A new UN report says security threats from violent extremists and criminal groups in Mali are ‘alarming’ and the government must deploy more troops to the volatile north and step up efforts to reform its military and police.

A Mauritanian man suspected of planning and carrying out deadly attacks on popular tourist venues in Mali last year has been arrested in the Malian capital Bamako, security sources told AFP on Friday. Detained on Thursday in a Bamako suburb, the man is believed to have taken part in attacks …

Nearly 145,000 Malian refugees have been living in neighbouring countries since the outbreak of the security crisis in Northern Mali in 2012, said the UNHCR office in Bamako. “Up to 31 March 2016, some 60,300 Malian refugees live in Niger, 50,600 in Mauritania and 33,800 in Burkina Faso,” according to …