Rebels in Mali have announced a ceasefire, saying they've achieved their goal of capturing
the northern part of the country. The Tuareg rebels want to establish a separate
country in the north. Meanwhile, Mali's government remains in turmoil following a
recent coup by military officers. The political turmoil is causing a humanitarian
crisis as people flee the violence. “Most humanitarian needs are mostly those now
related to displacement, especially in terms of shelter, food, essential items … also
access to health care and nutrition support,” said Elisabeth Byrs, the spokesperson
for the World Food Programme. “We are scaling up our operation, doing our best to
reach those people.”
She warned of other economic consequences of the situation.
“The
increased prices of petrol this might be a problem for those people, because all the
commercial exchanges and flows from neighbouring countries such as Algeria and Mauritania
has been reduced,” Byrs said. “So we need to scale up our operation. We are going
to increase the humanitarian flights from Niger to Mali in order to address the needs
of those people.”