Three military juntas discovered that sovereignty is sellable. What was traded for security reveals a model of statehood that no longer depends on Paris or Washington.
Six months after their abduction, Mali junta critic Mountaga Tall and his son, Cheick Mamadou Tall, remain missing, their fate unknown and the authorities silent, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), which also records the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances’ call for Malian authorities to locate and protect the two.
The son of Aung San Suu Kyi said she sounded fairly healthy after speaking to the detained leader on Thursday for the first time in more than five years, according to The Hindu. Suu Kyi, 81, is under house arrest in the capital, Naypyidaw, where she has been held since being ousted in the 2021 military coup, according to Myanmar authorities.
A drone strike in Sudan’s Blue Nile state killed at least 30 displaced people, including women and children, and wounded dozens, according to Al Jazeera. The governor of Wad al-Mahi, Mahjoub Al-Sheikh, said the drone belonged to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and hit the centre of the province, killing 26 women and four children, according to AFP.
Mali’s army, supported by Russian paramilitary forces, re-entered the northern town of Kidal, forcing Tuareg separatists to withdraw, according to Deutsche Welle. The Azawad Liberation Front said it decided to carry out a strategic and controlled withdrawal from Kidal, without direct fighting, citing disproportionate use of air power by Russian mercenaries of the Africa Corps. Mali’s transitional government said, in a statement read on state TV, that the retake was carried out by air and ground forces with the support of Russia’s Africa Corps, according to the Associated Press.
A Myanmar military airstrike near a market in rebel-controlled territory in western Rakhine state killed at least 49 people and injured 58 others on Monday, according to the Arakan Army and a rescue official, the Times of India reported. The Associated Press (AP) reported the same toll of 49 dead and 58 wounded, attributed to the rebel group and a rescue official. According to the Arakan Army, a fighter jet dropped two bombs near a local market around noon, killing vendors, shoppers and pedestrians.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow expects the national leaders of the Sahel to attend the Russia-Africa summit, scheduled for 28 and 29 October in Moscow, according to the state news agency TASS. Russia’s foreign ministry says the dialogue with the Confederation of Sahel States is moving fast and cites the consultations held on 8 July in Niamey.