Overview
- Pope Leo XIV, speaking during Sunday’s Regina Coeli prayer at the Vatican, urged sustained efforts to stop violence and spur development across the Sahel.
- He highlighted recent strikes in Chad and Mali, two hotspots where Islamist factions, including Al Qaeda- and Islamic State-linked groups, have intensified attacks.
- Chad’s military said Boko Haram killed 23 soldiers and wounded 26 on Barka Tolorom island in Lake Chad earlier in the week.
- Mali’s government alleged that some military officers cooperated with jihadis and separatists in recent major assaults, deepening concern over state fragility.
- The day before, the pope met the John Paul II Foundation for the Sahel and a Muslim delegation from Senegal, urging interfaith dialogue and calling aid to vulnerable people a matter of justice.