A convoy of Russian and Malian soldiers heads to Tinzouaiten to seek long-awaited revenge

happened last july First Battle of TinzouaitenTwo days of intense fighting followed pitting Azad’s independent forces integrated into the Permanent Strategic Cadre (CSP) against a joint force of Russian operatives from the Malian Army (FAMA) and the Wagner Group. There was hell in the sand at the gates of the town of Tinzouaiten, a few meters from the Algerian border. The outcome of the First Battle of Tinzouaiten, which will remain in Mali’s history books, was disastrous for government troops and their allies: About 80 Russian henchmen were killed and more than a hundred Malian soldiers met the same fateThe few survivors who were not taken prisoner faced a violent ambush by an al Qaeda-linked organization in the area, known as JNIM, upon their return to Kidal and died anyway. Went.

The first battle of Tinzouaiten was one of the biggest disasters that Assimi Goita’s government has faced since coming to power in a coup in 2021. A debacle reminiscent of what happened during the 2012 Tuareg rebellion. An earlier Bamako government response to a minor war crime included the bombing of the city of Tinzouaiten with the help of Burkinabé drones, which ended with the deaths of 24 civilians (12 of them children, according to ground sources). There were also dead bodies and injured people from other African countries among the victims. But the bombing that followed almost immediately after the Tinzouaiten disaster was not the end of the story. This was not enough to restore the wounded pride of the Bamako military junta and it was certainly not enough to win the war.

This Monday it was revealed that a convoy composed of government forces was launching a new offensive against the famous city, starting the Second Battle of Tinzouaiten and that will undoubtedly be a decisive battle in the war that Has given competition to Bamako and Azad. From summer 2023 onwards. The first information shows that The convoy in charge of carrying out the desired revenge is composed of 45 armored vehicles, an undetermined number of military transports and two helicopters and two drones that will provide air cover for the ground operation.A large number of Malian soldiers participate, but also members of the Wagner Group, linked to Africa Corps activists (who have been concentrating in Kidal in recent weeks) and members of northern armed groups known as the Movement for the Salvation of Azawad. (MSA). Gatia.

These last two groups are of great interest. Both were created after the 2012 uprising in response to the local population who do not want independence from Azad and, more importantly, who want to counter the spread of armed jihadism in the region. Its cooperation with the Malian military reached a new level when the government of Goita launches an integration program for northern troops in 2022 In the armed forces of the country. If the operational capabilities of the two groups are relative (they have a total of less than 5,000 fighters between them), they bring with them an extremely useful communicative addition: not all of the population of northern Mali wants independence from Azawad. That a shared future is possible.

The Second Battle of Tinzouaiten has it all: various Russian companies, the Malian army, Tuareg militiamen, drones honed in on Turkiye and Chinese armored vehicles eager to get in on the action. Information channels of the Malian military junta thus reported that the convoy was going to defeat “terrorists” in northern Mali.

In the use of language that should be made clear to avoid confusion. On the one hand, in Bamako they classify as “terrorists” all those who fight against their concept of the state, whether they are Islamic terrorists themselves or independent independence supporters. On the other hand, the fact that JNIM annihilated government troops during the retreat after the First Battle of Tinzouatin adds to common rumors that a collaboration between independentists and armed jihad has been ensured, thereby The military junta has received permission to declare the Tinzouaitin offensive as an operation aimed at attacking both armed factions.

The outcome of the upcoming battle is crucial for the continuity of the forces in power in Bamako. The second insult will be heavy on that government This Monday he also announced that as a result of the state of national disaster declared in the country a few months ago, the school year will not start before November.If Goita came to power with a promise to end French neocolonialism (an objective he has accomplished) and the various armed agents destabilizing Mali, the nation is currently at a critical point in terms of its economic security. . Attacks and victims have multiplied since 2021, leading to new waves of migration towards Europe, in addition to other disasters.

The upcoming result is also not unimportant for the rebel side. The victory achieved at the First Battle of Tinzouaiten was an important propaganda boost for their cause.Just like its engagement with Ukraine and the massacre of Russian operatives, it put the independence movement on the map of international geopolitics at levels not seen since 2012. Visibility is an important term to consider in Azad After the First Battle of Tinzouaiten. Defeat in the second task will have a detrimental effect on this point. Besides, Capture of Kidal (the most important city in northern Mali) There was a severe blow to the morale of the independentists by the government coalition in November 2023, who were forced to withdraw from their capital, triggering a conflict marked by ambushes, killings and widespread insecurity in the desert.

Tinzouaiten is located on the edge of Mali’s border with Algeria. Algeria has been accused The Bamako government repeatedly offered Awaaz independence supporters shelter in its territory. Using a simple syllogism it can be understood that losing Tinzouten would mean for the independentists to lose their main gateway to Algeria. The Maghreb nation has already deployed troops on its side of the border during the first confrontation in TinzouaitenReportedly aimed at preventing the fighting from spreading into their territory; Although it is currently unknown whether this will happen again, it is believed that the fighting will be widely monitored from Algiers.

From Algiers, from Bamako, from Paris, from Moscow and from Kidal. There is a lot at stake (the pride of a nation, border crossings, the value of Russians in the Sahel, the survival of the ideal of Azad as a nation) in a city with less than 3,000 inhabitants and whose name sounds like a tongue twister to foreigners. Twister for. But we already know that destinies are usually decided in the least suspicious places.