Mali unrest

The violence plaguing the West African nation of Mali refuses to subside. In the early hours of Monday morning (03.08.2015) armed militants attacked a military base 140 kilometers (87 miles) east of Timbuktu. Witnesses reported the militants opened fire shouting "Allah is great" and killed eleven soldiers.

The jihadist group al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility for the attacks. According to the Mauritanian news agency Al-Akhbar, the group's spokesman Abou Darda Al-Chinguitty said they had also "destroyed four vehicles and took significant loot."

The Malian government denounced the attack as "an ugly, barbaric, terrorist act."

It was the second lethal raid on Malian troops within a month. Six blue helmets were killed in an ambush by AQIM militants at the beginning of July, shortly after the signing of a peace accord the previous month.

The deal, mediated by Algeria, was agreed between the Malian government and Tuareg rebels. It aims to cement a ceasefire and guarantee lasting peace in restive northern Mali. It does not envisage full autonomy for the north, but has provisions for greater participation by the region in political decision-making.

Such provisions would include the right to found local institutions, an increase in the number of northern deputies in parliament, and a pledge by Bamako to boost economic and social development in the north. In return, the separatists have agreed to recognize the government of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

"All the events show that the situation in northern Mali is still instable," William Assanvo from the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Dakar, Senegal, told Deutsche Welle. He considers it worrying that "the threat is moving from northern Mali to the central part of the country."

'Peace has not moved forward'

Meanwhile Ivory Coast has stepped up frontier patrols after the al Qaeda-linked group Ansar Dine declared that the West African nation, with which Mali shares a southern border, was now a target. The jihadists accused the Ivorian authorities of cooperating with "enemies of Islam."

Assanvo said the June accord could be a step in the right direction but "the peace has not moved forward. The situation is still the same."

Oumou Sall Seck, mayor of the town of Goundam in the Timbuktu region, told DW "we have a peace treaty but the terrorists are still making our lives hell." Seck has warned of terrorist attacks in the past. However, she has noticed a shift in attitude by rebel groups in particular by Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA). "In the beginning they were reluctant to cooperate but are now displaying readiness to work towards peace," she said.

Seck said peace did not only depend on the Tuareg separatists. It also hinged on the demobilization of their fighters - on the fighters handing over their weapons - for which "the right conditions need to be in place." Resources need to be allocated and demobilization zones have to be created. This was not the responsibility of the armed groups, but of the Malian government and MINUSMA (United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali), the UN's 11,000-strong Mali peacekeeping operation which has pledged support.

Lack of trained government troops

MINUSMA has only been moderately successful since it was first deployed in 2013. It has been the target of jihadist attacks itself, said Assanvo. "I am not sure that the mission is well equipped," he added. He questions whether MINUSMA is the definitive answer to the unrest in Mali but "it can play a role in stabilizing the situation."

Seck said there was a lack of properly trained and equipped troops in northern Mali. Until that changes "the population is at the mercy of these bandits." The training of Malian government troops is a task which has been allocated to the European Union's training mission in Mali (EUTM), which is now under German command. The mission has trained more than 5,500 troops since 2012 when the unrest in Mali began.

The Malians receive basic military training, which according to Assanvo they certainly need, but the mission has its limitations. "There are other problems that need to be addressed within the Malian army, such as corruption," he said.

It is the causes of terrorism that need to be eliminated. Assanvo said this will "require a long-term effort and multidimensional approach." The mismanagement of the economy must cease and the local population offered "some economic opportunities." This would be the only way to prevent young people from joining the Islamists.