Mali Violence

Forty people, including nine soldiers, have been killed in a spate of attacks in central Mali, authorities said Friday, with most of the deaths caused by inter-ethnic violence in the deeply troubled region.

Eighteen UN troops and two civilians were wounded Thursday in a mortar attack on a military base in northern Mali, a UN official said, in fresh violence in the war-torn West African country.

After a long night of drinking in Mali's capital, two Navy SEALs and two Marine Raiders smashed their way into Army Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar's room with a sledgehammer.

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.

Pushing back against efforts to bar Syrian refugees from resettling in the US, President Barack Obama vowed Saturday that his country will be a welcoming place for millions fleeing violence around the world "as long as I'm president."

Five people including two Europeans and a Malian policeman died in an assault on a Bamako nightclub today, the first attack targeting Westerners in a city braced for jihadist violence since 2012.

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.

Almost two million people are displaced in Darfur, the United Nation's top official in Sudan said on Monday, giving a new figure for the region where violence has worsened this year.

Mali risks descending into "catastrophic" violence, the UN rights chief has warned, after a string of attacks by Islamist rebels increased the pressure on French-led forces in the West African nation.

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 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 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.

Algerian helicopters and special forces stormed a gas plant in the stony plains of the Sahara on Thursday to wipe out Islamist militants and free hostages from at least 10 countries. Bloody chaos ensued, leaving the fate of the fighters and many of the captives uncertain.

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.

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.

Forty people, including nine soldiers, have been killed in a spate of attacks in central Mali, authorities said Friday, with most of the deaths caused by inter-ethnic violence in the deeply troubled region.

Eighteen UN troops and two civilians were wounded Thursday in a mortar attack on a military base in northern Mali, a UN official said, in fresh violence in the war-torn West African country.

After a long night of drinking in Mali's capital, two Navy SEALs and two Marine Raiders smashed their way into Army Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar's room with a sledgehammer.

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.

Pushing back against efforts to bar Syrian refugees from resettling in the US, President Barack Obama vowed Saturday that his country will be a welcoming place for millions fleeing violence around the world "as long as I'm president."

Five people including two Europeans and a Malian policeman died in an assault on a Bamako nightclub today, the first attack targeting Westerners in a city braced for jihadist violence since 2012.

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.

Almost two million people are displaced in Darfur, the United Nation's top official in Sudan said on Monday, giving a new figure for the region where violence has worsened this year.

Mali risks descending into "catastrophic" violence, the UN rights chief has warned, after a string of attacks by Islamist rebels increased the pressure on French-led forces in the West African nation.

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 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 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.

Algerian helicopters and special forces stormed a gas plant in the stony plains of the Sahara on Thursday to wipe out Islamist militants and free hostages from at least 10 countries. Bloody chaos ensued, leaving the fate of the fighters and many of the captives uncertain.

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.

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.