Mali’s military rulers announced late Thursday the “end, with immediate effect” of a key 2015 peace deal signed with northern separatist groups, following months of hostilities between rebels and the army. The junta blamed the “change in posture of certain signatory groups” but also “acts of hostility” by the lead mediator Algeria, government spokesperson Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga said in a televised statement, on ending a deal considered essential in maintaining stability in a country rocked by jihadist violence since 2012.