The regime s split with the anti-French and pro-Russian Yerewolo – its biggest supporter – may have been provoked by links to Hizbollah, Fear of links to Iran and Hizbollah helped turn interim President Colonel Assimi Goïta s regime against its biggest domestic supporter, and to imprison its leader and harass other senior members of Yerewolo – Debout Sur Les Ramparts ( standing on the ramparts ), according to diplomatic sources.
The junta s seizure of this key northern city from the Azawad coalition could create more problems than it solves, The victory of Forces armées maliennes (FAMa) and its Russian Wagner Group allies over the Coordination des mouvements de l Azawad (CMA) for control of Kidal on 14 November is a useful political boost for the Bamako junta but not the military turning point that it claims. Most of the CMA s fighters have simply pulled back from Kidal to adjacent areas from where they will continue their insurgency against the junta and its army.
The five ruling colonels are digging in for a long stay – but neither Wagner s mercenaries nor the army are stemming the jihadist tide, The military junta is making itself comfortable. That much was clear on 21 February when the National Transitional Council (NTC), a hastily convened rubber-stamp parliament of 120 placemen of the colonels in Bamako, unanimously voted to hold elections in five years time.
, Mali s military junta plans to militarise the police and eliminate the right of police officers to strike and unionise, diplomatic sources have told Africa Confidential. Discussions are under way to enshrine the military status of the police in the constitution, which would prevent any legal recourse and removes its status as a civilian organisation.
With French and European troops leaving, the junta turns its ire on UN peacekeepers and seeks new foreign allies, Malian military ruler Colonel Assimi Goïta is determined to show that his forces can tackle a growing Islamist onslaught, despite the withdrawal of French and European troops, under pressure from the regime.