France Suspends Joint Military Operations With Mali After Coup
- Thread starter Tatvamasi
- Start date
I was waiting for russian propagandists to talk about what happened to their mercs in Mali, but no, not a word, not a peep. No wailing, no gnashing of teeth, no promise of nuclear retaliation... instead they preferred to talk about Trump's ear:
So the lesson here is that you should never be afraid of kicking russia's butt. The way to world peace is not through appeasement of a genocidal mafia lord, because it only makes him think you're weak. Instead it's by humiliating him and making him feel weak.
So the lesson here is that you should never be afraid of kicking russia's butt. The way to world peace is not through appeasement of a genocidal mafia lord, because it only makes him think you're weak. Instead it's by humiliating him and making him feel weak.
At least 100 people killed in central Burkina Faso in latest jihadi attack | AP News
(…) About half of Burkina Faso is outside of government control as the country has been ravaged by increasing jihadi attacks, encircling the capital. The jihadis linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have killed thousands and displaced more than 2 million people.
The violence contributed to two coups in 2022. Still, the military junta that promised to end the attacks has struggled to do so, even after seeking new security partnerships with Russia and other junta-led, conflict-hit countries in Africa’s Sahel region.
(…) About half of Burkina Faso is outside of government control as the country has been ravaged by increasing jihadi attacks, encircling the capital. The jihadis linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have killed thousands and displaced more than 2 million people.
The violence contributed to two coups in 2022. Still, the military junta that promised to end the attacks has struggled to do so, even after seeking new security partnerships with Russia and other junta-led, conflict-hit countries in Africa’s Sahel region.
(bbc_march05)
The Sahel region of Africa is the "epicentre of global terrorism" and now, for the first time, accounts for "over half of all terrorism-related deaths", according to the Global Terrorism Index (GTI).
www.bbc.com
The Sahel region of Africa is the "epicentre of global terrorism" and now, for the first time, accounts for "over half of all terrorism-related deaths", according to the Global Terrorism Index (GTI).
Africa's Sahel: The region with more 'terror deaths' than rest of world combined
Africa's Sahel region accounts for more than half of terror-related killings, a new reports says.
www.bbc.com
Sahel – Map of JNIM [AQ] activity (2025).
JNIM [AQ] continues its expansion, moving closer to Senegal and threatening coastal states (Benin, Togo).
Pockets of activity are gradually taking on the appearance of veritable territorial strips.
and Daesh:
JNIM [AQ] continues its expansion, moving closer to Senegal and threatening coastal states (Benin, Togo).
Pockets of activity are gradually taking on the appearance of veritable territorial strips.
and Daesh:
The Malian capital Bamako is suffering from fuel shortages amid blockades by jihadists.
Al Qaeda militants are moving closer to seizing the capital of the West African nation of Mali, which, should the city fall, would become the first country in the world run by the U.S.-designated terrorist group.
The rapid advance of the jihadists in Africa comes after Islamist groups took power in both Afghanistan and Syria, but, if they take Bamako, it would be the first time militants with direct and current connections to al Qaeda achieve such a feat.
They appear to be getting close, though they will likely wait some time before making any decisive move, security specialists say. Insurgents are blocking food and fuel deliveries to Bamako, the capital city, triggering shortages that are even hindering the army’s ability to respond, according to local and European officials and footage posted by the jihadists.
Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, which translates as Support Group for Islam and Muslims, is betting on a creeping takeover rather than an all-out assault, European security officials say. “The longer the blockade drags on, the closer Bamako comes to collapse,” said Raphael Parens, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a nonpartisan policy center in Philadelphia.
JNIM was formed in 2017 from the merger of veteran al Qaeda affiliates and immediately pledged allegiance to the group. Its fighters have received assistance in bomb-making and ideological training from the organization’s core leadership in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, according to Western and African officials.
On Tuesday, dozens of tanker trucks were ambushed as they brought fuel to relieve the Malian capital on a road that normally brings goods. Jihadists in ragged cuffed pants and turbans emerged from the savanna, setting the first vehicle on fire and seizing the rest, according to footage from the insurgents and Western contractors and officials.
A large army contingent in nearby Kati, the ruling junta’s biggest stronghold, was unable to intervene. They had requested fuel for three weeks and never received any, people familiar with the incident said. “It’s a self-perpetuating cycle. To defeat JNIM, the junta needs large-scale ground operations and air support; yet both depend on a steady supply of fuel,” said the FPRI’s Parens.
Access to fuel is becoming the focal point of the conflict. The price of a liter of gasoline in Bamako has almost tripled to 2,000 CFA francs, or roughly $3.55, said local resident Ibrahim Cisse. People often have to wait for days for fuel, he said. “Today, there is nothing at the pump,” Cisse said. The government has responded by suspending schools and university classes for two weeks and shutting down some power stations.
Last week, Malian Prime Minister Abdoulaye Maïga vowed that “even if we have to seek fuel by foot or by spoon, we will look for it.”
Al Qaeda and Islamic State militants are conducting insurgencies across a vast area of West Africa, including Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali in the arid Sahel, and creeping toward the traditionally more prosperous countries—Benin, Ivory Coast, Togo and Ghana—along the Gulf of Guinea coast.
Western officials have grown increasingly worried that al Qaeda, the stronger of the two Islamist groups in West Africa, might actually win control of either Burkina Faso or Mali.
Mali, with a population of 21 million over an area triple the size of California, looks increasingly like it could fall first.
Islamists have proved in Syria and Afghanistan they can win a war of attrition where the existing regime ultimately collapses from within. JNIM has said it wants to emulate the Taliban, who entered Kabul after the military they had been fighting for two decades effectively vacated the capital. The Malian jihadists also see the seizure of Damascus by a former al Qaeda affiliate in December as a “blueprint” for their strategy, a United Nations report said in July.
In Mali, the insurgency started off in 2012 before being taken over by Malian al Qaeda leader Iyad ag Ghali, a former Marlboro-puffing rock’n’roller who became radicalized and banned music from the territories he controls.
Ag Ghali remains elusive despite being wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity. His group has gradually expanded its reach from the country’s far north to the doorstep of the capital. None of the foreign forces supplied by the U.S., the European Union or the U.N. have been able to halt their advance.
The Malian military, worried about the growing threat, overthrew the country’s civilian government in 2020, then ousted its own commander in 2021. The coups were followed by similar military putsches in Burkina Faso and Niger.
The current Malian junta expelled a French-led force and hired Russian mercenariesfrom the Wagner Group, but they, too, failed to quell the violence.
Instead, the Kremlin’s guns-for-hire and their Malian allies embarked on a campaign of widespread reprisals that drove many locals to join al Qaeda or at least seek its protection, say human-rights activists and local community leaders.
Cattle merchant Seydou Bah survived the March 2022 massacre of over 500 locals by Wagner in the central Malian market town of Moura. After the army killed his brother the next year for speaking out, he fled to a village controlled by the jihadists.
There, the new rulers frequently corralled men to the mosque for prayers and imposed tributes paid in cattle and harvests, said Bah, who has since fled the country and scrapes a living working on building sites. “Whether it’s under the army or JNIM, there is no freedom,” Bah said.
Earlier this year, the Russian military sent a new contingent of fighters under its direct control, but they lacked the experience to fight effectively in Mali’s rough terrain. The militants easily ambushed their joint convoys with Malian forces, allowing the insurgents to seize more weapons and lay plans to seize the capital.
The junta has sought further help from Russia. Last week, a visiting Russian delegation promised to ship up to 200,000 tons of oil and food.
The U.S., meanwhile, said it was evacuating some diplomats from its embassy and urged American citizens to leave the country immediately.
In July, Rudolph Atallah, a Trump administration counterterrorism adviser, visited Mali to offer American assistance. He didn’t return a request for comment.
Erik Prince, the well-connected American defense contractor, is in contact with the junta to provide assistance, according to people familiar with the approach.
European security and experts say the Malian regime is unlikely to fall in the short term because insurgents will find big cities harder to hold than the countryside. Instead, a future government, particularly if the junta falls, could negotiate with the jihadists, they say. They point out that community leaders have already held talks for local truces with JNIM in the central part of the country.
Meanwhile, the insurgents are building on their tightening grip on the rest of the country and taxing gold and narcotics transiting through Africa from Latin America to Europe.
Malians who have the option are trying to leave. In recent days, some have flown to neighboring countries such as Senegal and Ivory Coast, Malians living abroad say. The Bamako airport remained open as of Thursday.
Al Qaeda blockades prevent others leaving by road from joining the 334,000 Malians who, according to the United Nations, have already sought refuge in neighboring countries. /end
Why're you gleeful you bullock ?! The more there's instability in the Sahel , the more the spike in immigration. To make matters worse the whole of the European component of NATO literally orgasmed in your collective rears when Gaddafi was facing civil disturbances.
Instead of looking away given you had normalised relations with him & his regime you fuelled the fires there leading to his overthrow & ignited a civil war there which continues till this day.
Result - what was once a treacherous migration path for illegal migrants from the Sahel & N. Africa turned into a flood for you opened the floodgates by turning a stable nation Libya into a zone of perpetual instability by promoting a civil war there.
Now all these illegal migrants had to do was board a boat in Libya & land in Sicily or move to Corsica. This is of course one of the many illegal immigration routes but remains the pathway most opt for.
I mean it's one thing for the US to suggest such action as they're insulated from the fallout being an ocean away but what was Europe thinking when it signed on for this venture turned disaster ?!
In addition to that may I add if Gaddafi continued in Libya there's a good chance Iran would give up their NWP as the west could hold them up as a successful example of nations who've given up their illegal NWP have retained their power & what's more are enjoying close co operation with the west prospering economically.
Who knows DPRK & maybe even Paxtan would've been amenable to shutting down their NWP !
Instead we have this & even now Europe seems to have learnt nothing where rather than pursue conciliation you're busy backing one faction there against the other leading to prolonged instability which boosts illegal immigration , who in turn use the channel of communication you've very thoughtfully provided via Libya & eventually these guys land up in all the prominent cities & towns of Europe with a world view diametrically opposite to yours like ticking time bombs.
I'm surprised none of the various TTs or academia have even noticed this phenomena leave aside the political classes who in any case have their head up their rear till date leave aside forecasting what a disastrous policy this would've been at the start of civil disturbances in Libya & the consequences of interfering on the EU against Gaddafi !
What would you put down this extreme display of stupidity to Paddy ? For me this is yet another glorious example of Paddyitis ! Your compatriots certainly weren't joking when they went Tiocfaidh Ar La in 1845 during The Great Paddy Potato Famine & scattered across the world spreading their faulty genes .
In less than 2 centuries they've successfully brought about the near collapse of Europe as a collective civilization. I now strongly suspect the Paddys were also responsible for the 2 WWs through these underhanded tactics.
European collapse is inevitable. Africans and Arabs will make Europe pay for their colonization. Soon, they won't even have a native place.