A/HRC/34/72 9. In June, the Malian Government, the Platform and the CMA reached an agreement on the issue of interim authorities for the regions of Timbuktu, Gao, Ménaka, Taoudénit and Kidal. However, the Independent Expert was informed that the people of Timbuktu and Gao had repeatedly expressed their objection to being administered by former members of armed groups. Moreover, the installation of interim authorities has been delayed due to the discontent of some signatory movements at the allocation of a majority of posts to the CMA. 10. The Independent Expert monitored the municipal elections that took place on 20 November 2016, three years late, with a view to making sure that human rights were respected in the process. This monitoring focused on possible human rights violations and abuses related to the elections, including threats, arrests, and the kidnappings and killings of politicians, voters, campaign staff and members of the media. At least six incidents targeting election officials and candidates were documented prior to the 20 November elections, while in the Mopti region the campaign manager of the Party for Solidarity and Progress was killed at his residence by six unidentified armed men on motorcycles. 11. Although the elections were generally peaceful, some incidents were recorded in which polling stations were directly targeted in the regions of Timbuktu, Mopti and Ségou. In Ségou, unidentified armed individuals reportedly raided polling centres in several villages, seizing electoral materials and stealing motorcycles belonging to electoral workers. In another case, voters and a leading candidate received death threats warning them against participation in the vote. In other regions, polling stations in at least seven localities were closed for security reasons following targeted attacks and in the light of security threats posed by unidentified armed individuals. In the Timbuktu region, five Malian soldiers were killed when armed men attacked a convoy carrying ballot boxes after the elections. B. The security situation 12. The Independent Expert notes that the state of emergency in force in Mali, which was due to expire in August, has been extended by eight months until 29 March 2017. He is concerned about growing insecurity in the north and the centre of the country, as well as the increasing frequency of security incidents in the vicinity of Bamako. He notes that on the first day of his mission, 6 November, a MINUSMA convoy was attacked in the Mopti region by an armed group, who detonated an improvised explosive device before opening fire on the vehicles. Two civilians and one peacekeeper were killed in the incident, while eight other peacekeepers were injured. On 5 October, three members of the Malian Armed Forces were killed and five injured in an ambush, later claimed by Ansar Eddine, that took place on the Douentza-Bambara Maoudé road. 13. On 7 November, nine unidentified armed individuals attacked an NGO vehicle near Timbuktu. During the attack, two passengers were beaten and stripped of their possessions by the assailants, who also opened fire on another vehicle, killing three and seriously injuring one of the occupants. 14. The Independent Expert is particularly concerned about the gradual infiltration of extremist groups advocating a radical form of Islam in various parts of central and southern Mali, notably Mopti, Gao and Ségou, with the potential to move further south. On 2 September 2016, the village of Boni in the Mopti region fell under the control of armed individuals for a period of 24 hours. On 14 September, armed men on motorcycles arrived at the village of Akabar in Ménaka and ordered the vendors there to stop smoking because cigarettes were prohibited under sharia law. The men threatened to come back at regular intervals to ensure that sharia law was respected and to administer severe punishments to any vendors who did not comply with this rule. Such groups have also insisted that men and women be separated in all activities, including in schools and at water wells, and that restrictions be imposed on women in public places. 15. The Independent Expert is also troubled by numerous security incidents in the Bamako area, which have a negative impact on the human rights situation. On 7 November in Banamba, 130 kilometres from Bamako, an armed group of 29 suspected jihadists 4 GE.17-02058