Violence on the Algerian-Mali border escalates again

The Malian army has relaunched an operation against Azawad militias on the border with Algeria, about a month after an attack by the separatists that killed several of its soldiers as well as Russian Wagner mercenaries fighting in their ranks.

The Malian military authorities confirmed earlier this week that they had attacked ‘terrorist targets’, holding ‘around 20 armed men’ during a drone strike carried out on Sunday in northern Mali, near the border with Algeria.

This new escalation on the border puts pressure on Algeria, which finds itself in a complex situation due to its political and military inability to prevent this new outbreak of violence.

The success of Mali and its international allies, Russia and Turkey, in defeating the Azawad separatists could confirm Algeria's declining role in the Sahel region, unlike other countries, especially after the end of its diplomatic crisis with Mali's military junta. 

This situation raises Algeria's fears of a possible displacement of thousands of Azawad people into Algerian territory, leading to burdens in terms of housing and services, as well as the emergence of separatist tendencies among Algeria's Tuareg, with a long-term impact.

Another aspect of the diplomatic decline in the region is that the escalation in Mali is supported by Russia and Turkey, political and economic allies of Algiers.

Recent attacks have killed around 20 civilians, including children, in Tanzawatn, according to local sources reported by Al-Arab.

In the Tinzawatten region itself, separatists and jihadists announced that they had killed dozens of members of the Russian military group Wagner and Malian soldiers during fighting between 25 and 27 July.

For its part, the Malian army explained that ‘an offensive reconnaissance mission made it possible to monitor and identify small trucks loaded with military equipment and carefully positioned in the courtyard of the Tinzawatn property’.

‘After careful monitoring, a series of attacks led to the destruction of these terrorist targets and the neutralisation of about twenty militants,’ the statement added. 

Mali also carried out air strikes against rebel targets in and around Tinzawatten shortly after Tuareg and Islamist fighters killed a large number of Malian soldiers and members of Russia's Wagner Group near the town in July.

The fighting near Tinzawatten in late July is seen as Wagner's biggest defeat since it intervened two years ago to help Mali's military junta fight rebel groups.

Tuareg rebels claimed to have eliminated at least 84 Wagner fighters and 47 Malian soldiers, while an Al Qaeda-affiliated group announced the deaths of 50 Wagner fighters and 10 Malian soldiers.

The Malian Military Council, led by Colonel Assimi Goita, decided to intensify military operations against these groups from 2022. To this end, it broke the old alliance with France and European partners, moving closer militarily and politically to Russia.

The Council, which has been in power in Mali since 2020, has made it a priority to regain control of the country's entire territory. In this regard, armed separatist groups have lost several regions in the north since 2023, following an attack by the Malian army that led it to control its stronghold, the city of Kidal.