After having recently left thousands dead from overthrowing the governments ruling Libya and the Ivory Coast, the United Nations is already plotting its next invasion to deal with the fallout. This time, Mali is in the UN’s crosshairs.

Mali attracted UN attention when the northern part of the country was taken over by Islamists and nomadic rebels amid a military coup d’état that ousted the government in the South. The UN Security Council is currently considering two resolutions related to the country, a former colony of France. The first one calls for negotiations between armed rebels in the North and the supposed “interim” government operating in the capital. That measure is expected to be approved soon, according to officials involved in the negotiations.

The second resolution would purport to authorize international military intervention, a move being sought by the coalition of regimes making up the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the struggling “interim” government in Southern Mali. The French government is circulating a draft of the resolution this week.

Among the key points in the tentative UN plan is a request that ECOWAS draft a proposal for an international assault on Northern Mali to oust the rebels, who are reportedly committing wanton human rights abuses under the guise of imposing Islamic Sharia law. The scheme demands "detailed and actionable recommendations … for such an international military force, including means and modalities of the envisaged deployment.” 

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Photo of child soldiers in Mali recruited by Islamists in case of UN military intervention: AP Images