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August 12, 2025
34 minutes
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Dozens of soldiers have been arrested in Mali accused of plotting to topple the country's military leaders, sources say. The wave of arrests reflect tension within the military government. The authorities have not yet commented on the arrests. We'll hear analysis.
Also, more than 400 people have died and over 6,000 have been affected following a cholera outbreak in Sudan's Darfur region. What are the challenges when it comes to dealing with an epidemic within IDP camps?
And how and why an AI generated model sparked international debate? We hear from the creators.
Presenter: Richard Kagoe
Producers: Bella Hassan, Mark Wilberforce and Nyasha Michelle in London. Makuochi Ofakor in Lagos.
Technical Producer: Chris Kouzaris
Senior Journalist: Karnie Sharp
Editors: Andre Lombard and Alice Muthengi
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BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Mali coup plot: French man arrested over spying allegation
Mali's military rulers say they have arrested a French national on suspicion of spying for his country in an attempt to destabilise the African a statement read on national television late on Thursday, the junta said that Yann Vezilier was held on suspicion of working "on behalf of the French intelligence service".It showed his picture, alongside those of a number of army generals arrested recently for allegedly planning to overthrow the military government. "The conspiracy has been foiled with the arrests of those involved," Mali's Security Minister General Daoud Aly Mohammedine said in the televised address. The French national is yet to comment on the accusation. France, Mali's former colonial ruler, is also yet to comment on the man's arrest and allegations of destabilisation. The West African nation has been gripped by a security crisis fuelled by an Islamist insurgency since 2012 - one of the reasons given for the military takeover but attacks by jihadist groups have continued and even days of speculation about the alleged coup plot, Gen Mohammedine confirmed that "fringe elements of the Malian armed security forces" had been detained for seeking to "destabilise the institutions of the republic"."These soldiers and civilians" were said to have obtained "the help of foreign states", the minister French national acted "on behalf of the French intelligence service, which mobilised political leaders, civil society actors and military personnel" in Mali, the minister added. He also confirmed the arrest of two army generals, including Gen Abass Dembele, the former governor of the Mopti region, who was recently dismissed from his position. At least 55 soldiers have been arrested so far in connection with the alleged attempted coup, security sources told AFP. Gen Mohammedine said a full investigation was under way to identify "possible accomplices" and that "the situation is completely under control". Political tension has been rising in recent weeks, which have seen the arrest of former Prime Ministers Moussa Mara and Choguel Maïga over accusations of harming the reputation of the state and a recent outspoken critic of the military government, has been in detention since 1 August, while Maïga is facing judicial May, the junta dissolved all political parties following rare anti-government protests, which Mara described as a severe blow to reconciliation efforts initiated by the military leaders last leader Gen Asimi Goïta, who seized power in both 2020 and 2021, had promised elections last year, but these have never been July, the transition period was extended by five years, clearing him to continue leading the country until at least its neighbours Niger and Burkina Faso, it has enlisted the help of Russian allies to contain the jihadist attacks in the region after breaking ties with France - but there has been no significant improvements in security. You may also be interested in: The region with more 'terror deaths' than rest of world combinedWhy young Africans are celebrating military takeoversThree military-run states leave West African bloc - what will change?Mali coup leader granted five-year term in powerMali signs trade deal with Russia as ties strengthen Go to for more news from the African us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
The Independent
9 hours ago
- The Independent
Mali's military rulers arrest 2 generals, a suspected French agent and others in alleged coup plot
Mali's military rulers said Thursday they have arrested a group of military personnel and civilians, including two Malian generals and a suspected French agent, accused of attempting to destabilize the country. The announcement followed rumors in recent days of arrests of Malian army officers and was made by Mali's security minister, Gen. Daoud Aly Mohammedine on the evening news on the local media. He assured the audience that a full investigation was underway and that 'the situation is completely under control.' It comes amid an ongoing crackdown on dissent by Mali's military following the country's pro-democracy rally in May, the first since soldiers seized power nearly four years ago. The military provided few details about the alleged coup plotters, what it entailed and the French national implicated in it, beyond identifying the man as Yann Vezilier. The security minister said the Frenchman acted 'on behalf of the French intelligence service, which mobilized political leaders, civil society actors, and military personnel' in Mali. There was no immediate word from France, Mali's former colonial ruler, on the man's arrest. 'The transitional government informs the national public of the arrest of a small group of marginal elements of the Malian armed and security forces for criminal offenses aimed at destabilizing the institutions of the Republic,' Mohammedine said. 'The conspiracy has been foiled with the arrests of those involved," he said, adding that the plot began on Aug. 1. The national television broadcast photos of 11 people it said were members of the group that planned the coup. The minister also identified the two Malian generals he said were part of the plot. One, Gen. Abass Dembélé, is a former governor of the central Mopti region who was abruptly dismissed in May, when he demanded an investigation into allegations that the Malian army killed civilians in the village of Diafarabé. The other, Gen. Néma Sagara, was lauded for her role in fighting militants in 2012. Mali, along with neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger, has long battled an insurgency by armed militants, including some allied with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. Following two military coups, the ruling junta expelled French troops and instead turned to Russia for security assistance. But the security situation remains precarious, and attacks from extremist groups linked with al-Qaida intensified in recent months. In June, military leader Gen. Assimi Goita, was granted an additional five years in power, despite the junta's earlier promises of a return to civilian rule by March 2024. The move followed the military's dissolution of political parties in May.
Times
15 hours ago
- Times
‘Escape or starve': life inside Sudan's city under siege
Orphaned and raising three sisters alone, the youngest just five, Hafiza has only ever known life in a Darfur displacement camp. Born after her parents fled the genocidal Janjaweed militia in the early 2000s, she is now trying to survive the militia's reincarnation — the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) — as they bombard and deliberately starve the city around her. The 22-year-old was studying to be an English teacher when Sudan's civil war shut down her university in El Fasher, where she and her sisters are among hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped on a front line between the army and the RSF. Many are in displacement camps where monitors warn famine has already set in and malnutrition has led to at least 60 deaths in the past week. The girls' mother was killed in front of them last year when a busy market was shelled. 'I've seen ten or 15 people killed at a time from the bombardments,' Hafiza said in a call from the city's Abu Shouk displacement camp. Attacks have intensified in recent months after the RSF was ousted from Sudan's capital, Khartoum. Alongside the bombardments, a slower crisis is unfolding. 'People are also dying more slowly, from starvation,' she said. Between searching for food for her siblings, who are now severely underweight, Hafiza works at a charity clinic in the camp, cleaning wounds from the latest shelling and holding a phone torch while medics operate. Aid convoys are blocked, electricity and clean water are non-existent and hospitals have collapsed. International aid organisations have condemned the 'calculated use of starvation as a weapon of war.' • Doctors killed and girls abducted in Darfur massacre Since April 2023, Sudan's war has killed at least 150,000 people and displaced more than ten million in what the United Nations calls the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis. Both sides face allegations of war crimes. The United States has formally determined that the RSF and its allied Arab militias are committing genocide in Darfur, accusing them of ethnically targeted massacres and widespread sexual violence against the same black African ethnic groups — including Hafiza's Fur community in Darfur — that were killed in their hundreds of thousands during the genocide of the early 2000s. The conflict has split the country into rival zones of control and become a proxy battleground for regional and international players, including Russia and the United Arab Emirates. El Fasher is the army's last foothold in Darfur, and its fall would give the RSF control over a vast region bordering Libya, Chad, Central African Republic and South Sudan — and pave the way for what analysts say could be Sudan's de facto division. El Fasher's markets are now empty save for a few supplies smuggled in by private traders at prices far beyond the reach of most residents. A sack of millet can fetch 7.2m Sudanese pounds (£8,800) and a pound of salt sells for at least 2,400 Sudanese pounds (£2.95) Those trapped, like Hafiza, face the grim choice of staying in the hope that the siege is broken, or attempting to escape through RSF-controlled territory. Leaving carries the risk of being killed, enslaved or subjected to the sexual violence that has marked the conflict from the start. Mahasin, 41, lost contact with her husband in the chaos of the war, in which men and boys of fighting age have been forcibly conscripted or killed. Feeding herself and her four children in El Fasher was becoming impossible. Some days they survived on leaves and umbaz, an animal fodder made from peanut shells and other food waste. • Sudanese civilians 'targeted in reprisal killings' 'Death seemed certain, if not today then tomorrow, from an attack, hunger or disease. When I went out to find food I never knew if I would survive and return to my children,' she said. While they still had the strength, Mahasin decided they should attempt to reach Tawila, 60km west of El Fasher. The location has become a hub for 380,000 people escaping the city and the nearby Zamzam displacement camp which came under a days-long attack in April in which 1,500 civilians are thought to have been massacred. But Tawila offers less safety by the day, Mahasin said in a call from the town. Aid is scarce because humanitarian agencies are stretched by foreign funding cuts and the town's scant clean water and sanitation are fuelling the spread of cholera. On Tuesday, government sources reported that Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan's army chief and de facto leader, met President Trump's Africa adviser Massad Boulos in a secret meeting in Switzerland over a US peace proposal. Past efforts to mediate between Burhan and his deputy turned rival, the RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, have failed to yield a sustained ceasefire. The two generals, who are fighting for overall power, jointly ousted Sudan's long-time ruler Omar al-Bashir in 2019 and later staged a coup against a civilian-led unity government.
