Reports out of Mali say the country’s military has retaken the village of Anéfis in the Kidal region of north-eastern Mali, which has been a major centre held by Tuareg rebels and Jihadist insurgents for some time, after intense fighting.
The Malian army had earlier indicated that a large convoy of its forces had progressed to the surroundings of Anéfis, a stopover towards the strategic town of Kidal, stronghold of the Tuareg separatist rebellion.
The village was one of the most dangerous places in the North and a base of the rebel Touareg and Islamist insurgents.
Sources say the military finally went on the offensive after years of being stifled in their efforts by the presence and control of French troops and the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) contingent.
They say the evacuation of French troops and the agreement for the evacuation of MINUSMA troops from the 12 bases they occupy in the country, which would run till December 31, 2023, has provided an opportunity for the Malian military to take back the initiative against the insurgents.
There have been calls for Bamako to negotiate a peace deal with the insurgents but it is unclear if the government will accept any proposal to sit at the table with these groups that have been responsible for the deaths of thousands of Malian lives, especially as the government has the advantage.
Many commentators have said that talks with the insurgents over the years have complicated the issue of insecurity in the Sahel, insisting that to negotiate will be a high treason to the memory of all the Malians who died. They call on the government to demand a complete surrender of the armed groups in the country as the only way out of the conflict.
