The solution comes loose in Farabougou
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In Mali, the Niono Forum on Reconciliation between different communities ended this weekend after three days of work. Four ministers had come from Bamako to this center in the center of the country to put an end to the violence that has plagued the sites in the area for several weeks. The case of the village of Farabougou, surrounded for over a month by jihadist fighters against a backdrop of conflict between traditional Dozo hunters and the Fulani ethnic group, is the most striking example.
The situation is improving in Farabougou where Malian soldiers have reinforced their presence. There are more of them and above all they arrived on the way. Until now, Malian soldiers had only had access to Farabougou by helicopter, they protected the village without venturing outside. But since Friday night, they have been circulating around Farabougou, carrying out patrols in the bush.
Neither the Malian army nor the Ministry of Defense wanted to give details at the moment. But several elected officials in the area confirm this and in particular a resident of Farabougou told RFI this Monday morning by telephone: “It calms us down, we can even go to the fields now.” But the last nuance: “We go to peanuts and beans that are nearby. But we are not going to the rice fields that are further away than.”
The road is still considered dangerous, the bridge connecting Farabougou with neighboring towns, destroyed three weeks ago by the jihadists, has still not been rebuilt, so the inhabitants of Farabougou are not yet completely free from their movement, not even but it is obviously a significant improvement . Malian soldiers are also providing medical assistance to the residents, and peacekeepers in Minsuma as well as the French soldiers in Barkhane have carried out food drops in the village over the weekend, and on Monday morning again.
A non-aggressive pact
In the process, a non-aggression pact ended this weekend in Niono, where discussions were held for reconciliation between communities. It was concluded between traditional dozo hunters and representatives of the Fulani community in the Niono circle, during a meeting held alongside the forum organized by the government. The two parties undertake to cease all hostilities.
Are jihadist fighters, like those surrounding Farabougou, affected by this agreement? Officially no, as they were not represented at this meeting, but several participants explain that the message is still transmitted by intermediaries. It is now a question of seeing if this is really reflected on the land in Farabougou but also in the other municipalities in the circle.
For his part, during this Niono forum, the state undertook to “disarm all illegal gun owners”, to “ensure the protection of people and their property” and “to increase the number of consultation frameworks between communities” in the area.
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