Dozens of people were killed in Djenné’s circle last week during clashes between traditional dozo hunters and jihadists from Katiba Macina. And this while dozo hunters and Katiba Macina, still in the middle of the country, signed a ceasefire agreement in the Niono circle a month ago. How to interpret these conflicting dynamics?
In the circle of Niono, hunters sealed dozos and katiba Macina, affiliated with Jnim (support group for Islam and Muslims) to Iyad Ag Ghaly and therefore in Aqmi, a ceasefire agreement a month ago, with the blessing of the national authorities, while a few hundred kilometers away , the same actors resume the deadly violence in the circle of Djenné.
How are these contradictory dynamics understood, how to interpret them? David Baché asked Boubacar Ba, a researcher specializing in central Mali and head of the Center for Analysis on Governance and Security in the Sahel.
“These contradictory dynamics are linked to two (different) situations. The Niono area is an area where the Mujahedin had been in conflict for several months (with Dozo hunters, note). There have been a lot of losses on both sides and they were able to reach a minimum agreement a month ago, which has been done definitively in recent days. They needed peace, it suited both parties. While in Djenné, there has been a tension for some time between the Moudjahidins, established in the area, and the Dozos who took up residence and tried to occupy certain villages. “
►Reading and listening as well: Behind the scenes of the Niono agreement in Mali [1/4]
For the researcher, therefore, the katiba Macina jihadists had to show their strength and ensure control of the territory: “katiba Macina negotiated in Niono from a force by introducing certain rules. She thinks she can do it in this area as well, but for a while the dozo hunters from Djenné and Mopti have had reinforcements from Bandiagara. It was therefore necessary for the mujahedin to show their muscles, to show that they are still the masters of the place (able) to define the rules of sharia and the administration of local power in this area. ”
In the summer of 2019, an agreement between communities made it possible to create a certain calm in Djenné’s circle. The latest violence obviously raises fears of a new cycle of violence. “The violence can continue,” admits researcher Boubacar Ba. “Everyone had reinforcements, but the arrival of the army proved to be a deterrent. At present, everyone is in their peripheral positions, around Djenné and Mopti. But it cannot be ruled out that new reinforcements will come and new battles.” will arise, unless the actors stand up, if the leaders of society stand up, to ask people to stop and try to get a ceasefire. -Fire, even insecure. “
► Reading and listening as well: What does the Niono Agreement in Mali contain? [2/4]
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