Mali accuses Algeria of funding Tuareg militia groups
A statement by the military junta ruling Mali this week accused neighbour Algeria of “interference” and supporting “terrorist groups,” specifically Tuareg groups fighting the government in the north of the country, according to RFI on January 3rd.
Mali’s foreign ministry said it had learned through the press of Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf “once again commenting on Mali’s strategy for combatting terrorism”.
The Tuareg people are an indigenous Berber groups in the Sahara, found in southern Algeria and the northern Mali and Niger. There have been a number of rebellions seeking independence or autonomy for the region, which they call Azawad, the current one starting in 2o12.
Algeria was accused by the ministry of “proximity and complicity with terrorist groups that destabilise Mali and to whom it has offered shelter and support”.
It criticised what it calls “this new interference by Algeria in Mali’s internal affairs” and demanded that Algiers “stop using Mali as a tool for its international positioning”.
Malian representative at the United Nations accused Algerian diplomats of harbouring terrorists in late September 2024.
Mali’s junta announced on January 25th last ear the “immediate termination” of the Algiers Peace Agreement signed back in 2015. It has been regarded as crucial for stability, especially in the northern Tuareg populated region.
RFI
