The Malian army indicated, Thursday evening, October 5, 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 which has taken up arms again against the central state. The column broke a defensive curtain made up of trenches ten kilometers south of Anéfis, the Malian Armed Forces (FAMA) said on social networks. They claimed to have destroyed several pick-ups and to have inflicted “very significant” losses on their adversaries.
“I deny the entry of the FAMA/Wagner convoy to Anéfis. They are instead surrounded eleven kilometers away,” replied Attaye Ag Mohamed, a leader of the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA), an alliance of predominantly Tuareg armed groups on social networks. After rising up against the central state in 2012, these groups signed a peace agreement with it in 2015 but just resumed hostilities in August.
A Malian army convoy made up of dozens of vehicles and armored vehicles left Gao on Monday towards Kidal. It has been under attack ever since. The column of vehicles advances slowly and fuels speculation about its destination and objectives.
An offensive on the rebel bases in the Kidal region could be a turning point after a decade of conflict, as attacks by separatist groups and jihadists from the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM), affiliated with Al-Qaeda is increasing against the Malian army camps in the north and center of the country. Groups affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) organization also continue to operate, mainly in the east.
The Tuareg rebellion had claimed earlier, Thursday, to have stopped the advance of the convoy and to have shot down an army plane in Tabankort, south of Anéfis. The assertions of all the protagonists are difficult to verify in these remote areas. Access to independent sources in a context of hostilities and military rule is complicated. Anéfis is located approximately 110 km south of Kidal.