Conflict in Northern Mali (since 2012)

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Conflict situation in northern Mali in 2013

The conflict in northern Mali has been an armed conflict in northern Mali that has been ongoing since 2012 , in which western states - particularly France  - have also been involved since January 2013 .

background

Conflicts between the Tuareg , who are often semi-nomadic as cattle breeders, and black African ethnic groups, who are traditionally sedentary farmers, have a history in Africa that goes back to pre-colonial times. Even after Mali's independence , there were multiple armed Tuareg uprisings in the northeastern parts of the country - also known as Azawad . In addition to 2012, this was also the case in 1963, 1991 and 2006.

Parties to the conflict

Pro-Malian forces

Pro-Azawad forces

MNLA and HCUA are dominated by the Tuareg tribe of the Ifoghas, but also represent other tribes.

The MAA represents the Arabs living in the Kidal, Timbuktu and Gao regions

Terrorist groups

JNIM and ISGS have established a de facto cooperation despite the rivalry between the umbrella organizations in the border region between Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

Others

MINUSMA's mission is to create a safer environment for the population in northern and, recently, in central Mali.

Taking sides in the conflict between the Malian government, the Platform and the CMA, as well as actively combating terrorist groups, is expressly not a mandate from MINUSMA.

  • 3 mixed battalions (strength 600-800 soldiers; consisting in equal parts of Malian army, platform and CMA) in Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu.

The list was agreed in 2013 in the Ouagadougou Agreement . The battalions' task is to monitor the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programs (disarmament, demobilization and reintegration) agreed in the agreement.

Course of conflict

Tuareg rebel in Northern Mali (July 26, 2012)

2012

Tuareg tribesmen from the National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad (MNLA) started a renewed rebellion against the Malian government with the aim of the independence of the Azawad. The conflict officially began on January 17, 2012 with the attack on Menaka. In particular, the influx of experienced fighters and heavy weapons in northern Mali as a result of the civil war in Libya at the end of 2011 has enabled the Tuareg, unlike in previous uprisings, to successfully take action against the few Malian security forces deployed in northern Mali. Sometimes Tuareg who serve in the Malian army or the security forces defected to the insurgents. The Tuareg receive further support through their connections to the terrorist groups Ansar Dine , Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), as well as the branch of Al-Qaeda active in the Sahel zone "Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb" (AQMI ). Over the next three months, against the resistance of the Malian armed forces, which are supported by black African self-defense militias from the Niger Arc, they advance further and further south.

In March 2012, there was a military coup in the Malian capital Bamako against President Amadou Toumani Touré , which the putschists accused of being unable to fight the uprising.

On March 31st, Gao was left to the insurgents without a fight; on April 1st, Timbuktu was occupied. On April 6, 2012, the MNLA announced that it had achieved its goals, ended the offensive against government forces and declared Azawad's independence .

From June 2012, the MNLA came into conflict with the Islamist groups after the Islamists began to enforce Sharia law in Azawad. By July 17, 2012, MUJAO and Ansar Dine as well as AQMI had forcibly displaced the MNLA from all major cities. On September 1, 2012, Douentza , a town in the Mopti region under the control of the Ganda Iso militia, was captured by the MUJAO. On November 28, 2012, Ansar Dine sold the MNLA from Léré, a small town in Niafunké County in the Timbuktu region .

By the end of 2012, the military situation of the Malian army visibly deteriorated after several months of fighting. When the Malian army threatened to collapse and the Islamists would march through to the capital Bamako in January 2013, Malian President Dioncounda Traore asked the President of France , François Hollande , and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for help. This was the starting signal for a military operation against the rebels, which is known as the Opération Serval .

2013

At the end of January 2013, French and Malian troops retook several cities, including the strategically important cities of Gao and Timbuktu . During the liberation of Timbuktu, the 2e régiment étranger de parachutistes carried out the first jump from paratroopers since the US invasion of Grenada (1983). At the same time, several West African states of ECOWAS , which had made troops available as part of Operation AFISMA , increased their contingents in Mali.

On July 1st, AFISMA was transferred to the UN mission MINUSMA .

On June 18, 2013, the Ouagadougou Agreement between the Republic of Mali and the armed rebel groups of the MNLA and the HCUA was signed. The Tuareg announced a ceasefire.

When taking place in July presidential election won Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta the most votes and thus solved the transitional government of the military from.

In September of that year, the MNLA terminated the ceasefire after government forces opened fire on stone-throwing demonstrators. MNLA Vice President Mahamadou Djeri Maiga said of the incident: "What happened is a declaration of war."

2014

On January 25, 2014, it became known that 11 “Muslim fighters” were killed in a French military operation north of Timbuktu.

On July 13, 2014, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian announced the end of Operation Serval and the establishment of Operation Barkhane on August 1, 2014. This envisages the deployment of around 3,000 soldiers throughout the Sahel and the Sahara. The aim of the operations is to fight terrorism.

This essentially ended the conventional conflict over the independence of the Azawad. The essence of the conflict became a mixture of

  • jihadist attacks against Malian and international security forces as well as influencing the population,
  • escalating inter-ethnic conflicts
    • in northern Mali between CMA and GATIA ("Tuareg civil war")
    • in central Mali between the Fulbe on one side and Songhai and Dogon on the other.

Since then, attacks with improvised booby traps, ambushes and locally limited skirmishes, in the case of inter-ethnic conflicts with many deaths, have been the order of the day.

2015

At the beginning of the year, the jihadist groups begin to expand to central Mali. On January 5th, the city of Nampala was attacked and taken by the jihadists for several hours, and eleven Malian soldiers were killed. On the night of January 6th to 7th, jihadists attacked Djura in the Mopti region, on January 16, Ténenkou.

On March 7, 2015, an attack was carried out on the La Terrasse bar in Bamako, which is popular with foreigners. The attack killed 5 people and injured 9 others.

On May 15 and June 20, 2015, the Algiers Agreement was signed in Bamako. First, the Malian government and the Platform sign it. The CMA initially refused to sign, but then ratified the agreement under pressure from the international community.

On May 13, 2015, a group from Al-Mourabitoune led by the Emir Adnan Abu Walid Al-Sahrawi declared their allegiance to the Islamic State. Two days later, the leader of Al-Mourabitounes, Mokhtar Belmokhtar , denied allegiance to ISIS and declared that the Al-Sahrawi press release "did not come from the Shura Council".

On November 20, 2015 at around 7 a.m. , two young jihadists armed with AK-47 rifles attacked the Radisson Blu Hotel in Bamako. Up to 170 people, including 140 customers and 30 employees, are temporarily taken hostage. The official death toll was 21 (18 hostages, 2 terrorists and 1 Malian gendarme). A total of 10 people were injured, including 7 hostages and 3 police officers from the Malian special forces who stormed the building.

At the end of 2015, in response to the jihadist attacks in the center, the Malian army launched Operation Seno (sand, earth; in Fulani), which lasted three months, with soldiers from the army, gendarmes and elements of the national guard . This operation was one of the largest operations by the Malian army since 2013. During the operation, the Malian army is supported by "hunters" from the Dogon. This fuels the inter-ethnic conflict between the Dogon and Songhai with the Fulbe.

2016

On March 21, 2016, the headquarters of the European EUTM Mali mission in Bamako was attacked by three attackers armed with assault rifles. One assailant was killed during the firefight, the other two days later the Malian police arrested.

During March, the French and Malian armies carried out Operation Ossau in the Gao region, in the course of which a dozen insurgents were "neutralized".

The fourth Battle of Kidal took place on July 21-22, 2016 between the GATIA, dominated by the Tuaregs of the Imghad tribe, and the CMA (especially the HCUA, dominated by the Ifoghas) and ended with a victory of the CMA. This was preceded by the return of GATIA as part of the platform to Kidal on February 1st. This was also provided for in the Treaty of Algiers. However, many supporters of the CMA perceived GATIA's conduct as a provocation, which led to an escalation. After the battle, Kidal was trapped by the GATIA.

2017

On January 18, a suicide bomber carried out an attack on a field camp in Gao in which a mixed battalion consisting of the Malian army, platform and CMA is being set up. In the Treaty of Algiers it was agreed to set up a mixed battalion in each of the three northern regions of Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu to monitor the disarmament and reintegration process. Depending on the source, between 54 and 77 people died in the attack.

Between February and March there are repeated inter-ethnic clashes in central Mali with several dead.

On March 1, Ansar Dine , Front de libération du Macina , Al-Mourabitounes and the branch of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, which is active in the Sahel , declare their merger to form Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslim (JNIM) .

Between March 27 and April 10, 1,300 Malian, Burkinabe and French soldiers carried out Operation Panga in the Foulsaré Forest, also known as the Fhero Forest, on the border between Mali and Burkina Faso .

At the beginning of June the CMA breaks open the siege ring laid by the platform around Kidal and pushes the platform far south. On July 29th, the CMA succeeded in taking Menaka. Only a few kilometers before Gao can the platform stop the CMA. On August 22nd, both parties agree on a ceasefire that recognizes the status quo.

A UN report in October expressed regret that "almost no progress had been made in implementing the peace agreement during the year."

2018

On January 25, the United Nations Security Council deliberated on the situation in Mali and criticized the slowness of the Malian state in implementing the Algiers peace agreement. He threatened Bamako for the first time with sanctions in the event of further delay.

On May 18, 2018, several EUTM Mali and Barkhane missionaries were hit by an attack on the Le Campement holiday resort near Bamako. The Portuguese Sargento Ajudante Fernando Benido (EUTM) was fatally injured in the firefight between the attackers and soldiers on the missions .

On June 29, the headquarters of the G5 Sahel in Sévaré was attacked by a squad of six jihadists: two of the attackers were killed, including a suicide bomber driving a booby-trapped vehicle, as well as two soldiers and a civilian.

On 1. July died in a suicide attack on a French-Malian patrol in Gao four civilians, four French soldiers and 23 other civilians were injured.

2019

On the night of February 23-24, 2019, the EUTM training center at the Malian officers' school in Koulikoro was attacked by several attackers with handguns and two cars prepared as explosives. The attack was repulsed by Malian and Spanish security forces. Three Malian soldiers guarding the entrance were injured. Mission members were not harmed.

On March 23, the Ogossagou massacre occurred : around 5 a.m., several hundred Dogon hunters armed with automatic rifles and grenades attacked the mostly Fulbe-inhabited village of Ogossagouan. The garrison, held by 54 to 70 Fulbe militiamen, initially tried to offer resistance. When they ran out of ammunition, the defenders fled. They left thirteen dead. After the fighting, the attackers took over the village and indiscriminately attacked the civilian population. Almost all the huts in the village were set on fire. According to Cheick Harouna Sankaré, mayor of the neighboring municipality of Ouenkoro, women were slashed with machetes and pregnant women were eviscerated. Other reports indicate that people were burned alive, beheaded, or thrown into a well. The attack lasted two hours. At least 134 civilians were killed and 55 others injured.

The Fulbe took revenge on the Dogon with the massacres of Sobane Da (approx. 100 dead, burned) on the night of June 9th to 10th and of Gangafani and Yoro (41 dead) on June 17th.

2020

On February 13, after long negotiations with the CMA and in accordance with the Algiers Agreement, the Malian army returned to Kidal, six years after being driven out by the Tuareg rebels. Accompanied by 200 peacekeepers, a battalion of 240 soldiers from the “restored” Malian army will be set up in the camp, made up of 80 soldiers from the Malian army, 80 former platform militiamen and 80 former CMA rebels.

consequences

Refugee problem

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced on January 15, 2013 that almost 150,000 people from war zones had fled abroad and 230,000 more people had left their places of residence but were still within Mali. According to the United Nations World Food Program, US $ 129 million would be needed to supply the Malians with food .

According to a report by the BBC , a total of 228,918 people within Mali have been displaced from their homeland since the conflict began in 2012. By the end of 2012, 144,500 Malians had fled abroad, 54,100 of them to Mauritania , 50,000 to Niger , 38,800 to Burkina Faso and 1,500 to Algeria . 5000 residents of the city of Konna fled the fighting.

Threat to world heritage

The UNESCO called for the protection of World Heritage sites in Mali.

The historic city of Timbuktu with its clay mosques is a UNESCO World Heritage site of high cultural importance, but the carefully preserved heritage is in danger due to the ongoing conflict in Mali. Destruction affected a total of 14 of the 16 holy graves; these have since been rebuilt. The clay mosques are also currently suffering from a lack of repair measures that would have to be carried out regularly due to the fragility of the clay material. Around 4,200 copies of the famous Timbuktu manuscripts were stolen or destroyed by the rebels, but over 300,000 copies were brought to the capital Bamako and thus escaped destruction. They are currently being digitally documented and subjected to conservation measures. The fabled city of Timbuktu, whose name was used as a synonym for a place far away in Western cultures, was once the center of trade in the Sahara. In 2012, al-Qaeda rebels from northern Mali destroyed historical and religious landmarks there on the grounds that such relics were idolatrous. Now the site is endangered by the war. The Secretary General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova , commented on this as follows:

“I urge all armed forces to make every effort to protect the country's cultural heritage, which is already badly damaged. Mali's cultural heritage is a jewel whose protection is important for all of humanity. This is our common heritage, nothing can justify damaging it. "

After the capture of Timbuktu by French and Malian troops at the end of January 2013, the first images of the destruction became known. In addition to the clay mosques, the manuscripts of the Institut des hautes études et de recherches islamiques Ahmed Baba in particular suffered, although the majority were brought to safety in good time.

In September 2016, the rebel leader Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi was sentenced by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to nine years in prison for war crimes that severely damaged Timbuktu's cultural heritage. Al Faqi Al Mahdi, a member of the Ansar Dine rebel movement , pleaded guilty.

Human rights violations

The United Nations has identified cases of amputations, flogging and executions, such as the stoning of a couple in July 2012 who allegedly had an affair. The International Criminal Court ordered a war crimes investigation based on reports of the mutilation and killing of residents who did not obey the Islamists.

“The current human rights situation is fraught with longstanding and unsolved problems. Human rights violations have been committed both in the north and in the government-controlled area, "the UN Human Rights Council said , citing abuses since January 2012. The council noted that" serious human rights violations have occurred in northern Mali since January 2012, including mass executions and Killings without trial. "

The Human Rights Council detailed some cases in its statement.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) announced on January 19, 2013 that it had reliable information about serious human rights violations, including murder, committed by Malian security forces against civilians in the city of Niono. According to HRW, Tuareg and Arabs, from whom most of the rebels descended, are particularly affected. The non-governmental organization called on "the Malian authorities and soldiers, including the French and West Africans, to do their utmost to ensure the protection of all civilians."

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), a French human rights organization accused on January 22, the Malian army of mass shootings and ill-treatment in at least 33 cases in the room Sévaré, Mopti and Niono. In Bamako, the troops allegedly looted houses and intimidated their Tuareg residents.

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Conflict in Northern Mali  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
  • Orphans of the Sahara (Episode 1: Return 46:30 - Episode 2: Rebellion 47:26 - Episode 3: Exile 47:30) (English)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Isla Baines: Mali Political Conflict . Bobby Digital, Ivory Coast 2017.
  2. ↑ Mali Besieged by Fighters Fleeing Libya . Stratfor. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
  3. ↑ Bilans contradictoires de l'armée et des rebelles au sujet des combats dans le nord-est du Mali. January 20, 2012, accessed April 4, 2020 (French).
  4. ↑ L'armée cesse le combat à Gao, ville stratégique. In: 20minutes ch. Retrieved April 4, 2020 (French).
  5. ↑ Mali. Le pouvoir laisse Gao aux mains des rebelles. Retrieved April 4, 2020 (French).
  6. ^ Tuareg rebels declare the independence of Azawad, north of Mali , Al Arabiya. April 6, 2012. 
  7. ↑ Serge Daniel: Islamists seize north Mali town, at least 21 dead in clashes , Google News. June 27, 2012. Archived from the original on November 23, 2012. 
  8. ^ Adam Nossiter: Jihadists' Fierce Justice Drives Thousands to Flee Mali . In: The New York Times , July 18, 2012. Archived from the original on November 23, 2012. Retrieved November 23, 2012. 
  9. ^ The actors in Mali: Islamists and drug traffickers. In: taz . January 13, 2013, accessed February 2, 2013 .
  10. ^ Mali: des islamist à la lisière north-south . In: Le Figaro , September 1, 2012. Retrieved January 13, 2013. 
  11. ^ Ban Ki-moon met en garde contre une intervention au Mali . In: Le Monde , November 29, 2012. Retrieved January 13, 2013. 
  12. ↑ Malian President asks France for help against Islamists. In: welt.de. January 11, 2013, accessed December 3, 2018 .
  13. ↑ French and Malian troops take Gao. (No longer available online.) In: Tagesschau . January 26, 2013, archived from the original on January 28, 2013 ; Retrieved February 2, 2013 .
  14. ↑ Mali. La Légion a sauté sur Tombouctou! In: Ouest-France. January 27, 2013, accessed April 4, 2020 (French).
  15. ↑ Africa's states increase troops for Mali. (No longer available online.) In: Tagesschau. January 27, 2013, archived from the original on January 28, 2013 ; Retrieved February 2, 2013 .
  16. ↑ faz.net
  17. ↑ Mali's new President Keita sworn in . ( Memento from December 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Zeit Online , September 2013
  18. ↑ Mali's Tuareg fighters end ceasefire . November 30, 2013. Retrieved December 28, 2013. 
  19. ^ French troops kill 11 Muslim fighters in Mali , Press TV. January 25, 2014. 
  20. ↑ Guerre au Mali: ce que l'on sait de l'opération Barkhane. Retrieved March 22, 2020 (French).
  21. ↑ Mali: nouvelle attaque d'une localité dans le center, un civil tué - Africa Radio. Retrieved March 22, 2020 .
  22. ↑ Au Mali, une nouvelle attaque contre une localité près de la frontière mauritanienne . In: Le Monde.fr . January 7, 2015 ( lemonde.fr [accessed March 22, 2020]).
  23. ↑ Mali: deux militaires maliens tués dans une attaque jihadiste dans le Center. Retrieved March 22, 2020 .
  24. ↑ Alakhbar | Le groupe El-Mourabitoune prête allégeance à l'Etat islamique. Retrieved March 22, 2020 .
  25. ↑ Alakhbar | Bel Mokhtar dément l'allégeance du groupe El-Mourabitoune à l'Etat Islamique. Retrieved March 22, 2020 .
  26. ↑ Mali: début d'une opération militaire anti-jihadiste en pays Dogon. October 27, 2015, accessed on March 22, 2020 (French).
  27. ^ Mamadou Makadji: Mali: Opération antiterroristes: ”Osseau” frappe à Gao. Retrieved on March 22, 2020 (Fri-FR).
  28. ↑ Barkhane: opération transfrontalière Panga dans la boucle du Niger élargie. French Ministry of Defense, April 14, 2017, accessed March 22, 2020 (French).
  29. ↑ Mali: retour du gouverneur à Kidal, trêve entre CMA et Gatia. August 22, 2017, accessed on March 22, 2020 (French).
  30. ↑ Mali: the report alarmant de l'ONU sur la situation au Nord. October 3, 2017, accessed on March 22, 2020 (French).
  31. ↑ Mali: l'ONU bull market le ton contre Bamako. January 24, 2018, accessed on March 22, 2020 (French).
  32. ^ Attaque contre le QG de la force régionale G5 Sahel, dans le center du Mali. June 29, 2018, accessed March 22, 2020 (French).
  33. ↑ AFP: Mali: attaque "terroriste" against les soldiers français de Barkhane à Gao. Europe1, July 1, 2018, accessed March 22, 2020 (French).
  34. ↑ Plus d'une centaine de civils tués au Mali. March 23, 2019, accessed on March 22, 2020 (French).
  35. ↑ De retour à Kidal, l'armée malienne veut incarner la restauration de l'autorité de l'État. February 13, 2020, accessed on March 22, 2020 (French).
  36. ↑ Over 100,000 Malians are fleeing abroad. Tagesschau , January 15, 2013, accessed on January 15, 2013 .
  37. ^ Mali conflict: French set for key ground combat. BBC News, January 16, 2013, accessed January 16, 2013 .
  38. ↑ a b French, Malians seize town from Islamists. CNN, January 19, 2013, accessed January 20, 2013 .
  39. ↑ to the destruction of the overview among terrorists, militias and fanatics of faith - instrumentalization of cultural heritage in Mali . Archeology, January 8, 2013
  40. ↑ Tricked - Timbuktu manuscripts were hidden in time . Archeology, January 30, 2013
  41. ↑ a b Case Information Sheet - Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi. (PDF) (No longer available online.) ICC, August 17, 2017, archived from the original on October 9, 2017 ; accessed on October 8, 2017 (English).
  42. ^ Summary of the Judgment and Sentence in the case of The Prosecutor v. Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi. (PDF) ICC, September 26, 2016, accessed on October 8, 2017 (English).
  43. ↑ Les populations civiles du nord du Mali sont menacées. In: Le Monde. January 19, 2013, accessed January 20, 2013 .
  44. ↑ Mali army accused of 'summary executions' by rights group. CBC, January 23, 2013, accessed January 23, 2013 .