By AFPMore by this AuthorBAMAKOWith Mali's hard-fought peace deal foundering and jihadist groups back on the offensive, the west African country could be headed for fresh chaos, experts say. Meanwhile, pro-government militia groups and former rebels who signed a 2015 peace deal are intermittently fighting each other in northern areas where the state remains absent. Last year, Mali's rebel alliance signed a peace deal along with government and loyalist militias. No one in Mali "really believes this peace deal can change anything significant," the analyst said, underlining that the accord was struck due to outside pressure rather than by a national consensus. Elsewhere, Mali's bewildering array of jihadist organisations have morphed into nimble cross-border forces not plagued by the infighting that has dogged the groups that signed the peace deal, according to some observers.

Source: Daily Nation November 17, 2016 15:46 UTC