CFR Daily News Brief: 170 Taken Hostage in Mali Hotel

November 20, 2015

Daily News Brief

TOP OF THE AGENDA 170 Taken Hostage in Mali Hotel At least three people were killed (FT) after gunmen men stormed a hotel in Mali's capital of Bamako, holding an estimated 170 people hostage (AP). Malian special forces entered the Radisson Blu hotel (Reuters), a popular destination for foreigners, and authorities reported that dozens of the hostages have been freed. No group has immediately claimed responsibility, but supporters of the self-proclaimed Islamic State posted celebration on social media. Islamist militants had taken control of northern Mali in 2012 (NYT). A French-led offensive ousted them in 2013, though remnants of the group have conducted attacks on peacekeepers and Malian forces.

ANALYSIS “Several domestic and regional developments contributed to political instability and the subsequent rise of criminality in Mali. The country has periodically been shaken by cycles of violence by secessionist ethnic Tuareg rebels struggling to create an independent Azawad state in the north. The return of heavily armed and well-trained Tuareg fighters after the end of the Libyan civil war, who either joined the separatists or simply engaged in other illegal activities, further worsened the security crisis and created fertile ground for militant and criminal activities,” wrote Olga Bogorad in October for Daily Maverick. “The peacekeepers are trying, but this is a different type of mission for the UN. Their key role is impartiality - and they have helped create enough space for militant groups to talk to each other and to the government and be part of an on-going ceasefire and peace deal. But when they try to hit back against those planting bombs or launching ambushes, they get sucked into a counter-insurgency and the lines become blurred,” writes Alastair Leithead for the BBC. “Most of the recent troubles in Mali began in October 2011, when people from the Tuareg ethnic minority group formed the Azawad National Liberation Movement and began an insurgency against the Malian government, which they believe marginalised them. Fighting between the groups continued, and the army eventually staged a coup against the government in March 2012 out of frustration over its handling of the rebellion. The Presient, Amadou Toumani Touré was forced into exile, and Tuareg and al-Qaeda-linked forces seized control of the north of the country, the military failing in its promise to defeat the rebels. In June 2012 more Islamist groups entered the fray, capturing major cities,” explains Doug Bolton for the Independent.