Russia is withdrawing 100 of its paramilitary troops from Burkina Faso to assist in the war with Ukraine, reports indicate. The troops are part of a contingent of some 300 fighters from the Medvedi or Bear Brigade—one of the Russian private military companies operating in West Africa—who arrived in Burkina Faso in May to support the country's ruling military junta. In a statement, the group said its forces would return home to support Russia's defense of Kursk oblast against Ukraine's recent cross-border offensive. There are fears the pull-out could embolden jihadist insurgents in Burkina Faso, who recently killed up to 300 people in one of the biggest attacks in years. (BBC News, Kyiv Post)

Mali announced Aug. 5 that it has cut diplomatic relations with Ukraine, after a Kyiv military official boasted of having aided an insurgent attack in the country's north that left scores of government troops and Russian mercenaries dead a week earlier. Andrii Yusov, spokesman for Ukraine's GUR military intelligence agency, said on social media that "the rebels received necessary information, and not just information, which enabled a successful military operation against Russian war criminals." While not saying whether Ukrainian military personnel were involved in the fighting or were present in the country, Yusov cryptically added that the GUR "won't discuss the details at the moment, but there will be more to come." Malian official Col. Abdoulaye Maiga said Yusov's comments "admitted Ukraine's involvement in a cowardly, treacherous and barbaric attack by armed terrorist groups."

A commander of Russia's paramilitary Africa Corps was killed along with some 50 of his fighters in an insurgent ambush amid a sandstorm in northern Mali on July 27. The attack, in Tinzaouatène district along the Algerian border northeast of the desert city of Kidal, is said to be the biggest loss ever for Russian forces in Africa. However, it is unclear who carried it out, as two mutually hostile groups have claimed responsibility. "Our forces decisively obliterated these enemy columns," said a statement by Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, spokesman for the Permanent Strategic Cadre for Peace, Security & Development (CSP-PSD), an alliance of Tuareg rebel groups fighting for independence in Mali's north, formery known as the Coordinating Body of Azawad Movements (CMA). But a separate statement by Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qaeda affiliate, also claimed sole responsibility for the attack. The Malian regime and Russian mercenaries have been fighting both groups in the region. (CNN, BBC News, FDD, Al Jazeera)

Amnesty International urged Malian authorities to immediately release dissident Youssouf Daba Diawara and 11 other arbitrarily detained opposition politicians in a July 19 statement. According to the statement, Mali's junta has been arbitrarily holding these political figures solely for exercising their civil rights, including the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association. Diawara was coordinator of the Association of Movements, Friends & Supporters of Imam Mahmud Dicko (CMAS) until it was dissolved by the authorities in March. On July 12, armed men forced him out of his car in Bamako and took him to the Gendarmerie's Criminal Investigations Brigade. He was charged with "opposition to legitimate authority" for participating in a protest against power cuts and inflation in June. His trial is scheduled for October.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Jue 26 convicted al-Qaeda-linked militant leader al-Hassan ag-Abdoul Aziz ag-Mohamed ag-Mahmoud of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in terrorizing the civilian population of the Malian city of Timbuktu. The charges against al-Hassan stem from his time as de facto leader of the Islamic Police, an unofficial enforcement body established by armed Islamist groups when they controlled the city between 2012 and 2013. The group patrolled the city day and night, imposing harsh new rules that severely restricted daily life. The force imposed extreme punishments, including flogging and amputation, for such perceived violations of Islamic law as extramarital relations, alcohol consumption, and smoking. The Court found that al-Hassan played a "key role" in the Islamic Police throughout the period of control of Timbuktu by Ansar Dine and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). 

The ruling junta in Niger has revoked the operating license of French nuclear fuel producer Orano at one of the world's largest uranium mines. State-owned Orano announced June 20 that it had been ordered out of the Imouraren mine in Niger's north. The junta reportedly cited the company's slowness in developing the mine, which has been repeatedly put off due to a plunge in world uranium prices following the Fukushima disaster. 

Authorities in Niger declared three days of national mourning June 26 after an ambush on security forces near the village of Tassia resulted in the deaths of at least 20 soldiers and one civilian. Tassia lies in the western Tillabéri region bordering Mali and Burkina Faso, long a stronghold of jihadist​ insurgents. The incident highlights the growing challenges facing the ruling junta, one year after it came to power in a July 2023 coup, overthrowing the civilian government led by Mohamed Bazoum. (TNH, Al Jazeera) 

The US has agreed to withdraw its troops from Niger, the two countries announced in a joint statement on May 19. "The US Department of Defense and the Ministry of National Defense of Niger have reached a disengagement agreement to effect the withdrawal of US forces, which has already begun,” the statement said, adding that the disengagement will end no later than Sept. 15. The statement comes after representatives from the two countries met in the capital Niamey as part of a Joint Disengagement Commission. Both delegations guaranteed the protection and security of the US forces during their disengagement.