Mali – CounterVortex

Africa

Podcast: West Africa escalates toward genocide

Alarming reports that Nigeria has established “concentration camps” for the Fulani ethnic minority cast an ironic light on Nigeria’s tension with the Sahel states of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso to the north. These three regimes have broken from the Western imperial camp (to embrace the nascent Russian imperial camp)—but are likewise subjecting their Fulani minorities to persecution and massacre. With the recent shock rebel offensive in Mali, the “terrorist” stigma that attaches to the Fulani and Tuareg peoples across the imperial camps makes their position more precarious than ever. Meanwhile, prominent voices on the both the right and the (supposed) “left” are spreading propaganda about the struggle in West Africa that is alarmingly wrong, because it exclusively views the crisis through a campist lens. In Episode 327 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg tries to provide some clarity on these fast-escalating and grossly under-reported conflicts. (Photo: Az-Zallaqa via LWJ)

Africa

ICC orders reparations for Timbuktu war crime victims

The International Criminal Court (ICC) delivered an order on reparations for the victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz in Timbuktu between April 2012 and January 2013, when the Malian city was occupied by jihadist forces. Al Hassan was convicted by the ICC in 2024, and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. He is to bear financial liability for €7,250,000 in reparations to impacted communities and individuals. (Photo: WikiMedia Commons)

Africa

Shock rebel offensive driven back in Mali

Russia’s Africa Corps launched air-strikes and helicopter assaults to drive back a dramatic rebel advance on Mali’s capital Bamako. Former rival insurgent groups, the jihadist Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and the Tuareg separatist Front de Libération de l’Azawad (FLA), came together for the joint offensive against the ruling military government, with simultaneous attacks on Mopti, Gao and Kidal as well as the capital. Mali’s defense minister, Lt. Gen. Sadio Camara, the key liaison between the army and Russian mercenary forces, was killed in an apparent suicide truck bombing on his residence outside Bamako. (Map: PCL)

Africa

Mali: al-Qaeda franchise in new ‘war crime’

Human Rights Watch confirmed that an al-Qaeda-linked armed group summarily executed 10 long-haul truck drivers and two teenage apprentices in late January in southwestern Mali as part of the group’s attack on a fuel convoy and deemed the acts “apparent war crimes.” Mali’s truck driver union staged a nationwide strike in response to the attack, demanding recovery of victims’ bodies to ensure their families can have proper burials. The group responsible for the attack was Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), which describes itself as the official branch of al-Qaeda in Mali. (Map: PCL)

Africa

Sahel states launch new joint counter-insurgency force

At an air base in Bamako, Mali’s military ruler Gen. Assimi Goita presided over a ceremony marking the launch of a unified force for three Sahel states to fight the rising tide of jihadist insurgency across their borders. The move comes after the three countries—Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, all now ruled by military juntas—collectively withdrew from the West African regional bloc ECOWAS to form their own Alliance of Sahel States (AES). This new body has deepening ties to Russia, which has maintained paramilitary forces in the AES countries under the rubric of the Wagner Group or Africa Corps. These forces are increasingly accused of atrocities, with Malian refugees in Mauritania reporting rapes, beheadings and mutilation of civilians at the hands of Russian mercenaries. (Photo: Présidence de la République du Mali)

Africa

ECOWAS declares regional state of emergency

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) announced a state of emergency following a wave of coups and attempted coups that have struck several member states of the regional bloc. The declaration was made during the 55th session of the ECOWAS Security Council in Abuja, Nigeria, by the president of the bloc, Gambian diplomat Omar Touray. Since 2020, several military coups d’etat have taken place in West Africa, including Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau. A coup attempt was launched days before the ECOWAS declaration in Benin, but was thwarted by Nigerian military intervention. A regional crisis is driven by armed insurgencies, economic hardship, and weak institutions, creating viable ground for military rule. (Map: World Sites Atlas)

Africa

Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso announce withdrawal from ICC

Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso announced that they will withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), accusing the tribunal of serving “imperial” rather than African interests. The three countries, each governed by military juntas and members of the newly formed Alliance of Sahel States (AES), issued a joint declaration stating that they no longer recognize the ICC as a legitimate forum for justice, charging that it has become an “instrument of neo-colonialist repression.” The decision comes amid ongoing security crisis in the Sahel region, where armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State are waging brutal insurgencies, carrying out attacks against civilians as well as security forces. Human rights groups have accused state security forces of committing extrajudicial killings and other serious abuses in counter-terrorism operations. (Image: Wikipedia)

Africa

UN rights chief warns of growing repression in Mali

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned of a deteriorating rights situation in Mali amid a growing atmosphere of repression. The high commissioner urged the military junta to promptly rescind legal changes that have “slammed the door shut” on a return to democratic rule, and called for the unconditional release of all wrongly detained persons. Türk stated: “The laws enacted in recent months risk undermining respect for human rights in Mali for a protracted period. I urge the transitional authorities to take immediate and concrete steps to revoke the problematic laws.” (Map: PCL)

Africa

Mali: Fulani face ‘disappearance,’ summary execution

Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that Mali’s armed forces and allied Russian mercenaries have carried out numerous “summary executions and enforced disappearances of ethnic Fulani men.” HRW documented that since January the Malian army and Wagner Groupmercenaries have executed “at least a dozen Fulani men and forcibly disappeared at least 81” during joint operations targeting Islamist armed groups. The rights group said that the insurgents have focused their recruitment efforts on the Fulani, and that “successive Malian governments have conflated the Fulani community with Islamist fighters, putting them at grave risk.” (Photo of Fulani elder via IRIN)

Watching the Shadows

Trump issues new ‘travel ban’ proclamation

President Donald Trump issued a proclamation implementing a nearly full travel ban on nationals from a dozen countries, severely restricting potential entry into the United States. The proclamation is based on an executive order issued on Trump’s first day in office that laid the foundation for the administration to enact extensive immigration controls. Commentators have harshly criticized the ban, pointing out that it disproportionately affects Muslim-majority and African countries. Amnesty International’s secretary general Agnes Callamard lambasted Trump for the action, calling it “discriminatory, racist and downright cruel.” The restrictions bear a striking resemblance to Trump’s 2017 travel ban, which blocked travel to the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries. (Photo: Minneapolis protest of 2018 Supreme Court decision upholding Trump’s first travel ban. Credit: Fibonacci Blue/Flickr)

Africa

Mali: mass execution of Fulani detainees

Human Rights Watch called on the government of Mali to “credibly and independently” investigate the apparent extrajudicial execution of 22 men who were detained by the army in the town of Diafarabé, in the central Mopti region. The victims were ethnic Fulani men who were trading at the town’s cattle market. Witnesses from the town believe soldiers targeted local Fulani men on suspicion of collaborating with fighters of Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wa al-Muslimeen (JNIM), who have a strong presence in the region. (Map: PCL)

Africa

UN experts condemn enforced disappearances in Mali

UN human rights experts condemned the enforced disappearance and apparent summary execution of some 100 members of Fulani people in Mali. The experts stated that the unlawful killings and disappearances, carried out with the participation of Russian mercenaries, may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. The experts found that the Malian authorities have violated the right to life by failing to conduct proper investigations. The statement urged “Malian authorities to conduct prompt, effective, thorough, independent, impartial and transparent investigations into these killings and enforced disappearances, in accordance with international law.” (Map: PCL)