Mali
Rebels killed more than 100 Malian soldiers in an attack this month, two sources told Reuters, as government forces continue to face huge pressure from armed groups. Fighters from the al Qaeda-linked Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) launched the assault on a military camp in the town of Dioura on September 10, the sources said. A security source told Reuters that 130 soldiers were killed with more than 100 taken hostage, while a diplomatic source said about 120 soldiers were killed. In April, JNIM cooperated with the Tuareg-led separatist group the FLA to launch nationwide attacks in which the country’s defense minister was killed. Mali’s military junta came to power in a 2021 coup, promising to defeat the insurgents, but the situation has worsened since then.
More from Reuters here.
NB: Proximities recently published a deep dive on the insurgency in Mali here.
China
China has expelled two top generals, Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli, from the military and the Communist Party, accusing them of corruption and disloyalty. Zhang was vice chair of the powerful Central Military Commission and second only to President Xi Jinping in the military hierarchy. Liu was chief of staff of the commission’s Joint Staff Department. The expulsions are the latest in a long-running purge of People’s Army top brass over corruption, but accusations of disloyalty are rare. Zhang and Liu "seriously violated political discipline and political rules, formed cliques and factions, and were disloyal and dishonest to the party," the state-run Xinhua news agency reported, citing official documents.
More from AP here.
Nicaragua
Nicaragua has carried out a campaign of enforced disappearances, torture and arbitrary detention of political opponents, according to a report from U.N. experts, which said the conduct amounted to crimes against humanity. Three U.N. experts asked to investigate human rights in Nicaragua said what they found was a systematic attack against civilians carried out by state institutions, including the police, prosecutors and the intelligence services, coordinated under a chain of command that led to senior levels of government. Daniel Ortega, the co-president of Nicaragua alongside his wife, has been in power for almost two decades. In July, he said the country would no longer hold elections.
More from Reuters here.