Mali lawmakers extends state of emergency for eight months

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Mali lawmakers have voted to extend a state of emergency until March 2017 due to ongoing violence. The measure allows police to search homes without a warrant, and bans protests.

Lawmakers in Mali voted Saturday to extend the nation's state of emergency by another eight months, as violence continues to plague the West African country.

The 99 MPs present at an extraordinary session of the National Assembly in Bamako voted to maintain the state of emergency until March 29, 2017.

The state of emergency was originally implemented in November 2015 after extremists attacked a luxury hotel in the capital, killing 20 people. It has since been extended several times on account of violence.
The measure allows police in Mali to search homes without a warrant, and bans protests.
"I want to reassure that the state of emergency contributes to the stability of the country," Interior Minister Abdoulaye Idrissa Maiga told lawmakers on Saturday.

Ongoing bloodshed
The extension comes amid persistent violence in the West African country. On Saturday, fighting broke out near Kidal in the northeast between a coalition of Tuareg rebels and a Tuareg group allied with the Malian government. At least six people were killed in the fighting.