African Union calls for a military operation to restore the government in Mali 1707122.

Defense News - Mali

"The council calls for actions by the international community," said Ramtane Lamamra, AU peace and security commissioner, at the end of the day-long meeting on the Malian crisis.

A technical mission has been deployed to develop a strategy for military operations to follow, he said, adding that another mission is under way to collect necessary supplies for possible operations.

The initiative would be submitted to the United Nations (UN) for review, he added.

Fifteen African leaders, including incumbent PSC Chairman Allassane Ouattara, who is also president of Cote d'Ivoire, called for an international inquiry to probe the attack against interim President Dioncounda Traore.

The PSC discussed a wide range of issues that have risen since the military coup led by Amadou Sanogo.

The African leaders had previously expressed concern that the Malian crisis could deteriorate the security situation of the entire region and destroy the government structure of the West African nation.

The communique called for efforts to facilitate the safe return of the former Malian president, who fled to Dakar, Senegal after he was ousted in March.

The PSC also condemned the military's grabbing of power from the civilian administration as "unacceptable interference of the military" and called for the immediate deployment of an AU human rights team to investigate rights violations by the militants.