African Arguments

Top Menu

  • About Us
  • Write for us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter
  • RSS feed
  • Donate
  • Fellowship

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Country
    • Central
      • Cameroon
      • Central African Republic
      • Chad
      • Congo-Brazzaville
      • Congo-Kinshasa
      • Equatorial Guinea
      • Gabon
    • East
      • Burundi
      • Comoros
      • Dijbouti
      • Eritrea
      • Ethiopia
      • Kenya
      • Rwanda
      • Seychelles
      • Somalia
      • Somaliland
      • South Sudan
      • Sudan
      • Tanzania
      • Uganda
      • Red Sea
    • North
      • Algeria
      • Egypt
      • Libya
      • Morocco
      • Tunisia
      • Western Sahara
    • Southern
      • Angola
      • Botswana
      • eSwatini
      • Lesotho
      • Madagascar
      • Malawi
      • Mauritius
      • Mozambique
      • Namibia
      • South Africa
      • Zambia
      • Zimbabwe
    • West
      • Benin
      • Burkina Faso
      • Cape Verde
      • Côte d’Ivoire
      • The Gambia
      • Ghana
      • Guinea
      • Guinea Bissau
      • Liberia
      • Mali
      • Mauritania
      • Niger
      • Nigeria
      • São Tomé and Príncipe
      • Senegal
      • Sierra Leone
      • Togo
  • Politics
    • Elections Map
  • Economy
  • Society
    • Climate crisis
  • Culture
  • Specials
    • From the fellows
    • Radical Activism in Africa
    • On Food Security & COVID19
    • #EndSARS
    • Covid-19
    • Travelling While African
    • From the wit-hole countries…
    • Living in Translation
    • Red Sea
    • Beautiful Game
  • Podcast
    • Into Africa Podcast
    • Africa Science Focus Podcast
    • Think African Podcast
  • Debating Ideas
  • About Us
  • Write for us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter
  • RSS feed
  • Donate
  • Fellowship

logo

Header Banner

African Arguments

  • Home
  • Country
    • Central
      • Cameroon
      • Central African Republic
      • Chad
      • Congo-Brazzaville
      • Congo-Kinshasa
      • Equatorial Guinea
      • Gabon
    • East
      • Burundi
      • Comoros
      • Dijbouti
      • Eritrea
      • Ethiopia
      • Kenya
      • Rwanda
      • Seychelles
      • Somalia
      • Somaliland
      • South Sudan
      • Sudan
      • Tanzania
      • Uganda
      • Red Sea
    • North
      • Algeria
      • Egypt
      • Libya
      • Morocco
      • Tunisia
      • Western Sahara
    • Southern
      • Angola
      • Botswana
      • eSwatini
      • Lesotho
      • Madagascar
      • Malawi
      • Mauritius
      • Mozambique
      • Namibia
      • South Africa
      • Zambia
      • Zimbabwe
    • West
      • Benin
      • Burkina Faso
      • Cape Verde
      • Côte d’Ivoire
      • The Gambia
      • Ghana
      • Guinea
      • Guinea Bissau
      • Liberia
      • Mali
      • Mauritania
      • Niger
      • Nigeria
      • São Tomé and Príncipe
      • Senegal
      • Sierra Leone
      • Togo
  • Politics
    • Elections Map
  • Economy
  • Society
    • Climate crisis
  • Culture
  • Specials
    • From the fellows
    • Radical Activism in Africa
    • On Food Security & COVID19
    • #EndSARS
    • Covid-19
    • Travelling While African
    • From the wit-hole countries…
    • Living in Translation
    • Red Sea
    • Beautiful Game
  • Podcast
    • Into Africa Podcast
    • Africa Science Focus Podcast
    • Think African Podcast
  • Debating Ideas
Politics

Tuareg, Mali and a post-Gadaffi Sahel: rising risks to oil exploration and mining operations – By Exclusive Analysis Ltd

By Uncategorised
November 18, 2011
2261
0
Share:

On 15 October 2011, around 400 Tuaregs who fought for Colonel Gaddafi in Libya returned to Mali’s northeastern region of Kidal. These tribesmen included mercenaries recruited during the 2011 insurgency in Libya and others who joined the Libyan Army after the 1990-1995 Tuareg rebellion in Mali. Concerned about the security implications, the government set up returnee camps at Takallote, 35 km from the city of Kidal, pledged resources to facilitate their socio-economic reintegration and entered into disarmament negotiations with the leaders of the disparate groups involved. However, the failure of some of these negotiations, resulting in the deployment of elite Army counterinsurgency units in the north, particularly around Gao and Menaka, and tribal rivalries within the Tuareg community, are increasing the risk of a new Tuareg rebellion.

The risk of a renewed insurgency has also been heightened by the likelihood that some of the weapons looted from Libya are in Tuareg hands, and by revenue from lucrative smuggling routes in northern Mali, controlled by competing Tuareg groups. In the event of a renewed insurgency, Army and government assets would be the primary targets; however, foreign assets, including oil exploration and mining operations, would also be at risk. The Algerian company Sonatrach, operating in the Taoudeni basin in the north, is most at risk, particularly given Algeria’s increasing heavy-handed approach to its own Tuareg rebels and smugglers, as well as Tuareg opposition to Algerian investment plans in northern Mali’s resource sectors. The risk of kidnap and extortion to foreign operators throughout the north would also rise significantly.

The Tuareg have long-standing hostile relations with the government, due to grievances over the lack of investment and their aspirations for greater autonomy. Despite the launch of a development programme for the north in August 2011, distrust is high, particularly as the plan also provided for additional Army deployments. Furthermore, rivalries among the three main Tuareg tribes have intensified, with the Ifogha and Chamanamasse competing with the Imghad. This rivalry has been triggered by the government’s preferential treatment of the Imghad, who it relied on to suppress the 2006-2009 rebellion led by an Ifogha commander. Returnee fighters from the Ifoghas and Chamanamasse tribes have established their own camps outside government supervision, and often heavily-armed, in the mountainous Adrar des Ifoghas area between Kidal and the Algerian border. They, particularly a group led by Ifogha commander, Mohamed Najim, are unlikely to agree to disarm, unless the government agrees to integrate them fully in the Army

Exclusive Analysis is a specialist intelligence company that forecasts commercially relevant political and violent risks worldwide.

Previous Article

ICC 6: Kenyan politicians at last face ...

Next Article

Tunis: Party time – By Richard Dowden

Uncategorised

Leave a reply Cancel reply

  • Politics

    Sudan: Measuring the Drowned and the Saved

  • Politics

    African unity after 50 years of OAU/AU: A dream deferred? – By Solomon Ayele Dersso

  • Politics

    Special Tribunal Enactment: Why Cabinet, MPs, are Misleading Kenyans

Subscribe to our newsletter

Click here to subscribe to our free weekly newsletter and never miss a thing!

  • 81664
    Followers

Find us on Facebook

Interactive Elections Map

Keep up to date with all the African elections.

Popular articles

  • A shot of the protests on 30 June 2022 taken by drone and shared by @JamesCopnall.

    Why Sudan’s protest movement has toppled one but not yet two dictators

  • Dr Kanda at the Lwano mobile screening camp in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Credit: Xavier Vahed-DNDi.

    Africa-led progress on neglected tropical diseases needs boost in Kigali

  • Evangelista Kanohili sits outside her home in Sheema, Uganda, March 15, 2022. Kanohili has been experiencing on-and-off infestations of jiggers, a small parasitic flea that burrows into the skin and can make it too painful to take care of daily tasks. Credit: Apophia Agiresaasi/Global Press Journal.

    Uganda: The tiny flea making it painful for people to walk and work

  • “Too much propaganda”: Zimbabwe’s pirates of the airwaves look to SA

  • Charity Nyoni, one of the growing number of women in Zimbabwe’s construction industry, tests paint on a board in a Victoria Falls showroom. Credit: Fortune Moyo/Global Press Journal.

    Building houses while knocking down gender barriers in Zimbabwe

Brought to you by


Creative Commons

Creative Commons Licence
Articles on African Arguments are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
  • Cookies
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • en English
    am Amharicar Arabicny Chichewazh-CN Chinese (Simplified)en Englishfr Frenchde Germanha Hausait Italianpt Portuguesest Sesothosn Shonaes Spanishsw Swahilixh Xhosayo Yorubazu Zulu
© Copyright African Arguments 2020
Cleantalk Pixel
By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies.
en English
am Amharicar Arabicny Chichewazh-CN Chinese (Simplified)en Englishfr Frenchde Germanha Hausait Italianpt Portuguesest Sesothosn Shonaes Spanishsw Swahilixh Xhosayo Yorubazu Zulu