A coalition of JNIM jihadists and Tuareg separatists ambushed a Malian army convoy leaving Anefis in the Gao region on July 18; Vanguard Nigeria reported at least 50 soldiers killed, while initial AP dispatches cited scores killed or captured, and Mali's government said a counterattack was under way

Three days after the junta formally severed diplomatic relations with Paris, Captain Ibrahim Traore's government issued a seven-day ultimatum demanding French embassy closure, the most complete rupture between the two countries since independence in 1960

The national assembly presidents of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger met on June 29 to advance the legislative architecture of the Alliance of Sahel States confederation, adopting a joint motion of support for Burkina Faso against a European Parliament human rights resolution

A report based on 34 interviews documents JNIM and Tuareg-FLA attacks on civilians across Mopti, Gao and Kidal; retaliatory killings of Fulani communities by Malian army and Russian Africa Corps fighters; and two apparent airstrikes on civilians; Mali's ICC withdrawal and junta censorship mean impunity is near-total

Under Operation Ghazab Lil Haq, Pakistani forces hit camps in Paktia, Paktika and Kunar overnight June 28-29, killing 29 militants by Islamabad's count; Afghan officials report 36 civilians dead and 160 wounded, including women and children

Eight simultaneous large-scale wars across Ukraine, the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia are driving displacement, energy shocks, and geopolitical realignment.

The main overland corridor from West and Central Africa through Niger and Libya to the Central Mediterranean, the primary irregular-migration route to southern Europe.

A June 15 letter from Air France's country manager to local partner ATS formalized the carrier's full commercial withdrawal from Mali, effective June 30, after flights were suspended in August 2023 following the closure of Nigerien airspace

An al-Qaeda raid on Diori Hamani International, Niger's air-force base and drone fleet, killed 11 soldiers and 2 civilians, the second strike on the airport this year as Sahel jihadists move on cities

Instrument received June 18; exit takes effect June 2027; with Mali and Burkina Faso gone, three juntas call the court 'neo-colonial' and promise indigenous mechanisms

A pre-dawn offensive on April 25-26 struck Kati, Bamako, Gao, Kidal, Mopti and Sévaré simultaneously; Defence Minister Sadio Camara was killed by a car bomb at his Kati home

Al-Qaeda's Sahel affiliate has torched 300+ tankers and cut National Road 1; petrol in the capital reportedly jumped 400%, and a 1 June landmine on the Bamako-Kayes highway killed 8