18 March 2013
According to Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Edmond Mulet, the African-led International Support Mission to Mali (AFISMA) could be transferred to a UN stabilization mission by July 2013. The mission will be approved by the Security Council and by the Malian government.
Source: UN News Centre | Mali: UN force possible in July, senior peacekeeping official says
11 March 2013
The 2.000-strong contingent of Chad, which has played a leading part in the fight against jihadist militants in Mali, officially joined the regional African force that is deployed there on 9 March. The Chadian forces were not initially placed under AFISMA’s operational command.
29 January 2013
An international donor conference to financially help the military operation in Mali opened today at the African Union (AU) headquarters. The conference hopes to raise funds to support the African-led International Support Mission to Mali (AFISMA) which will cost at least $460 million.
26 January 2013
It has been almost two weeks since France began a military intervention to help the Malian army fight Islamist groups controlling the north of the country. The operation — code-named ‘Serval’ — was sparked by the ‘serious deterioration of the situation’ in Mali, after successful offensives by extremists who managed to take over the city of Konna, ‘a frontier town that had been the de facto line of government control’. The action of France, coming about after months of lengthy negotiations attempting to resolve the crisis in Mali, has been overall welcomed by the international community, and reportedly relatively successful in pushing back Islamists. In terms of international law, the military operation raises a number of issues, two aspects of which this blog post will address: the responsibility for maintaining peace, and the responsibility during the conduct of war. (more…)