Mali – ofiara agresji islamskich fundamentalistów w regionie Sahelu
Mali: Victim of Fundamentalist Islamic Aggression in the Sahel

Summary/Abstract: The Sahel, a region skirting the Sahara to the south, has had more than its fair share of civil wars, state disintegrations, tribal and religious conflicts, hostage-taking for ransom and drug trafficking involving Islamists of various hues. For nearly two years now these plagues have also come to afflict Mali, where the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) rose against the Bamako government, backed by 1,500–2,000 well trained and armed fellow Tuareg fighters, former soldiers in Qaddafi’s army. The conflict reached its apogee in 2012 when, first, the MNLA and, then, Islamists linked to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb took control of northern Mali and marched southwards—imposing Sharia law along the way, destroying cultural landmarks, and punishing opponents by severing hands and decapitations. For the West, the Sahel has become another front of the fight against terrorism, after Afghanistan. A French intervention in January 2013 put an end to the Malian rebellion. Not letting Al Qaeda operate in the Sahel is a sina qua non condition for peace and stability in the region.

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