city Bamako: Latest News

BAMAKO – A Malian woman has given birth to nine babies after only expecting seven, Mali’s Ministry of Health said Wednesday.

Peacekeeping troops of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) on Thursday, the 16th of February 2023, formally presented a military salute and bid farewell to the late Lance Corporal M.G.L Deshapriya (42) of the 6 Sri Lanka Army Service Corps who had passed away on 11 February 2023 following a sudden cardiac arrest upon admission to the MINUSMA Bamako Level – 3 Hospital.                In conformity with UN traditions, MINUSMA troops presented a salute lowering flags and honoured their comrade during the formal military parade before floral tributes were made to the coffin, draped in the UN flag by Ms Daniela Kroslak, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) and Deputy Chief of MINUSMA Operations in the presence of a gathering of MINUSMA  Officers and Other Ranks, including the Commanding Officer of the Sri Lankan Combat Convoy Company (CCC) of the MINUSMA.

In recent days, Mali kicked off a campaign to vaccinate people displaced by ethnic violence, and the Seychelles unpacked a consignment of electronic tablets to help with data management for the country’s COVID-19 response.

BAMAKO – Mali's opposition leader Soumaila Cisse, who was held hostage for six months earlier this year by jihadists and was considered a leading contender in 2022 elections, has died in Paris, his family said Friday.Cissé, 71, died after contracting COVID-19, his eldest son Bocar told The Associated Press.“The doctors did everything to keep him alive, but that’s the way of God’s will,” he said.The news throws Malian politics into new uncertainty. Cissé was the runner-up in the past three presidential elections and many thought he had the best chances of finally winning in 2022.He was taken hostage by jihadists in March while campaigning for legislative elections in his hometown of Niafunke in northern Mali.

BAMAKO – Mali’s former president Amadou Toumani Toure has died at the age of 72. Senegalese President Macky Sall on Tuesday confirmed the death of the former leader on Twitter.

BAMAKO – Malian politician Soumaila Cisse's captors kept hostages constantly on the move in the inhospitable desert, he told French television, describing his six months with al-Qaida-linked militants as “near permanent physical and moral isolation.”His interview with TV5 Monde came as Swiss authorities confirmed that another hostage held by the same group was dead.The militants freed Cisse in the past week along with French hostage Sophie Petronin and Italians Nicola Chiacchio and the Rev.

BAMAKO – French humanitarian worker Sophie Petronin said early Friday she had been treated relatively well during her nearly four years in captivity at the hands of Islamic militants, as she and three other newly released hostages celebrated reunions with loved ones.Her account to French broadcasters overnight came as fellow ex-hostage Soumaila Cisse recounted months of arduous conditions before a precarious trip to their extraction point, arriving in Mali's capital 48 hours after first being released.“I hung on — I prayed a lot because I had a lot of time,” the 75-year-old Petronin told reporters at the French Embassy in Bamako before boarding a flight to France with her son.“But I transformed detention ...

BAMAKO – Relatives and supporters on Wednesday awaited the return of a prominent Malian politician and a French aid worker released by Islamic extremists, as concerns deepened about the potential fallout from the freeing of nearly 200 extremists in an apparent exchange.Family members of Soumaila Cisse and Sophie Petronin indicated Tuesday that they had been notified of their release, though there was no official confirmation from the Malian or French governments.

BAMAKO – Islamic extremists have freed prominent Malian politician Soumaila Cisse after holding him hostage for more than six months, as well as a French aid worker who was kidnapped in 2016, a Malian official said Tuesday.The 70-year-old Cisse boarded a plane in northern Mali along with Sophie Petronin, the official said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists. The flight departing from Tessalit was headed to Gao and then the capital, Bamako.There was no immediate comment from the French or Malian governments.Speculation about a prisoner exchange had heightened in recent days after the government freed about 180 Islamic extremists over the weekend and put them on a plane to the north.

BAMAKO – Malian authorities have released 180 Islamic extremists from a prison in the capital and flown them to the country's north, an official confirmed late Sunday, fueling speculation that a prominent opposition politician held by jihadists could soon be freed after more than six months in captivity.The militants who abducted Soumaila Cisse back in late March were believed to be seeking a prisoner exchange with the Malian government.

BAMAKO – Mali’s transitional president appointed former minister of foreign affairs, Moctar Ouane, on Sunday as the West African nation’s prime minister days after being sworn into office.The appointment of a civilian prime minister was a major condition imposed by the West African regional economic bloc, ECOWAS, on Mali to lift sanctions that were imposed after an Aug. 18 coup.

BAMAKO – Divisions deepened between Mali's military coup leaders and the country's political opposition movement on Sunday after the ruling junta announced a plan that would allow a military leader to oversee an 18-month transitional period.While the two sides initially were united in wanting the departure of former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, their paths have increasingly diverged since he was deposed in an Aug.

BAMAKO – BAMAKO, MaliFrench forces have killed Abdelmalek Droukdel, the leader of al-Qaida’s North Africa affiliate, the France’s defense minister announced late Friday, in what would be a major victory for France after years of battling jihadists in the Sahel.There was no immediate confirmation of his death from al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, known as AQIM, which has made millions of dollars abducting foreigners for ransom over the years and made large swaths of West Africa too dangerous for aid groups to access.French Defense Minister Florence Parly tweeted that Droukdel and several of his allies were killed Wednesday in northern Mali by French forces and their partners.

The Covid-19 coronavirus has taken a massive toll on the global music industry. Many artists have announced that they will be delaying the release of their upcoming records – and it’s proven to be true in the local landscape as well. Simphiwe Dana is the latest musician to delay the release of her new album ‘Bamako’ due to the virus.