In central Mali, fighting between armed groups intensifies

A repentant jihadist camp in Mopti, in central Mali. RFI

Text by: Serge Daniel

For two weeks, deadly clashes have multiplied in central Mali. First between jihadist groups, but also and always between community armed militias. Fighting that has claimed at least several dozen civilian casualties.

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" Jihadist fighters from Mali, the Sahel, let us unite against the common enemy ", has always been the motto of Islamist groups established on Malian territory. But in the Mopti region, in central Mali, the tide has turned. The local jihadist fighters of radical preacher Amadou Koufa , linked to al-Qaeda, and those of the Islamic State in the Grand Sahara (EIGS) have clashed for several weeks.

EIGS fighters arrived in the Mopti region several months ago. Some have been recruited in Niger and Burkina Faso, ”says an elected official from the Mopti region who wishes to remain anonymous for security reasons. Locally, supporters of Abu Walid al-Sahraoui, the known leader of EIGS, began by recruiting with two formidable weapons: money and the distribution of motorcycles. Their envoys seduced the new recruits with a new speech. Contrary to what the supporters of Amadou Koufa do, when you go to battle, your spoils of war belong to you. It is not to be returned to the chiefs, ”says a former elected representative from the region whose son was, for a moment, recruited by the EIGS.

Land disputes, local jihad

One of the apples of contention between the two groups in central Mali is linked to the restraint they make on herds of cattle. The business is simple. Evoking, according to them, a principle of Islam drawn from I do not know where, they believe that it is up to them by right a part of the cattle of each citizen. Some groups sometimes take one cow from a 40-head herd , ”explains another elected representative from the center of the country. Land-related conflicts aggravate the differences between the two groups.

The former elected official of the region says that Amadou Koufa rigorously imposes his law on the management of pastures necessary for the feeding of animals. For its part, and to facilitate the recruitment of young locals, the EIGS decrees free pasture for animals, continues this elected official.

Accusing each other of bidding, the groups began to fight. The locality of Dialloubé, located in the interior delta of the Niger river in the Mopti region, in a flooded area, sheltered one of the last battles between the now enemy brothers. " There were several dozen deaths in Dialloubé, ten days ago, " said a local security source. Koubi, Djantakaï, Nigua…. All these localities in the Mopti region have recorded fighting between jihadists of the two groups. The men of Koufa, who occupy part of the flooded area, demand the departure from the area of ​​the faithful of Abu Walid al-Sahraoui, newly arrived. And the victims are numerous.

►Read also: The African debate - Mali: should we negotiate with the jihadists?

According to several security sources, civilian populations in the region, without being able to estimate them, have already been forced to leave their hamlets. The situation there could become even more difficult. The sons of the same region, divided between two jihadist groups, will destroy themselves. They will push the natives to choose. If nothing is done, the bloodiest conflicts are yet to come, ”analyzes Oumar Diallo, professor of sociology in a private educational institute in Bamako, and originally from central Mali.

In the Dogon country, the community armed militias continue to confront each other

Beyond these internal battles in jihadist groups, intercommunity conflicts between armed militias and civilians continue. Over the past two weeks, thirteen attacks have been recorded by the human rights division of Minusma, the peacekeeping mission in Mali. " The human rights situation continued to deteriorate, especially in the Bankass circle with the execution of twenty people from the Fulani community in the commune of Baye on March 22. Then, twenty-two Dogon men were executed in Ouonkoro commune on March 28, ”explains Joanne Adamson, deputy special representative of Minusma.

►Also read: Sahel: where do weapons and ammunition come from?

More generally, since the beginning of March, at least fifty-five civilians have died following clashes between community militias in the Mopti region alone, according to MINUSMA. A vicious circle, ” continues the special representative.

Embargo

In the neighboring circle, that of Koro, in the village of Anakila, “ there are clashes between community groups. Since then, this village has been fenced, closed, with no access, ”worries Joanne Adamson. This village is blocked by a militia engaged in a cycle of reprisals between armed community groups which leads here to the embargo.

In this area of ​​central Mali, in Ogossagou, the largest massacre in the region's history took place in March 2019, where at least 150 civilians were killed. A village attacked again a year later, in February 2020.

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