Mali Government Rules Out Talks With 'Terrorist Armed Groups'

Just under two weeks after unprecedented attacks on military junta positions by Tuareg separatists and jihadists, Mali’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop declared the government will not hold talks with what it calls "terrorist armed groups." The announcement came during a meeting with the diplomatic corps on Thursday, according to AFP.

The coordinated assaults, launched on April 25 and 26 by the Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front and the al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), killed 23 people. Among the dead was Defense Minister Sadio Camara, who died when a car bomb targeted his home. Junta leader Assimi Goita has since taken over the defense portfolio.

The attacks also struck strategic military council sites in Bamako, leaving several towns and cities in northern Mali under the control of jihadists and their separatist allies.

Diop stated that the government has no intention of negotiating with "immoral terrorist armed groups" responsible for the tragic events that have plagued the population for years. He specifically noted that the Azawad Liberation Front chose to back a militant group classified as terrorist by the United Nations, referring to JNIM.

In the wake of these developments, authorities have carried out widespread arrests in recent days, targeting both opposition figures and military personnel. Verifying the number and identities of those detained or "disappeared" in the Sahel nation, where the military has held power since 2020, remains difficult.

Mali has been grappling with a multifaceted security crisis since 2012, fueled by violence from jihadist groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, Tuareg separatist movements, and local criminal gangs.