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Mali has ruled out any dialogue with armed groups it describes as terrorists, days after coordinated attacks by jihadists and allied separatists targeted key towns and killed the country’s defence minister.
Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said on Thursday that the government would not negotiate with armed groups responsible for years of violence and instability across the country.
Speaking during a meeting with Malian diplomats, Diop said the authorities had no intention of engaging in talks with what he described as lawless terrorist organisations behind the latest attacks.
“The government of Mali does not envisage any dialogue with the lawless terrorist armed groups that bear responsibility for the tragic events our people have been experiencing for years.” Diop said.
The assaults, carried out on April 25 and 26, involved fighters linked to the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) and Tuareg separatists from the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA).
The junta-led West African country has grappled with more than a decade of violence, and last month’s attacks were reminiscent of a crisis that rocked Mali in 2012.
According to the foreign minister, the FLA had aligned itself with an extremist organisation recognised by the United Nations as a terrorist group.
“The FLA has freely chosen to take up the cause of an extremist group recognised as terrorist by the United Nations,” the minister said, referring to the JNIM.
The alliance reportedly seized control of the northern town of Kidal along with several other areas, and has since imposed a blockade around the capital, Bamako.
On Wednesday, security, legal and family sources told AFP that several opposition figures and military personnel had been detained or abducted following the attacks.
Mali has battled insecurity since 2012, driven by armed groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, alongside separatist movements and criminal gangs.
The prolonged unrest contributed to political instability, culminating in military coups in 2020 and 2021 that brought the current junta to power.
