Sahel Blog: Tuareg rebellion in Mali's north sparks protests in South
Guest blogger Alex Thurston says the anger follows setbacks for Mali's Army at hand of well-armed Tuareg rebels. Could we see citizen backlash against ethnic Tuaregs?
Guest blogger Alex Thurston says the anger follows setbacks for Mali's Army at hand of well-armed Tuareg rebels. Could we see citizen backlash against ethnic Tuaregs?
Protests yesterday in Mali鈥檚 capital Bamako showed that the ongoing聽Tuareg rebellion in northern Mali聽is seriously affecting politics and interethnic relations in the southern part of the country.聽Reuters聽describes the scene:
Yesterday鈥檚 demonstrations made international news, but protests actually began several days earlier. Military families began protesting in聽Kati, a town near the capital Bamako, on January 30th.聽Le Pretoire聽(French, my translation), writes that on Tuesday the 31st, 鈥淭he women of the military base in the town of Kati went out and marched in the direction of Koulouba [the presidential palace], burning tires on the Kati-Bamako highway.鈥� On Wednesday, military families聽reportedly聽鈥渁ttacked government buildings and targeted at least one business run by a Tuareg in鈥ati.鈥� Protesters have also, the聽BBC聽says, targeted Tuareg shops in聽Segou.聽Jeune Afrique聽has begun to speak of 鈥渁nti-Tuareg pogroms.鈥�
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Protesters are angry in part over what they see as the military鈥檚 lack of proper equipment. The protesters may also feel scared about the聽difficulties聽(French) and setbacks the military has faced so far. There also seems to be a perception among some protesters that the Tuaregs in the south are sympathetic to, or to blame for, the actions of their fellow tribesmen in the north. As聽Reuters聽comments, 鈥淭he demonstrations, sparked by local reports that the military ran out of ammunition and that dozens of soldiers may have been executed during rebel attacks, have raised the prospects of clashes between Malian communities.鈥�
Mali鈥檚 President Amadou Toumani Toure, who has only a few months left in office, has attempted to reassure his nervous nation and to defuse ethnic tensions. For the first time since the Tuareg rebellion resumed, he聽addressed the nation聽on Wednesday, 鈥減ledg[ing] not to give in to separatist demands but, in a sign of concerns that the conflict could spread, call[ing] on Malians to refrain from attacks on any particular community.鈥� (Read the full text of Toure鈥檚 speech聽here, in French).
The administration is doing a lot of talking behind closed doors as well. Government representatives are聽meeting Tuareg representatives in Algeria; all signs indicate that thegovernment wants a diplomatic solution聽and believes one is still possible. Toure is also moving to assuage the protesters鈥� anger; yesterday morning he聽met with military wives.
So long as the situation remains bad in the north, though, the possibility of protests and pogroms will remain in the south. This is a bad moment for Mali, and indeed for the region. As Fatoumata Lejeune of the UNHCR wrote on聽Twitter聽yesterday, 鈥淭ouareg uprising in聽Mali, Boko Haram in聽Nigeria, Wade reelection bid in聽Senegal. Too much trouble in West Africa these days!鈥�
For updates on the situation in southern Mali, I recommend following聽Martin Vogl, a journalist based in Bamako who frequently writes for major news outfits.
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-聽Alex Thurston is a PhD student studying Islam in聽Africa聽at聽Northwestern University聽and blogs at聽Sahel Blog.
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