A plane purportedly linked to the Russian Wagner private military company (PMC) crashed in spectacular fashion on a runway in Mali recently.
Guests and staff at a luxury hotel in Mali were attacked by gunmen early this morning, with around 170 people now believed to be held hostage.
A South African man in Mali has cried out for government assistance following four years of al-Qaeda captivity.
On Monday, the Malian military gained control of the central Mali town of Diabaly.
A new video of kidnapped South African Stephen Malcolm McGowan has been published by Al Jazeera. McGowan was kidnapped along with Swede Johan Gustafson and Dutch national Sjaak Rijke over nine months ago. Though the video has only Al Jazeera’s voice over, the captives appear in good health.
In a video published on YouTube recently, three men kidnapped in Mali last year by al-Qaeda say they are well. One of the men is South African Stephen Malcom McGown.
The West have unintentionally cleared the path for al-Qaeda to take control over 300 000 square miles of African terrain. “Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb” (AQIM) and its allies have taken over an area of the Sahara more than three times the size of Britain, complete with airports, military bases, arms dumps and training camps.