Mali Faces ‘Remnants Of Terrorism’, Says President • Channels Television

Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, speaking ahead of elections on Sunday, said attacks that have hit the country in recent months were “pockets of violence and remnants of terrorism”.

Keita defended his record, saying he had helped to stabilise the country in the heart of the fragile Sahel region since his election in 2013.

“There’s no more war-mongering in Mali today,” Keita — widely known by his initials of IBK — told reporters Tuesday on the return flight from a tour of three African countries to woo diaspora voters.

“There are pockets of violence, remnants of terrorism because neither Serval nor Barkhane could drive out all the terrorists,” he said, referring to former colonial power France’s two successive military operations in the region.

The country has been gripped by violence since jihadists exploiting a 2012 ethnic Tuareg separatist…