28 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –
Tuareg leaders have denounced that several of their former fighters have been arrested this week in the northeast of Mali on terrorism charges and have demanded their immediate release amid cross accusations with other nomadic formations that threaten to break talks to reactivate a deteriorated peace agreement with the authorities of the African country.
The former rebels of the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) denounced that twelve of their ex-combatants were arrested on April 23 in Chimam, in the northeast of Mali. Two of them were released that same night, but another ten remain under the custody of the Malian Army on “terrorism” charges, in relation to their alleged relationship with jihadist organizations such as the Islamic State that operate in the Sahel and, specifically, in the northern Mali.
The CMA spokesman, Almou Ag Mohamed, denounced specifically in a statement published on his Twitter account, that the ex-combatants were arrested on April 23 in the commune of Méneka (northern region of Gao) by a patrol of the Malian Army and mercenaries of the Russian Wagner group, that the detainees were correctly registered as signatories to the 2015 Algiers peace agreement and that the Russian-Malian patrol also stole “a large sum of money” from the civilian population.
“The CMA categorically denies any link between its combatants and terrorists and demands their unconditional release, along with their weapons and the money stolen from the peaceful populations,” the spokesman added in his statement, where he also stated that the coordinator “opted in principle to a friendly solution” that, “days later, not only has no news of the combatants been released, but the Army also boasts of having accomplished a feat”
“In the absence of a happy ending to this matter, the CMA calls for international mediation to witness the possible consequences that may result from such actions,” the spokesperson concludes.
The situation has become complicated in recent hours after another Tuareg group, the Ighad Tuareg Self-Defense Group and Allies (GATIA, for its acronym in French), originally an ally of the CMA, has hinted that the Islamic State had infiltrated the coordinator ranks.
“It seems that nowadays no one can walk through Chimam without being a member of the Islamic State. The CMA must explain to us why it is claiming terrorists with blood-stained hands,” he has made known on the same social network.
The French international radio station RFI has tried to contact the Malian Army, without success.
With the Algiers Agreement of 2015 signed between the Government and the Tuareg separatist groups, these became part of the Armed Forces, a ceasefire was sealed and it was proposed to give more powers to the northern part of Mali, as well as the creation of a regional security force and a development plan, threatened by the lack of progress and jihadist attacks.
