A 72-hour deadline set by the West African bloc ECOWAS for Mali soldiers to start returning to barracks, has expired on Monday. The country’s military, who led a March 21 coup, earlier pledged to reinstate the constitution and all state institutions. ECOWAS has threatened the closure of trade borders, diplomatic isolation of Mali and a freeze in funding. Meanwhile, northern separatist rebels said they had seized three regional capitals in Mali, Reuters reports.