divided over how long Big Tech rally will last
    • August 9, 2022
Recent Posts
  • First single-bond ETFs look set to revolutionise access to Treasuries
    • August 9, 2022
  • Tech sector tax windfall shores up Ireland’s economy against recession
    • August 9, 2022
  • We must regulate the exploitation of limited resources in space
    • August 9, 2022

Sign Up for Our Newsletters

Subscribe now to our newsletter

ESG Telegraph
  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Guest Post
  • Contact

Input your search keywords and press Enter.