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A Second Afghanistan in Mali?

(Institute for Contemporary Affairs-Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Jacques Neriah - Mali, like other sub-Saharan countries, has been facing growing attacks from al-Qaeda's North African branch - Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Al-Qaeda militants and other Islamist combatants share ground in Northern Mali with the Tuareg, a minority of perhaps 1 million of Mali's 15 million people and about a third of the population of Northern Mali. In March 2012, soldiers toppled the president, leaving a power vacuum that enabled rebels led by Tuareg nomads to take control of the northern part of Mali, approximately two-thirds of the country. The Tuareg offensive occurred after the return of Tuareg fighters to Mali following the fall of their historical patron, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, in neighboring Libya. Most probably their rebellion would not have taken place had Gaddafi remained in power. As has been the case in Tunisia, Egypt, and to a lesser extent in Syria lately, the Tuaregs' struggle for an independent homeland has been hijacked by better-organized and armed Islamists from Mali and abroad, creating a safe haven for militants in the Sahara - a west African Afghanistan. The implications of such a development could become a new nightmare for the West. Col. (ret.) Dr. Jacques Neriah was formerly Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Deputy Head for Assessment of Israeli Military Intelligence.
2012-06-15 00:00:00
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