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Soriek  1yr ago (text post)   1644 thread views

Transnational Thursdays 26

This is a weekly thread for people to discuss international news, foreign policy or IR history. I usually start off with coverage of some current events from a mix of countries I follow personally and countries I think the forum lives in or might be interested in. Feel free as well to drop in with coverage of countries you’re interested in, talk about ongoing dynamics like the wars in Israel or Ukraine, or even just whatever you’re reading.

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Mali

When the military of Mali overthrew the government and expelled the French and the UJN, they left themselves with only a bare bones, tatterdemalion military, working together with the Wagner Group at times, to fight the resurgent Taureg insurgency in the north, which I’ve covered in the past here. Observers, including me, predicted they would lose control of the situation. However, they actually seem to be making progress:

Mali’s military has seized control of the northern town of Kidal, marking the first time the army has held the Tuareg rebel stronghold in nearly a decade, state broadcaster ORTM reported Tuesday…

Soldiers from Mali’s army, accompanied by mercenaries from Russian military contractor Wagner, have been battling Tuareg fighters for several days in an effort to take control of the town following the departure of United Nations peacekeepers two weeks ago.

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