Mali has launched an investigation into several ethnic separatists and al-Qaida-linked jihadist leaders for terrorism and money laundering, which also includes a probe into the Tuareg rebel leaders who signed a peace agreement in 2015 and now accuse the government of failing to comply with it. The list also includes six Tuareg leaders belonging to an alliance of armed groups that recently relaunched a rebellion against the state, despite signing a 2015 peace deal in Algiers. The Tuareg rebellion in Mali’s north has been a source of conflict for decades, though in 2015 the Tuareg rebel groups inked the peace deal with the government. However, in recent months, some rebels have abandoned the agreement, signaling a rise in tensions between them and Mali’s military junta. “We can effectively say that the 2015 peace agreement has collapsed,” said Shaantanu Shankar, country analyst for Africa at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Source: The North Africa Journal December 04, 2023 12:59 UTC