Sahel Edition

Mali: Al Qaeda attacks rebel convoy in the Ouagadou forestF

Posted On 6 April 2024

Number of times this article was read : 2600

By MondAfrique:  A column of armed vehicles from the Permanent Strategic Framework (CSP), the Touareg rebel coalition driven out of Kidal, was attacked by fighters from the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM) on Friday in the Ouagadou forest, while that it was heading south, Mondafrique learned from corroborating sources.  Around 30 men died in the confrontation on the Jihadists side and 18 on the CSP side.

Iyad Ag Ghali, the Tuareg emir of the GSIM, had recently sent an official letter to the CSP to forbid it from attacking the Malian army in the south of the country, which he considers to be his territory. The Ouagadou forest, located near the Mauritanian border, west of Timbuktu, is a stronghold of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

This event sheds light on the rivalries that emerged in November 2023, after the assault on Kidal by the Malian army and its Wagner auxiliaries, While AQIM was expected to come to the rescue of the CSP, it stayed clear from direct confrontation with the Malian army, confirming the divergent interests and strategies that exist between the two groups. CSP fighters seem to have decided to wage the war within the Malian authorities’ own territories, in the south of the country. The convoy that was attacked by GSIM was heading towards the Kayes region.

More on the Sahel

West Africa: Jihadist Attacks Intensify in Northern Benin Amid Cross-Border Insurgency Pressure$

Jihadist attacks in northern Benin have intensified in recent weeks, with militants linked to JNIM claiming a deadly assault on a military position near the Niger border and carrying out additional raids on security posts along the country’s volatile frontiers with Burkina Faso and Nigeria. The violence underscores how northern Benin has become part of a wider cross-border insurgency spilling south from the central Sahel, even as authorities bolster Operation Mirador and try to prevent armed groups from entrenching themselves on Beninese soil.

Desert Locusts Stir Fresh Worries in North-West Africa$

Small desert locust swarms recently detected along the western Sahara corridor have prompted stepped-up monitoring across parts of North and West Africa, where shifting rainfall can quickly turn quiet desert areas into launchpads for wider infestations.

Mali Army, Russian Allies Accused of Executing Civilians Near Mauritania Border$

Seven Malian refugees traveling from Mauritania were allegedly executed by Malian soldiers and Russian Africa Corps personnel near Ahl El Kory, close to the Mauritanian border, after their vehicles were stopped on March 6. Local sources say the unarmed Fulani civilians were shot or had their throats cut, while other passengers were beaten, questioned as suspected jihadists, then released.