Mali: Rebel forces sign peace agreement with government.

According to AFP and Reuters on June 20, the Coalition of Azawad Movements (CMA) – an alliance of the main rebel groups in Mali led by Tuareg insurgents – and the government signed a historic agreement aimed at ending years of violence in the ethnically divided country amid a raging jihadist insurgency.

United Nations peacekeeping soldiers stand guard at the Salem Hotel in Bamako. (Source: AFP/VNA).

Speaking at the signing ceremony, CMA representative Mahamadou Djeri Maiga said: “Peace is never achieved in isolation by a single signature; it is born from respect for the commitments guaranteed by that signature and from the political will of all parties involved.”

The UN Secretary-General's special representative, Mongi Hamdi, said the UN peacekeeping mission, comprising 11,000 personnel, will support the implementation of the agreement.

(According to AFP/VNA)