Once again, the local governments appear unable or unwilling to stop them, and the jihadis seem to have an unlimited supply of men, money, and materiel, but no one ever seems to stop and wonder why these people who supposedly represent a tiny minority of extremists are so resilient and ubiquitous.
“Islamist militants in Mali kill hundreds, displace thousands in eastern advance,” by Tiemoko Diallo, Reuters, October 14, 2022:
BAMAKO (Reuters) – Islamist militants have advanced further into eastern Mali in recent days, seizing territory, killing hundreds of civilians and forcing thousands to flee, regional Malian officials and analysts said.
The gains by the militants highlight Mali’s struggle to fill the vacuum following the departure of French and other European forces, while relations with neighbouring Niger have deteriorated, preventing joint military operations near the Niger and Burkina Faso borders.
Heavy fighting between Tuareg separatists and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) group has been reported in Menaka region, where Malian forces took over a French military camp in June.
While the offensive started in March, France’s pullout “left a vacuum and lifted a lot of pressure”, said Heni Nsaiba, senior researcher at the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), a U.S.-based crisis monitoring group.
Hundreds have been killed since March, mainly civilians, as jihadists have battled their way into Menaka and the neighbouring Gao region, according to ACLED data, Nsaiba added.
Islamic State-linked fighters are the major perpetrators of that violence, according to the U.N. Secretary General’s report to the Security Council released on Thursday.
This month, Islamist militants took over the rural Ansongo district, near the border with Niger, a local official and pro-government militia said.
“Jihadists stopped several buses and forced drivers to make women sit at the back and men in the front,” Yacouba Mamadou Maiga, the deputy mayor of Ouattagouna, one of Ansongo’s seven municipalities told Reuters via telephone on Monday.
mick says
Thanks for ringing the alarm bell (again) Robert.
I note that the mixed race Tuareg separatists, (Berber/ Black), are fighting ISGS Islamists.
I guess ISGS are well funded by a Gulf state, and are doing most of the killing.
In Nigeria the Muslim Tuareg (Fulani) are killing Christians, and moving in.. I doubt they are as well funded as IS groups.
Hank says
“The gains by the militants highlight Mali’s struggle to fill the vacuum following the departure of French and other European forces”
The French and Europeans should have stayed and used the place for keeping peace & order locally and a processing center for the millions of illegal Muslim migrants overrunning their own countries. A place to instantly deport and process deported Muslim criminals, jihadists and Islamist’s. They would have had a processing center served on a silver platter. What a bunch of birdbrains.
There is no excuse for not ending exposure of citizens to this alien Muslim 5th column when they throw away solutions. It looks more like a deliberate plan to turn their countries into an Islamic cesspool.