British urged Mali to leave Mali ten days after claiming capital as armed rebels attack northern city of Gao
<!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
British urged Mali to leave Mali ten days after claiming capital as armed rebels attack northern city of Gao
British citizens currently in Mali, in West Africa, are being urged to leave.
The State Department has changed its travel advice and is urging everyone to leave, except those with urgent matters.
The new advice follows an attempted coup last week and specifically warns people in the capital Bamako to exercise caution.
The new advice follows an attempted coup last week and specifically warns people in the capital Bamako to exercise caution
In a statement, the State Department said: “We advise against all travel to Mali and you should leave if you have no compelling reason to stay.”
It said a curfew imposed from 6pm to 6am had now been lifted, but added: “We continue to advise British nationals in Bamako to exercise caution and stay away from crowds and demonstrations when traveling through the city.”
“There are reports that some stores are running out of stock and long queues are forming outside some banks.
Soldiers walk through the ransacked presidential palace days after mutinous soldiers claimed power in a coup in Bamako
“Given the continued instability in the country and with the airport reopened, you should leave if you don’t have an urgent reason to stay.”
Rebels have already attacked Mali’s strategic northern city of Gao, a day after taking the provincial capital of Kidal.
The two cities are important prizes for the Tuareg rebels, who in January launched an uprising sparked by the flow of arms following the fall of neighboring Libya, where many of the rebels were on the payroll of ex-Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi.
The curfew that was imposed from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. has now been lifted
If Gao falls, Timbuktu will be the only other major government-owned city in northern Mali.
A soldier stationed at a military camp on the outskirts of Gao said he heard the sound of heavy weapons being fired on Saturday.
A resident of Gao said he had seen the Tuareg fighters in the town and that there were brief firefights in the town. He said people had barricaded themselves at home.
Rebels have already attacked Mali’s strategic northern city of Gao, a day after taking the provincial capital of Kidal
The soldier and the resident asked for anonymity because they feared retaliation.
Mali now faces heavy economic sanctions over the coup.
A representative of the military junta that took control of Mali in a coup last week says the group is confident that after a meeting with Burkina Faso’s president, they will find a solution to the crisis.
Colonel Moussa Coulibaly told reporters after Saturday’s meeting in Burkina Faso that the junta delegation “goes out with a sense of confidence and we hope that in the shortest possible time we will reach a consensus on how we can strengthen the state’s institutions.” be able to recover in a way that will be acceptable to the world.l
Burkina Faso’s president, Blaise Compaore, is one of five regional leaders actively involved in mediating a return to constitutional order following the March 21 coup.
Compaore and the other presidents have given the junta a 72-hour deadline to return power to civilians, which expires Monday.
.