Malian armed forces have put an end to a hostage-taking drama at a hotel in the center of the country that left 13 people dead. The military operation at the Hotel Byblos in the town of Sevare “has ended and the hotel has been cleared,” a military source said on Saturday of the standoff that started a day earlier. Lt. Col. Diarran Kone, Mali’s Defense Ministry adviser, said that... 

French soldiers patrol an area in the city of Gao, Mali, February 13, 2013. The head of Russia’s arms export agency says Moscow has delivered a consignment of arms to Mali and may send more weapons amid the ongoing French-led war on the African country. Anatoly Isaikin, the director of Rosoboronexport, said on Wednesday, “We have provided firearms, and the last delivery was made two weeks ago.... 

France is planning to triple the number of its soldiers fighting anti-government militants in the West African nation of Mali. “There will be a gradual build-up [in the number of French troops in Mali] to a figure of 2,500,” said a source close to Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Tuesday. The announcement of France’s plans to increase the number of troops in Mali comes after French... 

Armed men patrol the streets of a city in northern Mali. France’s foreign minister says the US and Britain are providing support for the French-led military intervention in Mali amid clashes in the West African country. Laurent Fabius made the announcement on Sunday, saying “We have the support of the Americans for communications and transport.” The minister added that Britain, Denmark,... 

Tuareg rebels in northern Mali The United Nations Security Council has approved foreign military intervention in Mali to help the Malian government battle the militants controlling the northern part of the West African country. On Thursday, the 15-member council authorized an initial one-year-long deployment of African Union forces in the country. The resolution, drafted by France, also authorized... 

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika (R) and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton brief the press following a meeting at the Mouradia Palace, Algiers, October 29, 2012. The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has met with Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to pressure his country to lend support to a potential military intervention in northern Mali. Clinton paid a one-day visit to the... 

Thousands of Malians gather in front of the presidential compound in Bamako on May 21, 2012. Protesters have attacked interim Malian President Diancounda Traore, beating and bruising the 70-year-old leader at his office in Bamako. The mobs, who were angry at Traore’s appointment in a deal reached with the junta, dodged security and burst into his office and beat him on Monday, AFP reported. “The... 

Leader of the recent military coup d’état in Mali Amadou Haya Sanogo (C) among his fellow soldiers in the capital city of Bamako, March 22, 2012 Tuareg rebels say they have gained control of Mali’s strategically important town of Timbuktu in the north as the coup leader pledges to bring back order to the country. The rebels announced in a statement that they have “control of the entire region”...