A suicide bombing targeting militia groups committed to restoring
peace in Mali have left around 50 people dead and struck a fresh blow at
long-running efforts to stabilise the troubled north.
The car bomb attack on Wednesday in Gao, the region’s biggest city,
targeted a camp housing former rebels and pro-government militia who are
signatories to a 2015 peace accord struck with the government.
President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita ordered three days of national
mourning following the attack, the worst in the country in recent years.
The group of Algerian jihadist and Al-Qaeda ally Mokhtar Belmokhtar
claimed responsibility, in a statement, for the suicide bombing.
The group, allied to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM),
identified the attacker as Abdelhadi al-Foulani, in a statement cited by
the US-based SITE watchdog and Mauritanian news agency Al-Akhbar.
Defence Minister Abdoulaye Idrissa Maiga swiftly headed to Gao following the blast.
The attack occurred as former rebels from the Tuareg-led CMA movement
prepared to go on a joint patrol with pro-government militia members,
under the terms of the peace deal.
– ‘Cowardly attack’ –
The United States condemned the bombing, describing the attack as “cowardly”.
“We also denounce in the strongest terms all efforts to derail
implementation of the peace agreement in Mali,” State Department
Spokesman Peter Kirby said.
Mali’s north fell under the control of Tuareg-led rebels and jihadist
groups linked to Al-Qaeda in 2012. The Islamists sidelined the rebels
to take sole control.
Although they were largely ousted by a French-led military operation
in January 2013, implementation of the peace accord has been piecemeal
with insurgents still active across large parts of the region.
The joint patrols, which also include regular Malian army troops, are
supposed to help prepare for the reorganisation of the army.
“The provisional toll is 47 dead, including five suicide bombers, and
several dozen injured”, the government said in a statement.
A Malian military source told AFP that 53 people had been killed and 110 injured.
The UN peacekeeping mission MINUSMA said in a statement that “dozens
of deaths and dozens of injuries are reported among the 600 individuals
hosted in the camp”.
The attack took place at 0840 GMT as the former rival groups “were due to soon leave on a joint patrol,” a MINUSMA source added.
The powerful blast, which went off during a training session, ripped
apart bodies, scattering limbs across the camp, a witness said.
The vehicle used in the blast bore the logo of the unit coordinating the joint patrols, army spokesman Diarran Kone told AFP.
– ‘Fragile peace’ –
The assailant “came to town alone to procure equipment and fit the
vehicle out to commit a suicide attack”, a Malian security source who
asked not to be named told AFP.
The camp is very close to Gao airport, a key transport hub which was
closed briefly in late November following an attack blamed on jihadists.
The car bomb destroyed prefabricated hangars used by MINUSMA’s
aircraft and damage to the installations and debris on the runway made
the airport temporarily unusable.
“The joint patrols were the target,” French Foreign Minister
Jean-Marc Ayrault told French media on Wednesday. “The political aim is
to hamper the peace process and reconciliation.”
“Peace remains fragile,” he added.
France is considering a UN Security Council draft resolution that
would set up a sanctions regime for Mali to target opponents of the
peace deal signed 19 months ago.
The UN Security Council met Wednesday and agreed to consider setting
up a sanctions regime for Mali to punish those who are hindering the
struggling peace deal.
Condemning the attack, council members said “persistent delays
threaten the viability of the agreement” signed by the Malian government
and rebel groups 19 months ago, said Swedish Ambassador Olof Skoog,
this month’s council president.
The proposed sanctions regime would set up a mechanism to allow
individuals and entities to be blacklisted by the United Nations.
Targeted sanctions include a global travel ban and an assets freeze.
The United Nations has deployed 13,000 troops in Mali to serve in the
MINUSMA force, considered one of the deadliest missions in
peacekeeping.
AFP
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