Mali kills French-Tunisian GSIM terrorists after airstrikes
Kanako Mita and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
The armed forces of Mali claim to have killed several French-Tunisian Islamist terrorists in the forest environs of Ganguel. This concerns two airstrikes to flush out terrorists belonging to GSIM (the Group to Support Islam and Muslims). Henceforth, despite simmering tensions with France, the armed forces of Mali are seeking to reinvigorate attacks against terrorist forces.
Similar to Nigeria, the Islamist insurgency is also creating a vacuum for various local militias and other ills. Voice of America reports, “The spread of jihadis from the north of the vast, impoverished country has spilled into neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger, and the conflict has become more complicated with the emergence of local militias and criminal gangs.”
The latest attack by the armed forces of Mali follows a military operation in the region of Moura. This took place between March 21 and 31 and resulted in the deaths of over 200 terrorists, according to the government of Mali.
Reuters reports, “Civilians have been targeted during a cycle of reprisal attacks between ethnic Tuareg militia groups, including the Movement for the Salvation of Azawad (MSA), and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), according to MSA and local sources.”
Colonel Gaddafi’s demise in Libya (2011) by major Western powers (America, France, and the United Kingdom) destabilized the fragile Sahel region. Thus internal terrorists, ethnic demands against central forces, international jihadists, and criminal forces all benefitted from the failed policies of America, France, and the United Kingdom.
The United Nations peacekeeping mission, MINUSMA, recently said, “The security situation in the Tri-border area… particularly in the localities of Tessit, Talataye, Ansongo and the Menaka region, has deteriorated considerably in recent weeks.”
Mali is beset by ethnic grievances and several Islamist insurgencies that threaten this nation-state. At the same time, military elites in this country are disenchanted with the role of France in the internal affairs of Mali. Therefore, central forces in Mali seek to strengthen the central state and tackle the complexities on the ground.
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