SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Separatist Tuaregs announce blockade in northern Mali
Bamako, Dec 20 (AFP) Dec 20, 2023
Separatist Tuareg forces on Wednesday announced they had set up a blockade on the major roads in northern Mali, where the army has made inroads in recent weeks.

The Permanent Strategic Framework (CSP), an alliance of rebel forces, said it had decided to set up roadblocks across all roads leading to northern borders with Mauritania, Algeria and Niger.

It would cover roads leading out of the cities of Menaka, Kidal, Gao, Timbuktu and Taoudeni, said the CSP statement.

This blockade would cover all products and all means of transport, the statement added.

The mainly Tuareg rebel forces have in recent weeks lost ground to a Malian army offensive that in mid-November led to their recapture of the northeast city of Kidal.

Fighting between the separatists and government troops broke again in August after eight years of calm, as both sides scrambled to fill the vacuum left by the withdrawal of UN peacekeepers.

The MINUSMA force packed up and left at the behest of Mali's military rulers in Bamako, where the colonels seized power in 2020.

It was the army's air power, including planes and drones, that helped make its recent gains against the rebel forces.

Mali's army was also backed by mercenaries from Russia's Wagner force, according to the rebels and local elected officials, but the regime denies the presence of the controversial private security group.

There have been accusations of atrocities committed against civilians during the recent offensive by Mali's army and the Russian force, which the authorities have repeatedly denied.

Getting reliable information from the vast, northern part of Mali is extremely difficult because of its inaccessibility, lack of security and the muzzling of dissident voices there.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
BlackSky plans new satellite network for large-scale AI-driven Earth observation
Fish biofluorescence evolved independently over 100 times in evolutionary history
Meteosat-12 begins prime service delivering enhanced weather data for Europe

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Human brain reveals hidden action cues AI still fails to grasp
Key factors shaping soil carbon storage in boreal forests revealed
Light travels through entire human head in breakthrough for optical brain imaging

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Iran calls IAEA a 'partner' in Israel's 'war of aggression'
Iran's Khamenei 'can no longer be allowed to exist': Israel defence minister
Israel-Iran war: Trump weighs direct U.S. involvement

24/7 News Coverage
New Zealand halts aid to Cook Islands over China deals
Warning signs on climate flashing bright red: top scientists
'We have to try everything': Vanuatu envoy taking climate fight to ICJ



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.