Tag: Timbuktu

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

UPDATE: 1 year on, new video of kidnapped Swiss missionary in Mali

January 11, 2017 Mali Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Bamako, Beatrice Stockly, Kidal, Timbuktu, Tuareg

Beatrice Stockli settled in Timbuktu in 2000 and was first kidnapped for 10 days in 2012

World Watch Monitor UPDATE (11 Jan. 2017): A video released by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) on Tuesday (10 Jan) shows a new proof of life of the Swiss missionary Beatrice Stockly, held captive in Mali. The 2’17” video shows a woman – her head covered by a black . . . Read More

Murder of Fulani Christian mayor in Mali increases concerns over creeping Islamic extremism

December 16, 2016 Mali Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Ansar Dine, Bamako, Beatrice Stockly, Islamic extremism, Sahel, Timbuktu, Tuareg

The motive behind the murder of a Fulani Christian politician in Mali last month remains unknown, but locals suspect an Islamist agenda. Moussa Issah Bary, the 47-year-old deputy mayor of Kerana (near the Burkina Faso border), was shot dead by six unidentified men on motorbikes on 16 November. He is . . . Read More

Rising Islamist militancy across Sahel belt threatens African Christianity

September 8, 2016 Agadez, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Ansar Dine, Beatrice Stockly, Islamic extremism, Ivory Coast, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Muammar Gaddafi, Niger, Sahel, Timbuktu, Tuareg, West Africa

More than 70 churches, as well as Christian homes, schools and orphanages,were burned down by Islamists in Niger in January 2015.World Watch Monitor As the world focusses on potential military advances against the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, it risks overlooking another vast region where militant Islam is . . . Read More

Swiss missionary kidnapped in Mali ‘still alive’

June 17, 2016 Mali Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Bamako, Beatrice Stockly, Kidal, Timbuktu, Tuareg

Beatrice Stockly, left, in Timbuktu 2000. She was first kidnapped in 2012World Watch Monitor UPDATE (17 June): Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has released a video, purporting to show that a Swiss nun kidnapped in Mali in January is alive and in good health. The three-minute video, posted on . . . 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

Mali’s mausoleums rebuilt, but not churches

July 23, 2015 Mali Burkina Faso, Islamic extremism, Mali, Niger, Timbuktu

Fourteen mausoleums in the city of Timbuktu in northern Mali have been rebuilt, three years after they were destroyed by Islamist extremists. The reconstruction was overseen by Unesco. For most of 2012, armed Islamist groups ruled the region, banning the practice of other religions and desecrating and looting churches and other . . . Read More

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