Berlin has declared that the 1,100 German soldiers presently serving in Mali will leave by May 2024. As part of the UN peacekeeping mission MINUSMA, German troops have been stationed in the African nation for over ten years, to the growing chagrin of the Bamako administration. According to government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit, the deployment will get one last year-long extension request from... 

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... 

France has planned to keep a military presence in Mali beyond 2014, the country’s defense minister has announced. “Today, there are 3,700 French soldiers in Mali. We said, and the French president repeated it yesterday (Friday) that we will maintain our soldiers in Mali even after the end of this year,” Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Saturday. “It will be a limited number (of... 

French President Francois Hollande French President Francois Hollande has demanded that nationwide elections be held in July in the former colony of Mali, where a French-led war is raging. “These elections must take place throughout the Malian territory, I insist throughout the Malian territory. No fraction of Mali must be deprived of the possibility of organizing the election,” Hollande said on... 

French soldiers take up position on a street in Gao, Mali on April 13, 2013. France’s defense minister has reaffirmed that the country will keep 1,000 troops in Mali to fight armed groups even after the arrival of more than 12,000 UN peacekeepers later this year. A day after the UN Security Council authorized the deployment of the peacekeeping force, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian... 

France has withdrawn its first batch of 100 troops out of the 4,000 deployed in Mali as it prepares to hand over operations to a UN peacekeeping force, with 1,000 French troops to remain on the ground by the end of the year. However, fears are mounting that Mali will become a drawn-out war, spilling into other regions and fueling terrorism. France justified its January intervention into Mali as a... 

France’s intervention in northern Mali against Islamist extremists has disrupted the supply of cocaine to Europe, reported Middle East Online. In January, France sent in troops to combat al-Qaeda linked extremists who controlled the northern swathe of the country for nine months and were threatening to extend their reach southwards towards the capital Bamako. Extremist groups have long engaged in... 

The US military has deployed about 100 troops in Niger to help coordinate intelligence sharing with the French, whose forces are currently fighting to seize Islamist-controlled territory in Mali, President Obama announced Friday. The US forces are armed with “weapons for the purpose of providing their own force protection and security,” Obama said in a letter to Congress, adding that Niger officials... 

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.... 

French army troopers arrive at the base camp in Sevare, Mali, January 25, 2013. The French defense minister has vowed to hunt down local fighters in Mali as the France-led war continues in the West African nation. Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Wednesday that the fighters in Mali are still resisting despite an intensified offensive by French-led forces in the African country. “There were clashes... 

French army soldiers standing on armored vehicles as they leave Bamako and start their deployment to the north of Mali. France has reportedly imposed a media blackout on its invasion of Mali amid a growing war that rages on in the West African nation. On January 11, France launched the war under the pretext of halting the advance of fighters in Mali. However, as Paris has stepped up its ground offensive... 

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...