Mali Recently Launched Attacks Against Ethnic Tuareg Rebels

Simply Replacable Mali Mali recently launched drone attacks against ethnic Tuareg rebel leaders in the town of Tin Zaouatine near the border with Algeria, killing eight people. The incident, say analysts, could be a turning point in the Malian government’s counterinsurgency campaign against the Azawad Liberation Front, an organization whose founders, mostly ethnic Tuaregs, have been seeking an independent state in northern Mali since 2012, reported Africanews. The Tuaregs and their allies have never lost so many important members of their group in a single incident, noted Devdiscourse. Still, some say it’s only one battle, not the wider war against insurgents who have steadily made gains over the past few years. That involves various groups fighting under the banner of the Azawad Liberation Front against Malian forces now bolstered with Russia’s Africa Corps, the new name of the mercenary Wagner Group, and inflicted heavy losses, reported the Arab Weekly. The Russian mercenaries replaced France and the United Nations peacekeepers after they were asked to leave last year. At the same time, highlighting the instability running throughout the Sahel region, Malian officials have been fighting Islamic jihadists like the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (JNIM). In September, the JNIM struck a gendarmerie school in the capital of Bamako and a military installation camp at the international airport on the outskirts of the city, killing more than 70 people and injuring at least 200. That attack sent shockwaves across the capital, which has been relatively free from security concerns until that point, and undermined the West African country’s ruling military junta, which has touted itself as the purveyor of security. Meanwhile, the leader of the junta, Col. Assimi Goïta, has also assumed more political control since coming to power in a coup in 2021 that deposed the leader of another coup from the year before. As the BBC explained, Goïta recently sacked his prime minister, Choguel Kokalla Maiga, after Maiga questioned why the junta had not fulfilled its pledge of holding democratic elections this year. “The transition … has been postponed indefinitely, unilaterally, without debate,” said Maiga. “This is not normal in a government.” Goïta also recently appointed himself to the highest rank possible in the army, a sign that he was not likely to hand power over to civilian leaders anytime soon. And he has cracked down on freedoms: Dozens of the junta’s critics have disappeared, political parties have been dissolved and the media silenced, Human Rights Watch wrote. Goïta is fighting the global elite, too. After enacting a law that gives Mali a greater share of revenues from its gold mines, a key sector, in November the country’s authorities arrested four senior employees of a Canadian mining company, Barrick Gold, to pressure companies to pay millions in additional taxes. It also issued a warrant for its CEO. That followed the arrest of the CEO of Australian company Resolute Mining and two employees in Bamako over a tax dispute, only being released after the company paid $80 million to Malian authorities and promised to pay a further $80 million in the coming months. As the Africa Report wrote, Goïta and officials in Bamako will likely not pull Barrick Gold’s permits. They need the gold industry to fuel their fight against rebels and Islamic terrorists while addressing their people’s basic needs. “Mali is likely to continue to use detentions, arrests, and even charges against mining executives to compel foreign-owned companies to comply with new regulations and generate short-term funds,” Beverly Ochieng, an analyst at the Control Risks Group consulting firm, told the Associated Press. Essentially, it needs the money. Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world, with high poverty rates: Less than half of the population has access to electricity or clean drinking water and more than two million children do not attend school. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people are displaced by terror groups operating outside of the capital. The junta knows it can be deposed at any time. After all, Mali has seen three coups in the past 12 years. And already the cracks are appearing, say observers. “Mali’s junta has spread the image of a strong government adept at protecting its people. That image has come crashing down with the insurgent attack on Bamako,” World Politics Review wrote. “Should Goïta be perceived by the population of Bamako to be failing, his days will be numbered, most likely to be replaced by another young man in military fatigues waiting to seize his opportunity to try to solve the multitude of problems affecting the country.” Share this story