Mali: the Malian army on the road to Kidal

In Mali, an imposing column of the Malian army took this Monday morning, October 2, the direction of Kidal. A movement of troops that does not go unnoticed and that comes the day after a weekend during which the Malian army suffered two violent attacks by the CSP, the Permanent Strategic Framework, which brings together most of the armed groups signatories of the 2015 peace agreement. These groups have taken up arms again against the Malian transitional authorities since September 12, accusing Bamako of violating the peace agreement.

Aerial view of the city of Kidal, northern Mali, August 27, 2022. AFP - SOULEYMANE AG ANARA

By: David Baché

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The column of the Malian army left Gao in the direction of Anefis, which is also that of Kidal.

According to Malian security and civilian sources, this column is composed of more than a hundred vehicles. The imposing convoy stopped at Tin Aouker, a few dozen kilometers north of Gao. A locality in which the armed groups of the CSP had accused the Malian army and its Russian auxiliaries of the Wagner group of having "terrorized" the civilian population, last Tuesday.

Fama column towards Kidal: "We follow", comments the CSP

The General Staff of the Malian armies had not reacted to these accusations, nor did it give details on this movement of troops which does not go unnoticed and which already arouses many comments, including on social networks. Many see it as the announcement of "the" or "the" battles to come around the stronghold of the rebel groups: Kidal. That the colonels who took power in Bamako just over three years ago now appear determined to reconquer by force of arms.

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We follow," comments a CSP executive tersely.

No balance sheet in Bamba

The CSP, which has still not communicated any assessment of the attack, yesterday morning, on the military camp of Bamba, in the Gao region. No balance sheet either on the Fama side.

On Friday evening, it was the camp of Dioura, Mopti region, which had been the target of the CSP. Again, no balance sheet on the side of the Malian army. On the other hand, the CSP claims to have killed 81 people, 5 prisoners, and recovered a large quantity of equipment. The CSP acknowledges only 5 combatants killed. An unverifiable record from an independent source. The photos and videos transmitted by the CSP of the attacks in Bamba and Dioura show in any case that the CSP combatants have each time and unequivocally made themselves masters of the place.

Spiral

Despite calls to silence the guns by almost all Malian political parties in recent days, despite the risks to the civilian population in the north, and despite statements by both sides to safeguard the 2015 peace agreement, the transitional authorities and the signatory armed groups in the north are engaged in a spiral of violence that shows no sign of stopping.

A situation that can only benefit the jihadist groups of Jnim, linked to al-Qaeda, and the Islamic State, which have themselves recently claimed particularly bloody attacks and announced a series of blockades on roads in northern Mali.

" READ ALSO Mali: a position of the army attacked in the locality of Bamba, in the region of Gao

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