18, February 2022
Mali asks France to withdraw troops ‘without delay’ 0
Mali’s army-led government asked France on Friday to withdraw its troops from the Sahel state “without delay”, calling into question Paris’ plans to pull out over several months.
A government spokesman added in a statement announced on public television that the results of France’s nine-year military engagement in conflict-torn Mali were “not satisfactory”.
On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that he was withdrawing troops from Mali after a breakdown in relations with the nation’s ruling military junta.
Relations between the two countries deteriorated sharply after Mali’s army seized power in a coup in 2020, and later defied calls to restore civilian rule swiftly.
The French pullout after nearly a decade is also set to see the smaller European Takuba force of special forces, created in 2020, leave Mali.
France currently has some 5,000 troops deployed across the Sahel as part of its anti-jihadist Barkhane force — the majority in Mali.
Macron said the withdrawal would take place over four to six months.
Spokesman Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga called the French withdrawal a “flagrant violation” of accords between the two countries.
“In view of these repeated breaches of defence agreements, the government invites the French authorities to withdraw, without delay,” he said.
Source: AFP



















19, February 2022
Deadly fighting erupts between Biya regime forces and armed Amba fighters in Akwaya 0
Deadly clashes have erupted between military forces loyal to the Biya French Cameroun regime in Yaoundé and armed Ambazonia fighters at Tinta some few kilometers from Akwaya town in Manyu Division.
Cameroon Concord News sources in Manyu said on Thursday that an unknown number of Cameroon government army soldiers and civilians were injured.
The office of the Divisional Officer for Akwaya Sub Division, said Amba fighters attacked government troops on patrol heading towards the borders with Nigeria.
Witnesses told Cameroon Concord News that they had heard heavy gunfire on Thursday around the outskirts of Akwaya.
Akwaya Sub Division has seen increased fighting and displacement since 2016. Experts link the surge of violence in Akwaya to the huge equatorial forest that provides good hideouts for Ambazonia Restoration Forces.
By Kingsley Betek in Mamfe