Mali’s junta takes friendly soldiers hostage

soldiers landed at the airport in Bamako, Mali’s capital, on July 10th they did not expect trouble. For several years hundreds of Ivorians have patrolled their northern neighbour as peacekeepers. Yet the Malian junta, in charge after coups in 2020 and 2021, arrested the soldiers and called them mercenaries with a “dark purpose”. Ivory Coast said the soldiers were fulfilling a long-standing security contract—and demanded their release. More than two months later 46 of them are still detained. The saga marks another step in Mali’s descent. Jihadists loosely affiliated with al-Qaeda and Islamic State are ravaging the country and the broader Sahel region (see map). The junta had promised to hold elections in February but seven months on, no votes have been cast. Constant spats with France, which once had more than 5,000 troops fighting jihadists at Mali’s request, prompted the former colonial power to withdraw completely this year.