Mali goes to polls under threat of Islamist violence

BAMAKO: Millions of Malians ere expected to vote on Sunday in parliamentary elections intended to cap the troubled west African nation’s return to democracy but overshadowed by the threat of Islamist reprisals.

The polls mark the troubled west African nation’s first steps to recovery after it was upended by a military coup in March last year, finalizing a process begun with the election of its first post-conflict president in August.