UN calls security situation in Mali 'alarming'

The UN peacekeeping chief is calling the security situation in Mali "alarming," warning that extremist groups operating under the al-Qaida banner are carrying out more sophisticated attacks and Islamic State militants are slowly making inroads.
Jean-Pierre Lacroix told the Security Council yesterday that "this convergence of threats is particularly alarming" because the government presence is often weak or non-existent.
He said the situation is exacerbated by groups defying state authority in the country's center that are killing individuals and closing certain schools, and by criminal networks that are operating very actively in the region.
A 2012 uprising led to the overthrow of Mali's president which created a power vacuum. This led to an Islamic insurgency and a French-led war that ousted the jihadists in 2013, but attacks have continued.