In much of northern Mali the state and its security forces are completely absent. UN peacekeepers are the primary source of safety in many areas
In much of northern Mali the state and its security forces are completely absent. So when the blue helmets move on, safety goes with them. At dusk one evening in August jihadists swept into the town of Outtagouna, about 170km from Gao. They gunned down at least 54 young men. Peacekeepers arrived the next morning but, laments Major Hudson, they were too late to be of much use.
In Burkina Faso and Niger, too, jihadists flourish in places where the state is absent or where they have been able to force it out. Since 2018 insurgents in the borderlands between the three countries have assassinated or abducted 300 officials, community leaders and their family members. General Marc Conruyt, who recently commanded French forces in the region, argues that “the political upheaval and political difficulties in Bamako had a very, very limited impact” on military operations. But that may not last. To rally support for a much longer transition, Mali’s interim government has repeatedly blamed France for the country’s woes. Mr Maïga recently claimed, absurdly, that France is training jihadists.
In central Mali, where violence is now worse than in the north, jihadists have exploited rifts between communities and posed as defenders of the Fulani ethnic group. Militias such as Dan Na Ambassagou claim to defend other ethnic groups. The result is tit-for-tat massacres. A similar dynamic is tearing at the social fabric in Burkina Faso and Niger. Peace requires not just schools and clinics but also ideas about how best to share power in multi-ethnic communities.
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