Mali: Islamic terrorists vs Govt and Russian peacekeeprs

 

At least 77 people have been killed in an attack on Mali’s capital, Bamako, on Tuesday, according to AFP, in the first major attack on the Malian capital since 2015.

Here's what you need to know https://t.co/MS1g6ne2bO pic.twitter.com/rJVAhFWmBG

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) September 20, 2024

article here.

JNIM members appeared to have killed scores of Malian soldiers and Russian fighters from the Wagner mercenary group during the nine hours the attack is believed to have lasted for. The Wagner Group, now called Africa Corps, is deployed in the country to assist the government in repelling armed groups.

backstory 

When anti-French sentiment began to rise in the region around 2015, partly due to continued attacks by armed groups, Goita ordered French forces and MINUSMA to leave. The troops started withdrawing in 2022 and completed their exit by December last year. Goita’s government has instead turned to Russia’s Wagner forces for support. There are now about 2,000 Wagner fighters in the country.

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StrategyPage has a long discussion about the war in that country

it's not just islamicist vs the present Government, it has roots in tribal difference: the Tuareg (desert tribes) vs the Arab influenced culture of the north and the black tribes of the south. The Tuareg used to run the place and is now getting payback: and now the Islamic crazies have gotten involved.

CSP was formed in 2021 and mainly consists of Tuaregs, a North African Berber group that dominated the region for over two thousand years until European colonial forces showed up in the early 19 th century.,,,

 

The French colonial governments used the Tuaregs as their enforcers and this backfired on them when the French left and the newly independent governments of Niger, Mali, Algeria, Libya, and Burkina Faso sought to suppress Tuareg power in the region.....

 

In 2023 and 2024 the economic and political situation in Mali has gotten worse, with more Islamic terrorist violence and growing areas of northern and central Mali coming under the control of Islamic terrorist groups.

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update: SP has more on the Russian merc losses.