Gunmen attacked the hotel serving as headquarters of the
EU military mission in Mali
on 21 March 2016, as reported by Reuters on the following day. The EU mission aims to provide training and technical support for Mali"s counter-terrorism measures against Islamic militant groups operating in northern Mali. The gunmen were unable to gain entry to the hotel and, apart from one of the attackers who was killed by hotel security guards, there were no casualties.‚ A related news
item by Reuters on 31 March 2016 reported that the Malian authorities claim to have
captured Souleymane Keita, believed to be a leader of Katiba Khalid Ibn Walid, an Islamic armed group operating in southern Mali. This group is affiliated to Ansar Dine, the Islamic insurgent group in northern Mali which has taken over a large part of northern Mali in collaboration with other rebel groups.
Yonas Dembele, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, comments: "These developments are encouraging and seem to show that the Malian state is making progress in its fight against the threat posed to the stability and security of the state by armed Islamic groups. The international community"s support of both the peace process and the current Malian government also seems to be bearing fruit. If this trend continues and Mali can successfully neutralize the threat from Islamic militant groups, that would go a long way in helping the whole Sahel region and West Africa recover from the crises and upheavals these groups are determined to spread. As such, these developments should be welcomed by Christians in the region who are among the primary targets of groups like Ansar Dine."
