The Mali War started in January of 2012 by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (NMLA) a Tuareg dominated movement claiming the northern part of Mali as a homeland. They were supported by Ansar Dine a Salafi Jihadist group dedicated to the imposition of Sharia law throughout Mali. Members of the NMLA took part in the 2011 Libyan Revolution.
In March the Malian military staged a coup against their civilian government citing a lack of funding and equipment in their fight against the insurgency. This allowed the NMLA to take over the northern part of the country. On the 5th of April they NMLA stated they had accomplished their goals and declared independence. Ansar Dine and other Islamist groups began enforcing Sharia law and fighting against the Tuareg NMLA. The NMLA lost control of most of the region by mid July.
The Mali government asked for help and received assistance from the French military and African Union forces. The British Army, the Canadian Army, other EU nations and the US Air Force also provided support. By the end of the year French and Chadian troops had retaken most of the northern region. A UN peacekeeping mission called MINUSMA also began in 2013, eventually consisting of 13,000 troops. This marked the beginning of a guerrilla phase that continues currently.
Russian Wagner Group mercenaries loyal to Vladimir Putin and Turkish forces of Recep Erdogan began to deploy to Mali in January of 2022. The French pulled out their forces, refusing to work with the Russians and Turks, and claimed they were unsure of the motivations behind the Junta (Universidad de Navarra).
On December 11, 2023 the UN Mission also left Mali by request of the Mali military government (AP).
According to the UN, Wagner Group mercenaries were behind the slaughter of 500 civilians in the Mali city of Moura in March 2023 (Guardian). In July it was reported Mali and Wagner forces had committed atrocities in December of 2022 (AP).
In May 2012, Amnesty International released a report stating that the conflict had created Mali’s worst human rights situation since 1960. The organization stated that fighters with the MNLA and Ansar Dine were “running riot” in Mali’s north, and documented instances of gang rape, extrajudicial executions, and the use of child soldiers by both Tuareg and Islamist groups.
On 3 April 2012, armed groups looted 2,354 tons of food from United Nations’ World Food Programme’s warehouses in Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu, causing the WFP to suspend its food distribution operations in northern Mali. Ansar Dine also blocked a humanitarian convoy bringing medical and food aid from reaching Timbuktu on 15 May,
The CNRDR’s spokesman Amadou Konare claimed that “women and girls have been kidnapped and raped by the new occupants who are laying down their own law.” The anti-slavery organization Temedt claims that ex-slaves were the first targeted for punishment by Islamist forces and that former masters have used the violence to recapture ex-slaves. (Wikipedia) – note; the Tuareg people still hold hereditary black slaves, ethnically related to Nilo or original Nile River societies.
Related
- 8 West African Oil and Gas Discoveries to Watch – Energy Capital & Power
- Coups in Africa, Even in ECOWAS – Wilson Center