Mali's military government has called Ivory Coast's request for a regional meeting on Ivorian troops detained in Mali since July "intimidation" and "blackmail." Ivory Coast accuses Mali of holding its troops hostage. The Mali government’s official statement says that it is "in no way concerned by" Ivory Coast’s request to hold a meeting with regional bloc ECOWAS over the detained troops. Ivory Coast’s National Security Council published a statement Wednesday requesting an ECOWAS meeting and accusing Mali of taking the soldiers hostage. Tensions between Mali and ECOWAS have been high this year, with ECOWAS imposing sanctions on Mali in January over an election delay.

Source: Ethiopian News September 16, 2022 23:40 UTC