Mali Violence

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  Mali Declares 3-Month State Of Emergency As Islamist Violence Surges

  Mali declared a state of emergency for three months on Wednesday, the council of ministers said, after a spate of attacks by armed groups killed dozens and destabilised the vast desert country still reeling from an Islamist insurgency.

• UN Calls for Immediate End to Violence in Mali: Report

  UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon has urged the immediate cessation of the renewed violence in northern Mali, which threatens to destabilise the country again.

• Mali: French troops begin withdrawal from Timbuktu

  French troops began to withdraw from Timbuktu Thursday after securing the fabled city as they ramped up their mission in another northern Mali city, searching for Islamic extremists who may be mixing among the local population.

• French troops to quit Timbuktu this week

  French airstrikes targeted the fuel depots and desert hideouts of Islamic extremists in northern Mali overnight on Monday, as a military spokeswoman said that French forces plan to hand control of Timbuktu to the Malian army this week.

• French-led troops seize Timbuktu, concern over manuscripts

  French-led forces on Monday seized Mali's fabled desert city of Timbuktu in a lightning advance north as fleeing Islamists torched a building housing priceless ancient manuscripts.

• Some Algeria hostages made to wear explosives: French TV

  Islamist militants holding dozens of Western hostages at a gas plant in Algeria have forced some to wear belts strapped with explosives, French television said on Thursday, quoting one of the hostages.

• France launches ground campaign against Mali rebels

  French troops launched their first ground assault against Islamist rebels in Mali on Wednesday in a broadening of their operation against battle-hardened al Qaeda-linked fighters who have resisted six days of air strikes.

• France to stay in Mali until stability restored

  France pledged on Tuesday to keep troops in Mali until stability returned to the West African country, raising the spectre of a long campaign against al Qaeda-linked rebels who held their ground despite a fifth day of air strikes.

• Mali rebels make gains, vow to avenge French bombs

  Despite a punishing bombardment by French warplanes, al Qaeda-linked insurgents grabbed more territory in Mali on Monday, seizing a strategic military camp that brought them far closer to the government's seat of power.

• French jets bomb major Malian city in north

  French fighter jets bombed rebel targets in a major city in Mali's north Sunday, pounding the airport as well as training camps, warehouses and buildings used by the al Qaeda-linked Islamists controlling the area, officials and residents said.