Source: https://twitter.com/IBK_PRMALI /    Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in August 2018 after being elected to a second term as leader of the west-African nation on a promise to bring peace to  a country torn by extremist and ethnic violence The country remains unstable amid the non-stop violence. 

By Gary Raynaldo       DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

Tens of thousands rallied in Bamako last week calling on the  President of Mali to resign as the government of the west-Africa nation appears helpless and unable to stem the tide of deadly jihadist violence gripping the country.  Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was re-elected to a second five-year term in August 2018 as leader of the west-African nation on a promise to bring peace to the a country torn by extremist and ethnic violence. Today, the country remains unstable amid the non-stop violence.  Malians are saying enough is enough, President Keita must go.  Last year, Mali’s Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga resigned along with his entire Cabinet, as public protests mounted over the government’s inability to stem ethnic violence. 

Religious Hard-Liner Imam  Mahmoud Dicko  Leads Protests In Mali 

Credit: maliweb.net /   Imam  Mahmoud Dicko has emerged as the Mali government’s most outspoken critic.

 Imam Mahmoud Dicko told protesters that the president’s government was guilty of “mismanagement, embezzlement, lies”, as reported by AFP.   “It is time for everything to change. Our army is disorganized, demoralized. The money promised to the army has been diverted. They are no longer receiving their food rations. We are the laughing stock in the whole region”

Jihadist Violence Continues Despite Presence Of 14,000 UN Peacekeepers in Mali 

Credit:  MINUSMA /  Tribute ceremony in N’Djamena for the 10 Chadian UN Peacekeepers who were killed on 20 January, 2019  in a terrorist attack in northern Mali.

UN Vows Mali Peacekeeping Mission Will Continue Despite Being The Deadliest In World 

Last month,  three UN peacekeepers from Chad were killed in northern Mali when their convoy hit a roadside bomb near Aguelhok, in the restive Kidal region,  according to the  UN Stabilization Mission in Mali(MINUSMA).  The  MINUSMA Mission In West Africa nation Mali is the most dangerous in the world for UN Peacekeepers.  There have been nearly 200 UN ‘blue helmet’ peacekeepers killed since MINUSMA  was established in 2013.  On Jan. 20, 2019, ten peacekeepers from Chad were killed in a suspected Islamist attack in northern Mali.

Meanwhile, troubling reports surfaced of Malian government forces accused of killing and torturing citizens in the effort to stem the tide of jihadists violence.