According to Iyad Ag Ghali, “the confrontation has entered a new phase.” For this reason, Iyad Ag Ghali made an appeal to the Muslims in these Sahel countries.
In this rare statement, confirmed on Wednesday by SITE, an American NGO that specializes in monitoring radical groups, Iyad Ag Ghali called on members of local tribes to be his fighters against “the treacherous governments” of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger as well as against the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, active in Mali.
He also asks them not to join the ranks of these “enemies”. Who is he referring to?
The interview with Wassim Nasr
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According to Wassim Nasr, journalist, analyst and specialist on jihadist movements, “for him the enemies are the Malian army, which he also describes as an army of apostasy. That means he believes there aren’t even Muslims left.” It obviously targets Wagner’s powers. And it also includes, for example, the VDP (Volunteers for the Defense of the Fatherland, editor's note) in Burkina Faso. It is an appeal to the tribes and clans of the region not to send their children to fight in the ranks of the security forces or their auxiliaries or at least not to cooperate with them.
Resumption of the blockade in Timbuktu
Iyad Ag Ghali's speech coincides with the decision by his movement, the al-Qaeda-linked support group for Islam and Muslims, to restore the blockade of Timbuktu in northern Mali. In fact, he claims that the Malian army benefited from the easing of this blockade, which was initially accepted by the jihadists. Wassim Nasr explains: “It is the civilian population who will pay the price in terms of care, supplies, life and trade.” In any case, this is JNIM (Jamāʿat nuṣrat al-islām wal-muslimīn, acronym). (in Arabic for the Self-Help Group for Islam and Muslims, editor's note) is in the process of proving that it is capable of lifting or imposing a blockade at will.
Young people walk past an abandoned building in Timbuktu, December 8, 2021Image: AFP
Call for mobilization
Iyad Ag Ghali promises victory over the Malian army and Wagner's Russian mercenaries, hence his call for mobilization. In addition, the support group for Islam and Muslims accuses the Malian army and its allies of attacks against the local population.
At the same time, the terrorist group is preventing the NGO Doctors Without Borders from providing humanitarian aid to the population.
In mid-November 2023, the former northern rebels were driven out of TimbuktuImage: SOULEYMANE AG ANARA/AFP/Getty Images
According to a specialist on jihadist movements in the Sahel, who prefers to remain anonymous, it is, and I quote, “paradoxical to see a jihadist group denouncing abuses while these jihadists are also accused of abuses.”
He believes that this situation is now due to the lack of external witnesses since the withdrawal of the French army and Minusmas.
A month after the Malian army captured Kidal against the former Tuareg rebels united in the Permanent Strategic Framework for Peace, Security and Development, relations between Lyad Ag Ghali and the Tuareg deteriorated.
In fact, the Tuareg would accuse the jihadist group of failing to help them in the face of the advance of the Malian army, supported by Wagner's Russian mercenaries.