ALGIERS: Algeria on Friday expressed “many regrets and deep concern” after neighboring Mali’s military rulers scrapped a 2015 peace deal with separatist rebels that it had mediated.
Militant and separatist revolts have rocked Mali since 2012 and Algeria was the main mediator in the peace agreement signed by the government and mainly Tuareg armed groups in Algiers.
But the Sahel state’s military rulers on Thursday ended the deal, seen as vital for stabilising Mali, following months of clashes as UN peacekeepers withdrew from the volatile north.
“Algeria has taken note, with many regrets and deep concern, of the Malian authorities ending the agreement for peace and reconciliation in Mali,” the Algerian foreign ministry said in a statement.
Algeria also stressed the decision’s “particular seriousness for Mali itself, for the entire region that aspires to peace and security, and for the all the international community.”
The Malian junta blamed the “change in posture of certain signatory groups” and “acts of hostility” by Algeria, accusing it of hosting representative offices for some of the signatories that had since become “terrorist actors.”
In December, Mali summoned the Algerian ambassador over what it called “interference” and “unfriendly acts,” accusing the diplomat of holding meetings with Tuareg separatists without involving Bamako.
Algeria denied the Malian accusations on Friday, saying the junta’s justifications for scrapping the deal were far from the truth.
The Algiers agreement had called for the integration of ex-rebels into the Malian defense forces and greater autonomy for the country’s regions.
The separatist rebels, grouped under the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA), had already accused the military junta in July 2022 of having abandoned the pact.
Algeria expresses concern after Mali scraps peace deal with separatists
https://arab.news/9hww2
Algeria expresses concern after Mali scraps peace deal with separatists
- Militant and separatist revolts have rocked Mali since 2012
- Algeria was the main mediator in the peace agreement signed by the government and mainly Tuareg armed groups in Algiers
Turkiye detains 110 suspects in operation targeting Daesh after deadly clash
- In Tuesday’s operation, police carried out raids on 114 addresses in Istanbul and two other provinces, arresting 110 of the total 115 suspects that they sought
ISTANBUL: Turkish police detained 110 suspects in an operation against Daesh on Tuesday, a day after three police officers and six militants were killed in a gunfight in northwest Turkiye, the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office said.
Police conducted an eight-hour siege at a house in the town of Yalova, on the Sea of Marmara coast south of Istanbul, a week after more than 100 suspected Daesh members were detained in connection with alleged plans to carry out Christmas and New Year attacks. Eight police officers and another security force member were wounded in the raid on the property, which was one of more than 100 addresses targeted by authorities on Monday.
In Tuesday’s operation, police carried out raids on 114 addresses in Istanbul and two other provinces, arresting 110 of the total 115 suspects that they sought, the prosecutor’s statement said. It said various digital materials and documents were seized.
Turkiye has stepped up operations against suspected Daesh militants this year, as the group returns to prominence globally. The US carried out a strike against the militants in northwest Nigeria last week, while two gunmen who attacked a Hanukkah event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach this month appeared to be inspired by Daesh, Australian police have said. On December 19, the US military launched strikes against dozens of Daesh targets in Syria in retaliation for an attack on American personnel.
Almost a decade ago, the jihadist group was blamed for a series of attacks on civilian targets in Turkiye, including gun attacks on an Istanbul nightclub and the city’s main airport, killing dozens of people. Turkiye was a key transit point for foreign fighters, including those of Daesh, entering and leaving Syria during the war there.
Police have carried out regular operations against the group in subsequent years and there have been few attacks since the wave of violence between 2015-2017.
