Tag: Gao

Mali Islamist to pay millions in compensation for damaged mausoleums, but nothing for churches

August 18, 2017 Mali Bamako, Gao, International Criminal Court, Mali, Timbuktu

The International Criminal Court has ordered an Islamist leader to pay 2.7m euros ($3.1m) for the destruction of mausoleums in Mali’s northern city of Timbuktu. Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi pleaded guilty to ordering the destruction of the historic shrines at the World Heritage Site during the occupation of northern Mali by . . . Read More

Kidnapped missionaries appear in video posted by jihadist groups in Africa’s Sahel

July 3, 2017 Mali Al-Mourabitoun, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Ansar Dine, Beatrice Stockly, France, Gao, Gloria Argoti, Ken Elliott, Sahel, Timbuktu

A coalition of jihadist groups affiliated to Al-Qaeda released a video showing six foreign hostages, including three missionaries, just hours before France president Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Mali, where France agreed to help support anti-terrorist efforts in the Sahel. According to the US-based monitoring group SITE, the undated 16’50” footage . . . Read More

Mali: 2 months on, still no news of kidnapped nun

April 12, 2017 Mali Bamako, Beatrice Stockly, Gao, Gloria Argoti, Kidnapping, Mali, Timbuktu

It’s been more than two months since a Colombian nun was kidnapped in southern Mali, a relatively safe part of the country, which has been mainly unaffected by Islamist attacks. Gloria Argoti, in her sixties, was kidnapped on 7 Feb, when assailants broke into her convent in Karangasso, 300km from . . . Read More

Colombian nun kidnapped in southern Mali

February 8, 2017 Mali Bamako, Beatrice Stockly, Gao, Gloria Argoti, Kidal, Timbuktu, Tuareg

Children play by a bullet-riddled police station in Gao, Mali. August 28, 2013.UN Photo / Marco Dormino A Colombian nun was kidnapped by armed men last night (7 Feb) in southern Mali, a relatively safe part of the country, which has been mainly unaffected by Islamist attacks. Gloria Argoti . . . Read More

Three killed outside ‘Christian’ radio station in Mali

December 18, 2015 Mali Bamako, Gao, Timbuktu, Tuareg

The main entrance to Tahanint radio station in Timbuktu, Mali.World Watch Monitor Three men were killed when an unidentified gunman opened fire outside a Christian radio station in Mali last night (17 December). Hamar Oumar Dicko and Samuel Dicko worked for the station; Abdal Malick Ag Alher was a . . . Read More

As UN targeted by Islamists in Mali, Bishops urge renewed peace efforts

October 9, 2014 Mali Ansar Dine, Bamako, Gao, Kidal, Mali, MNLA, MUJAO, Timbuktu, UN

The UN Mission in Mali honors nine Nigerien peacekeepers killed on 3 October 2014.UN Photo/Marco Dormino While the world’s attention is fixed on IS in Syria and Iraq, it’s easy to forget that last year, French troops were rushed to Mali to prevent a jihadist-influenced coup that threatened to . . . Read More

Islamists want to ‘wipe out’ Christian presence in northern Mali

September 2, 2014 Mali Africa, Bamako, Gao, Islamic extremism, Mali, Sahel, Timbuktu, Tuareg

It’s not only in the Middle East that the advance of Islamist jihadists is exercising the international community. While attention has been focused on northern Iraq and Syria, the French government has been bombing Islamist militant positions in Africa to stop the emergence of jihadists in the Sahel. Now on . . . Read More

Renewed fighting in Mali revives Christian anxieties

May 30, 2014 Mali African Union, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Bamako, Burkina Faso, Gao, Kidal, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Timbuktu, Tuareg

A Malian child waits to see receive a free consultation at a medical clinic in Gao, Mali.16 May 2014UN Photo/Marco Dormino Renewed fighting and re-occupation of a number of towns in northern Mali by armed Tuareg groups has renewed anxieties among the region’s Christian minority. On May 21, a . . . Read More

Bomb scare reignites Christian fear in northern Mali

January 16, 2014 Mali Gao, Islamic extremism, Sharia, Tuareg

Christians in a city in northern Mali, already forced to hold services in a school classroom because their church was looted and not ready to host meetings, had a bomb scare on Sunday (Jan. 12). Military personnel patrolling the area in Gao on Sunday morning discovered explosives near the school. . . . Read More

Mali’s state of emergency lifted ahead of election

July 12, 2013 Mali Bamako, Dioncounda Traoré, Gao, Kidal, Mali, Timbuktu, Tuareg, UN

The political situation of Mali has been changed by Sunday’s launch of the campaign for its Presidential election (due on July 28th) in which 28 candidates are competing to succeed the current interim President Dioncounda Traoré, who is not taking part. Mr Traoré, who was the head of Parliament, became . . . Read More

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