The African Union has announced targeted sanctions on leaders of armed factions fighting in northern Mali moments after slapping travel bans and asset freezes on the country's ruling military junta.
"The council also decides to apply the individual sanctions ... to the leaders and members of the armed member groups in northern Mali, those who are involved in the attacks in the region, as well as in atrocities against the civilian population," Ramtane Lamamra, AU commissioner for peace and security, told a news conference in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
Lamamra said the rebels in the north were collaborating with transnational criminal networks and asked the region to provide a full list of individuals who should be hit with the punitive measures.
