Militants dominate much of the Malian countryside. They’ve forced villagers to pay taxes and billed themselves as an alternative to a government that is focused on life in Bamako. “This new crisis is a step further in the direction of the state being absent,” said Jean-Hervé Jezequel, project director for the Sahel at the International Crisis Group, which tracks conflict in the region. “Everyone seems obsessed with what is going on in Bamako, and that is another indication for the people in the countryside that the state is not coming back.”

Source: Washington Post May 27, 2021 10:20 UTC