ConflictBarometer_2015

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
latter signed the peace agreement with the government and
the Platform on June 20. The next day, a follow-up committee
(CSA), comprised of the government, the armed groups, and
the international mediation team, met for the first time. The
CSA was established in order to oversee the implementation
of the peace agreement.
In mid-August, further clashes erupted between the Platform
and the CMA over the town of Anéfis, Kidal. The latter announced
to suspend its participation in the CSA on August
24, accusing the Platform of having violated the peace agreement.
After President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta had insisted on
the Platform's withdrawal from the town, it finally retreated
on September 14. In late September, CMA announced to have
resumed its participation in the CSA. On October 1, CMA and
government exchanged a total of 47 prisoners. jas
MALI (INTER-MILITANT RIVALRY / NORTHERN
MALI)
Intensity: 3 | Change: | Start: 2012
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
Ansar al-Din vs. HCUA, MAA, MNLA vs.
GATIA
subnational predominance
The violent crisis between various militant groups in northern
Mali over subnational predominance continued. In early
2012, the Ifoghas Tuareg group National Movement for the
Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) had joined forces with Islamist
groups in an attempt to establish their own state Azawad
consisting of the three northern regions of Kidal, Gao, and
Timbuktu [→ Mali (HCUA, MNLA et al. / Azawad); Mali (Islamist
groups)]. In May 2012, heavy fighting erupted between the
Islamist groups al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the
Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), and
Ansar al-Din, on the one hand, and MNLA, on the other, due
to differences over the ideological orientation of Azawad.
In the course of peace negotiations with the government,
starting in June 2014, MNLA, the High Council for the Unity
of Azawad (HCUA), the Arab Movement of Azawad (MAA),
and other groups organized in the Coalition of Azawad Movements
(CMA). Furthermore, the Self-Defense Group of Imghad
Tuareg and Allies (GATIA) and a splinter faction of MAA united
with other groups to form the so-called Platform.
Despite peace negotiations, CMA and Platform fighters continued
to engage in combat numerous times throughout the
year. Between January 16 and 20, clashes between the two
sides in and around the town of Tabankort, Gao, resulted
in deaths of at least eleven fighters. On January 23, GATIA
gunmen and two suicide bombers attacked an MNLA position
near Tabankort, killing twelve people. A third suicide bomber
was shot dead before he could blow himself up. GATIA took
control over CMA positions in Tabrichat, Kidal, on February
4. On April 27, GATIA and MAA defectors seized parts of
MNLA-controlled Ménaka, Gao. GATIA stated that the group
killed ten MNLA members and captured another seven. Further
clashes from May 13 to 21 between fighters of the CMA
and the Platform in several locations in Gao left more than 20
dead and at least 30 injured. According to UNHCR, a total of
57,000 people were internally displaced as a consequence
of the fighting in May.
On June 20, CMA signed a peace agreement with the government
and the Platform. However, GATIA and CMA again
clashed in the valley of Amassine and the town of Anéfis,
Kidal, between August 15 and 17. At least 10 members of
CMA were killed. On August 17, GATIA occupied CMA-held
Anéfis. One week later, CMA announced to suspend its participation
in the follow-up committee of the peace agreement,
accusing the Platform of having violated the terms of the accord.
On September 14, five days after GATIA had completed
its withdrawal from Anéfis, CMA announced its return to the
town. Three days later, fighting between the groups erupted
in the town of In Khalil, Kidal, close to the border with Algeria,
resulting in the deaths of at least 15 militants.
The leaders of the Imghad and Ifoghas Tuareg tribes signed
a peace agreement on October 9. Furthermore, between
September 29 and October 16, delegates of CMA, the Platform,
and the government held talks in Kidal region.
On December 19, CMA members clashed with an Islamist
group for the first time since May 2014. CMA killed four
Ansar al-Din fighters and captured at least three northeast
of Kidal town. On December 24, Ansar al-Din attacked a
CMA position in Talahandak, Kidal, leaving at least six CMA
members dead. The next day, four CMA members were killed
when Ansar al-Din ambushed a CMA convoy on its way to the
Algerian border in Kidal region. maw
MALI (ISLAMIST GROUPS)
Intensity: 4 | Change: | Start: 2009
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
al-Mourabitoun, Ansar al-Din, AQIM, MLF,
MUJAO vs. government
system/ideology, subnational predominance
The limited war over ideology and subnational predominance
between the Islamist groups Movement for Unity and
Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
(AQIM), al-Mourabitoun, Ansar al-Din, and Macina Liberation
Front (MLF), on the one hand, and the government, supported
by France, on the other, continued.
The MINUSMA mission, comprising more than 10,000 personnel,
was extended by one more year in June in order to
stabilize the country [→ Mali (HCUA, MNLA et al. / Azawad)].
The MLF was formed in January and mainly targeted victims
thought to have collaborated with Malian or international
forces. The group allegedly had links with Ansar al-Din's
leader Iyad Ag Ghali. While in 2014 the militant groups
mostly launched attacks in remote northern areas, 2015 was
marked by an extension of violence towards the south of the
country. For the first time, Islamists conducted attacks along
the borders with Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire as well as in
the capital Bamako.
On January 5, AQIM assaulted army forces in Nampala, Ségou
region, killing eight Malian soldiers. Islamists had never
carried out attacks this far south since the beginning of the
French intervention in early 2013. Suspected AQIM fighters
and the army clashed in Ténenkou town, Mopti region, on
January 16, resulting in the deaths of at least three people.
The following two days, MUJAO killed one person each in
attacks in Kidal and Gao in the eponymous regions. On
January 31, French ground troops conducted an operation
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