In 2021, the war between the authorities of Mali and the armed Islamist groups left a balance of 600 deaths, according to the report released last March by the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali.
Since 2017, successive governments and now a military junta have unsuccessfully tried to contain and crush armed Islamist groups expelled from the country’s capital with the support of French troops. France announced weeks ago the withdrawal of its military amid accusations of covert support to the insurgents.
The vast majority of the displaced, who are also fleeing from hunger caused by a drought, seek refuge in neighboring Niger, where the situation is also precarious for the same reason, the UNHCR report notes.
The announcement of the withdrawal of the French troops from Mali unleashed a verbal war between the governments of both countries.
mh/llp/oda/msl