MALI  

Understanding the causes of violent extremism in West Africa

DAKAR, 10 May 2013 (IRIN) - Academics and government, military and civil society representatives gathered for a conference in the Senegalese capital this week to assess the interplay between development and violent extremism in West Africa, with some participants suggesting that underdevelopment, marginalization and weak governance create a breeding ground for militancy. full report

Little support, no justice for Mali rape survivors

 GAO/BAMAKO, 6 May 2013 (IRIN) - During the rebel takeover of northern Mali in April 2012, many women said they were subjected to rape or sexual assault. Since then, little or no support has come through for these women, say aid workers. full report

Plea for return of officials to northern Mali

 BAMAKO/GAO, 22 April 2013 (IRIN) - Residents in the northern Mali towns of Gao and Timbuktu are calling for the rapid return of officials to re-start basic services and help run their towns, which they say are in a state of “complete chaos”. full report

Briefing: Negotiating aid delivery in Mali’s conflict zones

 BAMAKO/MOPTI/DAKAR, 18 April 2013 (IRIN) - Aid agencies managed to work in northern Mali throughout its occupation by Islamist militants in 2012 and the new complications triggered by the French-led military campaign earlier this year. No single template guided their engagement. full report

Malian refugees face abject conditions, long displacement

 DAKAR, 17 April 2013 (IRIN) - Some 70,000 Malian refugees in Mauritania are facing enormous hardships and, as political and ethnic tensions persist back home, the prospect of a prolonged displacement. full report

Torture, beatings and death for detained Malians

 BAMAKO/GAO, 15 April 2013 (IRIN) - Hundreds of northern Malians - many of them ethnic Tuaregs - have been detained by the Malian army since the French military intervention to oust Islamist groups from northern Mali began in January 2013. Many of the detainees have complained they had no idea why they were captured and were not given access to lawyers; others alleged torture. full report

Moussa Ibrahim, detained in Mali: “They accused me of supporting the Islamists”

 BAMAKO/GAO, 15 April 2013 (IRIN) - Moussa Ibrahim is a 40-year-old ethnic Songhai restaurant owner in the Malian town of Timbuktu. He was arrested in February of this year on suspicion of supporting Islamist group Ansar Dine, which had taken over much of the region in 2012. full report

Hunger at crisis levels in northern Mali

 BAMAKO/SÉVARÉ, 12 April 2013 (IRIN) - Hunger in Mali has reached crisis levels in the northern Kidal Region and has reached critical levels in Gao and Timbuktu regions, according to food security agencies and the government’s early warning body. full report

Can Niger offer Mali lessons on the Tuareg?

 NIAMEY, 11 April 2013 (IRIN) - The conflict that erupted in Mali in early 2012 brought to the surface a long history of rebellions and autonomy demands by the Tuareg. But the Tuareg in neighbouring Niger appear to have more stable ties with the government there. Does Niger’s experience hold any lessons for Bamako? full report

Mounting crisis for conflict-hit northern Mali pastoralists

 MOPTI/BAMAKO, 8 April 2013 (IRIN) - Ongoing fighting and the fear of reprisal killings has severely disrupted normal migration patterns for pastoralists in northern Mali, putting them and their families in danger of severe food insecurity and poverty as the lean season approaches. full report

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