Federal Cabinet plans to send military trainers to northern Mali (April 13)

Referring to Germany’s plans to send military trainers to northern Mali, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) warns about an increasing risk of terrorist attacks against the Bundeswehr in the African country and within Germany in general. ‘German soldiers will become a preferred target for Islamist terrorists – similar to the French,’ said Ulrich Delius, the STP’s Africa consultant, in Göttingen on Tuesday. Further, he demanded that Germany should show more commitment towards peace and towards reconciliation with the Tuareg. On Wednesday, the Federal Cabinet will decide whether or not to send German military personnel from the relatively safe south of the country to northern Mali in order train Malian troops in the scope of the EUTM program.

‘The threat of Islamist attacks must not be underestimated,’ said Delius. Since January 2015, more than 200 terrorist attacks took place in northern Mali, claiming 210 lives – and 83 UN peacekeepers got killed within three years. Since the beginning of 2016, attacks by Islamist extremists have increased again. On March 20, 2016, the Islamist group Ansar Dine attacked an army base near the town of Tessalit. On March 21, Islamist fighters attacked a hotel in the capital Bamako where EUTM-trainers were staying. One of the attackers got killed. On April 3, a civilian was shot near the town of Timbuktu, presumably by Islamist extremists.

Three terror suspects were arrested since the end of March, which is why retaliatory attack by Islamists are to be expected. On April 8, the US embassy thus issued a warning about imminent terrorist attacks against US citizens in Mali, advising them to avoid restaurants, cafes, theaters, or churches. The United Nations have also called the security situation ‘alarming’, especially in the north of the country.

‘While Germany is becoming more and more involved in security-issues in Mali, there are hardly any signs of actual improvements in the way of peace and reconciliation in the region,’ criticized Delius. ‘However, without sustainable peace between the armed Tuareg groups and the central government, the anti-terrorist measures are bound to fail as well. In order to curb the Islamist threat, it is necessary to overcome Mali’s deep internal conflicts.’ Tuareg groups have been criticizing the extremely slow implementation of the peace agreement (signed on June 20, 2015) for months. Most recently, a new dispute arose at the end of March 2016, when the Malian Prime Minister refused to participate in a forum for peace and reconciliation in the city Kidal on Tuareg-controlled territory.

Header Photo: Michal Huniewicz via Flickr