UN Doctor Seized By 'Unidentified Assailants' in Mali

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a statement deploring the abduction of Mahamadou Diawara, a doctor working for the United Nations health agency, in the town of Menaka in eastern Mali by unknown assailants.

The WHO said that Diawara had been "leading efforts to provide medical care to communities that are often remote and face insecurity risks and violence."

In another sign of the wider instability still gripping much of Mali, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) called for enhanced support by the international community, for those recently displaced across the northwest African nation, where continued violence and threats by armed groups have forced both local Malians and refugees to flee for safety.

Operation Barkhane was an initiative which began on August 1, 2014 and formally ended on November 9, 2022. It was led by the French military against Islamist groups across Africa's Sahel region.

The operation was led in co-operation with five countries that span the Sahel: Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger. France began withdrawing its troops from Mali in February 2022.