Mali: A 2015 peace agreement with separatist rebels was cancelled, according to Mali’s military rulers, following months of fighting in the West African country.
The so-called Algiers Accord was declared to be over with “immediate effect” by military authorities late on Thursday. They attributed this to hostility from Algeria, the main mediator, and other signatories breaking their agreements.
Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, a spokesman for the military government, claimed that Algiers had been involved in “an increasing number of unfriendly acts, instances of hostility, and interference in Mali’s internal affairs” in a speech that was aired on state television.
Following the signing of the so-called Algiers Accord between Bamako and armed groups primarily composed of the semi-nomadic Tuareg ethnic group, Algeria took the lead in efforts to bring peace back to Mali.
Due to allegations that the Algerian ambassador had discussions with Tuareg separatists without consulting Bamako, Mali called the ambassador of Algeria last month, accusing him of “interference” and “unfriendly acts.” The rebel alliance group, CMA, declared that the decision did not come as a surprise.
August saw the gradual disintegration of the Algiers Accord as fighting between government troops and separatists intensified and a 10-year UN peace mission in the country was being wound down.
In June, the military government of Mali, which took over in 2020, demanded that the UN mission leave even though armed groups in the Sahel region continued to attack the country.
In an effort to forge closer ties with Russia and the private army Wagner Group, Mali’s military leaders have severed their ties with France, the country’s former colonial power, since the coup.
Since 2012, when Islamist armed groups took control of a Tuareg uprising motivated by claims of government negligence and demands for increased autonomy, Mali has been engulfed in violence.
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