Latest Bamako News

Activists plant trees in Mali but residents strip them for firewood. They say there's no choice

Nov. 14, 2024 23:25 PM EST

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — After years of serving as Mali's minister of the environment, Aida M'bo now spends her time planting trees in a fight that many in the arid West African country acknowledge they are losing. “Deforestation is an important issue in Mali,” she said, standing in...

BYU built to contend in men's basketball again in second Big 12 season

Oct. 23, 2024 06:05 AM EDT

BYU (23-11, 10-8 in 2023-24) Mark Pope’s departure to Kentucky didn’t set the Cougars back heading into their second Big 12 season. Former Phoenix Suns associate head coach Kevin Young is at the helm and has quietly assembled a team capable of making noise in the Big 12 once...

Military juntas in 3 West African nations investigate a French journalist over jihadi analysis

Sep. 26, 2024 08:37 AM EDT

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Prosecutors in military junta-ruled Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso launched investigations on Wednesday against the French journalist and researcher Wassim Nasr into what they called his “apology of terrorism” and “complicity” in alleged terrorist acts, in the latest...

Attacks by Islamic extremists are rampant in Africa's Sahel. Here's what we know about them

Sep. 22, 2024 03:04 AM EDT

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Extremist attacks in Sahel, an arid swath of land south of the Sahara in Africa, have proliferated in recent months: Last week, Islamic militants attacked Bamako, the capital of Mali, for the first time in almost a decade, demonstrating their capacity to carry out large...

Mali officials close livestock markets over suspected links to militants

Sep. 20, 2024 14:20 PM EDT

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Authorities in Mali’s capital announced Thursday after a deadly attack by al-Qaida-linked militants that they were closing several livestock markets that typically are run by an ethnic group that officials associate with the militants. The al-Qaida-linked...

A U.N.-chartered plane was damaged in an Islamist attack in Mali

Sep. 19, 2024 06:57 AM EDT

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — A plane that was used for humanitarian work by the World Food Program was damaged during an Islamist attack in the capital of Mali, according to the South African aviation company that owns the plane. The company, National Airways Corp., said late Wednesday that...

Mali troops put down a deadly militant attack in the capital

Sep. 17, 2024 22:32 PM EDT

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Mali troops subdued the Islamic militants who attacked a military training camp and the airport in Mali’s capital Tuesday after gunbattles that killed some soldiers, authorities said. An al-Qaida-linked group claimed the attack. The militants tried to...