ISIS fighters advance into eastern Mali in Last days, land grabs, killing hundreds of Officials and financial analysts in the area said civilians were forcing thousands to flee.
Gains made by militants shine a spotlight on Mali struggle To fill in the blank after leaving of French and other European forces, while relations with Neighboring Niger has deteriorated, preventing joint military Operations near the borders of Niger and Burkina Faso.
Violent battles between Tuareg separatists and ISIS in Sahara Desert (ISGS) group Reported in Minaka regionwhere the financial forces took over French military camp in Jun.
while the offensive I started in March the withdrawal of Franceleft I raised a vacuum and raised a lot of Hani Nusseibeh said. senior Researcher at the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a US-based crisis monitoring center group.
Hundreds have been killed since March, most of them civilians, in the battles of terrorists way In Minaka and neighboring Gao regionAccording to the ACLED data of a relative added.
ISIS-linked fighters are the main perpetrators of That violence, according to the report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations issued to the Security Council on Thursday.
This month is ISIS took over Rural Ansongo District, near the border with Niger local official A supporter of the government militia said.
He added, “The terrorists stopped several buses and forced them to do so drivers to make women sit in back And the men in The front, “Yacouba Mamadou Maiga, Vice Mayor of the Municipality of watagona, one of The seven municipalities of Ansongo told Reuters via phone on Monday.
Cities under pressure
in thousands of people They fled to the cities in Minaka and Gao, home etc military A base from which Malian forces are fighting the insurgency with The help of It hired Russian fighters.
“Hundreds died,” Maiga said, unable to provide an exact number.
a coalition of Ethnic Tuareg militias mobilized their forces this month to prevent mass killings, looting and economic destruction in Minaka and its surroundings, she said in a permit.
The United Nations has also Strengthening peacekeeping patrols in And around Minaka citywhere over 25,500 displaced civilians sought refuge to put pressure on them on Food, water, farmland and medical supplies.
Mali has faced Instability since 2012, when ISIS kidnapped a Tuareg rebellion in The north.
France intervened to help The financial forces are pushing them out in 2013, but the militants have since regrouped and spread across the Sahel and moved south towards coastal states, threatening their political stability and Western interests. in The region.
The growing dispute between the Western powers and military leaders who took over power in The coup of 2020 pushed France to move Its counterinsurgency operations in Niger this year.
Other European countries They withdrew their forces, often citing financial cooperation with Russian mercenaries.
In Menaka and Gao, the Malian forces and the few remaining international force it back They are increasingly confined to the cities that host their bases.
“carrying out “Operation … then they withdraw. ISGS has really expanded, and it continues to gain influence,” Nusseibeh said.
