380 vehicles and almost 2,500 men are mobilized: the Permanent Strategic Framework (CSP) armed groups that bring together all the signatory groups of the 2015 peace agreement – the former separatist rebels of the CMA as well as the platform loyalist groups – are aiming for the northern regions themselves especially against the Islamic State group, which has killed several hundred civilians over the past year, mostly in the Ménaka region.
The signatory groups against the Islamic State group
“We will go wherever the Islamic State is committing massacres, ordering a CSP executive to secure civilians and their property, to secure the movements of displaced persons, but also to show that the signatory movements are present and that the Jnim none are alternative. The Jnim, a support group for Islam and Muslims linked to al-Qaeda and a major rival to the Islamic State group, has in fact launched a “recruitment campaign” among the Tuareg population of the north for several weeks.
Show of force was also aimed at the authorities of Bamako
The various armed groups that signed the 2015 peace accord have been contemplating this unprecedented pooling of their forces for several months. Joint operations had already taken place on an ad hoc basis, but never on this scale.
The decision was taken to counter the threat posed by repeated attacks by the Islamic State group and to compensate for the Malian National Army’s lack of engagement. Despite having a presence in the city of Ménaka, FAMA and its Russian auxiliaries did not take part in any battle against the Islamic State group, despite multiple calls for defense, particularly from the MSA, a signatory group on the frontline of civilians in the region.
The joint operation of the CSP is finally getting under way, while relations between the signatory groups and the Malian transitional authorities are more strained than ever. It is difficult not to see this as a show of force, even a form of warning to the Bamako authorities. “These units will be mobilized against any target that could pose an imminent threat,” says another key CSP executive with subtle clarity.
Excessive martial declarations
Over the past week, civil society organizations and figures who have poorly concealed their links to the Bamako authorities or to Kidal’s armed groups have engaged in an escalation of hostile and bellicose speech.
Officially, the Malian transitional authorities, like the signing armed groups, remain committed to the peace agreement. But the latest developments (blocking of the GDR process, particularly on the question of the military hierarchy, request for an emergency meeting of the CSP on neutral ground, refusal by the Malian government, suspension of the CSP from participation in the monitoring bodies of the ‘Agreements…) point to this all of which indicates that neither party wants to take responsibility for its failure: neither for the years of difficulties in its application, nor above all for its death if it should finally be adopted.
International Mediation
The coincidence of the calendar — the two events were planned and then each shifted to their side to finally fall on the same day — the signatory groups of the peace accord will be in Algiers this Monday for a meeting with the international leader mediation for the follow-up of the peace accord . Without the other members of the international mediation and without the Malian government.
So it is not the “meeting on neutral ground” requested by the signatory groups for two months that the Malian interim government is refusing to take part in, but several important leaders of armed groups in the north have been announced. They believe it is the Malian government that is refusing to commit to implementing the deal and want international mediation to take notice.
Questioned by RFI about this meeting, the Malian Ministry of Reconciliation, responsible for the peace agreement, did not go any further. Three weeks ago, before the UN Security Council, Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop reiterated “the Malian government’s commitment to implement the peace with diligence” and judged that it remains “the essential path to lasting stability” in Mali. »
Mohamed el Maouloud Ramadane, spokesman for the CSP, explains the objectives of this joint action
Mohamed el Maouloud Ramadane, spokesman for the CSP, explains the objectives of this joint operation: “It is about securing the territory, the population and their property against any enemy. This is intended to create calm in the various regions where the CSP operates. There will be patrols in the different regions, hundreds of vehicles will be deployed throughout the area. »
This operation was initiated in response to attacks carried out by the Islamic State group for several months “to bring aid to the population fleeing combat zones. There will also be other objectives, it is the chiefs of staff who are responsible for running this operation that they will discuss among themselves. There have already been patrols that have brought together the various components of the CSP, albeit in terms of numbers [d’hommes et de moyens mobilisés, ndlr]it will be the first,” adds Mohamed el Maouloud Ramadane, spokesman for the CSP.
Mohamed el Maouloud Ramadane, spokesman for the CSP, explains the objectives of this joint action
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