Mali regime ends Algiers Accord with Tuareg rebels
Mali’s junta axes the Algiers Accord, a nine year peace agreement with the Tuareg rebels, according to Reuters.
The termination of the 2015 peace agreement, on 25th January 2024, could topple Mali’s little remaining political stability altogether.
Antipathy between Mali’s central authorities and the Tuareg rebels resurfaced due to the military’s consolidation of power and their collaboration with the Wagner Group, a Russian military contractor.
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However, military authorities disclosed in a television statement that the Algiers Accord had to “end with immediate effect,” as the Tuareg rebels were not adhering to the terms of the agreement.
In spite of the peace accord, the militant group – linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State – have committed insurgencies which have since spread to Burkina Faso and Niger, killing thousands of civilians.
The Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) group revealed that it was not surprised by the discontinuation of the Algiers Accord.
The spokesman for the independent and nationalist coalition, Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane said that the end of the agreement had been expected since Mali’s military “brought in Wagner, chased out MINUSMA (the U.N. peacekeepers) and started hostilities by attacking our positions on the ground.
“We knew that the aim was to terminate the agreement,” Elmaouloud Ramadane said.
With the gradual withdrawal of U.N. peacekeepers, conflict and hostility between the two sides recommenced in August 2023 over the position of power.
By August 2022, France had removed all of its troops that had been trying to combat the Islamist militants since May 2013 because of the country’s deteriorating relations with Bamako.
Mali has suffered relentless conflict since 2012 when the Tuareg groups sought independence for the desert region they call Azawad over complaints of government neglect. Violence descended when Islamist militants hijacked the uprising.
The UN Security Council stressed the importance of the 2015 Algiers Accord and encouraged both parties to refresh their knowledge of its terms.
Reuters
