Mali's army-dominated government has ordered private television channels to stop airing content promoting the French military in the Sahel state, calling such ads "particularly inappropriate".

The government said that France's Barkhane military operation had been running an advertising campaign for several weeks in Mali in order to "promote its activity".

"This initiative is particularly inappropriate when national opinion is critical of the results of the French intervention," the government added in a letter to private TV channels.

Videos commissioned by the French military show French soldiers donating food to Malians, for instance, or fighting alongside Malian soldiers.

The letter, dated March 30, asked the Malian association of private television channels to demand that its members stop broadcasting the spots.

France first intervened in Mali in 2013 and currently has thousands of troops stationed in its former colonial possession to fight a jihadist insurgency.

But relations between Mali and France deteriorated sharply after Malian army officers led by Colonel Assimi Goita deposed elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in August 2020.

The army then deposed the civilian leaders of a transitional government last year, in a second coup.

In February, Paris decided to withdraw its forces from Mali. Allied European nations that also contributed troops to the fight against jihadists in Mali have also announced that they will pull out.

A French military official told AFP that the promotional TV spots were designed to defend Operation Barkhane's record.

Mali says 203 killed in military operation in centre
Bamako (AFP) April 1, 2022 - Mali's army said Friday that it had killed 203 combatants in an operation in the centre of Sahel state, an apparent uptick in violence in the conflict-torn country.

The army said the March 23-31 military operation took place in Sahel's Moura area -- which it termed a "terrorist fiefdom".

Soldiers killed 203 militants, arrested 51 people and seized large quantities of weapons, according to the army's statement.

The announcement comes as numerous social media reports in Mali this week alleged that dozens of people, including civilians, had been killed in Moura.

AFP was unable to verify the army's claimed death toll or the social media reports.

Poor access to Mali's conflict areas and a relative lack of independent information sources means that figures provided by either the government or armed groups are difficult to confirm.

An impoverished nation of around 21 million people, Mali has struggled to contain a jihadist insurgency that emerged in 2012, before spreading to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

Vast swathes of the country are myriad rebel groups and militias, and thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed in the conflict.

Mali's under-equipped army has also often been accused of committing abuses during the conflict.

According to a report seen by AFP, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently warned the UN Security Council that Mali's counter-terrorism efforts had "disastrous consequences for the civilian population".

In its statement Friday, Mali's army said it was guided by human rights and international law, and called for "restraint against defamatory speculations".

The country has seen an apparent uptick in violence in recent weeks. The UN said on Friday that thousands of people fleeing fighting in Mali have arrived in Niger.

A day earlier, the UN peacekeeping mission, known as Minusma, said that security had "deteriorated considerably" in the border area with Burkina Faso and Niger.

Related Links
Africa News - Resources, Health, Food

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Kenya jail goes green to fix sewage woes and protect sea
Mombasa, Kenya (AFP) April 1, 2022
Heading north from Mombasa, the unmistakable whiff of a foul stench in the air was as reliable as any mile marker for motorists taking the highway along the Kenyan coast. "You would always know you were near Shimo la Tewa Prison," said Stephen Mwangi, a government scientist who has lived for decades in the coastal region where thousands of inmates are incarcerated in a maximum security jail. The smell wasn't coming from the prison itself but its septic system, which had collapsed from overuse. ... read more