Tuareg rebels accuse Mali army of carrying out deadly assault
Two people were killed in an attack on a Tuareg base in Mali, which the Tuaregs have accused the army and Russian mercenary group Wagner.
Tuareg former rebels in northern Mali on Monday 7 August 2023 accused the army and Russian mercenary group Wagner, of an attack last week on one of their bases that killed two of their men.
“This attack was carried out by the Malian armed forces and their Wagner proxies,” the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) said in a statement sent to AFP.
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INDEPENDENCE DEMAND FROM MALI STATE
The CMA — an alliance of Tuareg-dominated groups seeking autonomy or independence from the Malian state — said it had “tangible proof” of its assertions.
The military government which seized power in Mali in 2020 has fallen out with former colonial power France and turned to Russia for political and military support.
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Wagner is openly active in Mali and at least three other African countries, typically shoring up fragile regimes in exchange for minerals and other natural wealth.
In Mali, Wagner paramilitaries protect the regime, conduct military operations and training, and advise on the revision of mining laws and even the constitution.
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The regime in Bamako says the foreign military instructors in Mali are not from Wagner but from the regular Russian army. On Friday, the Tuaregs said they were being attacked in Foita, northern Mali, by “armed men in three vehicles” without giving details.
On Monday, the CMA criticised what it said was “a hateful, premeditated act” that “deliberately undermined the May 23, 2014, ceasefire and the security arrangements” the then civilian government had agreed with the rebels.
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CONSEQUENCES FOR THE FALTERING PEACE DEAL
It condemned the military government for its “bellicose stance”, which it said could have “consequences” for the faltering peace deal concluded in 2015.
For several months, relations between Bamako and rebel groups have been tense, threatening the so-called Algiers agreement between the government and the CMA.
In December 2022, the former rebels announced they were suspending participation in the accord and, in April, declared there was “no way to build a common future” with the regime.
The peace accord, which foresees decentralisation of some powers and the integration of ex-rebels into the national army, has yet to be fully implemented. Unlike the Tuaregs, jihadist groups continue to fight the Malian state, plunging the country into a major security and political crisis.