Dakar: The former rebels from the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) in the north of Mali have declared war against the ruling junta.
In a statement on social media CMA, an alliance of Tuareg-dominated groups demanding autonomy or independence from the Malian state, asked all residents of the northern Azawad region to join them in the war against Mali rulers.
CMA ready to defend, protect homeland
The CMA said its objective was to defend and protect the homeland and regain control of the complete territory. This was the first official document signed by a group calling itself the “Azawadian National Army”.
In 2015 peace deal called the Algiers agreement between the government and the CMA was signed,however, it has been hanging by a thread.
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Earlier Mali’s military, which seized the government in a 2021 military coup, told the United Nations to wind up its decade-old mission and leave the African country.
They gave the UN until the end of the current year to repatriate over 12,000 peacekeepers and separate from more than 4,300 civilian staff.
Reports say that the recent coup in Niger is also complicating the withdrawal of the UN forces from Mali.
The UN peacekeeping mission, known as Minusma, will exit Mali by December after a decade of effort to bring stability to the country and improve its security environment amid separatist and jihadist rebellions.
