BAMAKO
EgyptAir has canceled its Hajj flights to and from crisis-struck Mali, directly impacting more than 4,000 people, the country’s pilgrimage-organizing body said Saturday. The cancelations come as the west African nation faces a dire security situation, with separatist and militant rebels targeting its authoritarian junta. Large-scale attacks at multiple junta strongholds last weekend killed the country’s defense minister, and militants have since begun blocking certain entry points into the capital, Bamako. The cancelation of the flights was due to “the cost difference related to the increase in kerosene prices, as well as the security situation in Mali,” said the government body.
