Mali: the battle of Talataye between jihadists worsens the distress of the inhabitants of the north

Conflicts between jihadists and Tuaregs in northeastern Mali have claimed many victims.

(illustrative image) © AP/STR

Text by: David Baché

4 mins

In northern Mali, the Islamic State group in the Greater Sahara, which seized Talataye on Tuesday September 6 after a battle, left this locality between Gao and Ménaka.

Until now, the vagueness remained on the events opposing the EIGS to the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (Jnim), affiliated with al-Qaeda and which controlled the locality until this attack.

But the Movement for the Salvation of Azawad, a pro-Bamako group that signed the 2015 peace accord, was also involved.

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Fighters from the Islamic

) arrived en masse on Tuesday, September 6 afternoon, aboard several hundred motorcycles.

The Sahelian branch of the terrorist group has been on the offensive since March in northeastern Mali, the United Nations mission in the country estimates that it has taken control of three out of four circles in the Ménaka region .

But

, the

(Jnim, in its Arabic acronym) – more specifically Ansar Dine and al-Qaeda-affiliated katibas in the Islamic Maghreb, members of Jnim.

Many dead in attacks between EIGS, Jnim and MSA

According to various local security sources, at 3 p.m. local time on Tuesday, the EIGS launched the offensive on the two distinct parts that make up the city: in the west were gathered the jihadists of the Jnim, while the east was defended by a few elements , in reduced numbers, of the Movement for the Salvation of Azawad (MSA).

This is an armed group member of the platform loyal to the Malian state, a signatory to the 2015 peace agreement, and which has been striving in recent months to protect the populations of the area.

The fighting lasts between three and four hours and turns to the advantage of the Sahelian branch of the Islamic State group.

No reliable balance sheet has been established for the Jnim and the EIGS, but the deaths would be numerous, according to the sources.

The MSA deplores four men killed.

Neither the armed groups Gatia, a usual ally of the MSA, nor the CMA, another coalition of armed groups from the north that signed the peace agreement, nor the Malian army and its Russian auxiliaries took part in the fighting.

The Malian army said Tuesday evening in a press release that it had carried out an " 

" flight  , without deploying soldiers on the ground.

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Other major battles

The next day, Wednesday September 7, the jihadists of the EIGS left Talataye: “ 

, notes an executive of the MSA,

 »

“ 

 ,” adds a security source, who recalls that Talataye is a strategic locality for controlling the roads leading to Gao, Ménaka or, further north, to Kidal.

This therefore predicts other major battles.

Most of the inhabitants had fled before the attack.

But since the departure of the EIGS, about thirty corpses of civilians, including children, have been discovered.

Talataye is almost deserted today.

Since Wednesday, MSA fighters have returned to the area as well as, according to this pro-Bamako armed group, some young residents of Talataye affiliated with the Jnim.

They found a ransacked locality, whose shops were looted and then set on fire: “ 

 ,” said a notable from Talataye.

Residents fleeing urgently and in the greatest destitution

The inhabitants of Talataye were already numerous to have left the locality in recent months, due to the succession of offensives carried out in the area by the EIGS.

According to the sources, these attacks would have caused between 300 and 700 deaths in the camps and towns of the Ménaka region.

This Tuesday, a few hours before the EIGS attack, the inhabitants who had not already left Talataye learned that hundreds of EIGS motorcycles seemed to be approaching: they then fled in a hurry, often on foot. .

The MSA says it helped evacuate some residents with its vehicles.

Even today, according to a local notable and a Talataye national living in Gao – the first city in northern Mali, about 150 km from Talataye – hundreds of families are still in the bush, north of the city, in the greatest destitution.

“ 

, these sources indicate,

 »

Calls for help

These civilian officials from Talataye are asking for help from the Malian government, NGOs present in Mali and the international community to help them.

This situation of distress adds to a picture that continues to darken: since the start of the ISGS offensive in northeastern Mali, 50,000 internally displaced people have already piled up in Ménaka, according to the United Nations.

This caused the city's population to triple.

Not to mention the thousands of other displaced people who have chosen to join Gao, Kidal, or to cross the borders of Niger or Algeria.

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