Mali (inter-communal rivalry / central Mali):
The limited war over subnational predominance and resources
such as water, wood, and arable land between the
Dogon and Bambara ethnic communities and their Dozo selfdefense
militias, the Fulani ethnic community, and Islamist
groups continued.
Since the 2012 Tuareg rebellion in Mali and the subsequent
expansion of various Islamist groups [!Mali, Burkina Faso et
al. (JNIM, AQIM); Mali, Nigeria et al. (ISWAP/ISWAP-GS)], the
deteriorating security situation, especially in the country's
Northern and Central regions, has further exacerbated rivalries
between Bambara and Dogon farmers, on the one hand,
and mostly Muslim Fulani herders, on the other. Furthermore,
the weak government presence and recurrent Islamist
attacks in the area incentivized ethnic groups to form Dozo
self-defense militias, such as Dan Na Ambassagou. Moreover,
Islamist groups allegedly recruited mostly members of the
Fulani.,
Mali, Burkina Faso et al. (JNIM, AQIM et al.):
The war over the orientation of the international system
between the Islamist group Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-
Muslimin' (JNIM), comprised of al-Qaeda in the Islamic
Maghreb (AQIM), Al-Mourabitoun, Ansar Dine, Macina Liberation
Front (MLF), and its regional affiliates Ansaroul Islam, and
various other Islamist militant groups, on the one hand, and
Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger (G5 Sahel),
France, and other governments on the other hand, continued.
Regional, national, and international efforts to combat Islamist
militants in the Sahel zone continued this year.,
Mali, Nigeria et al. (ISWAP / ISWAP-GS):
The war over the orientation of the political system between
the so-called Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and
the governments of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Mali, and
Burkina Faso continued for the fifth consecutive year.
ISWAP comprised two factions operating in West Africa:
The first group was formerly called Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna
Lidda'Awati Wal-Jihad (JAS) [! Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad,
Niger (JAS-Boko Haram)], also known as Boko Haram, and
was renamed ISWAP in 2016 after pledging allegiance to
so-called Islamic State (IS) [!Iraq, Syria et al. (IS)]. The group
is active in the Lake Chad Basin.
The second group, formerly known as so-called Islamic State
in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) became an IS affiliate in 2016
and was assigned to ISWAP by an IS media outlet in 2019.
This group was mainly active in the tri-border region of
Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.
While both factions operated under the name ISWAP, they
have independent command structures and have not conducted
attacks together yet.
ISWAP is opposed to secular and democratic political systems
as well as nation states created by former colonial powers,
and seeks to establish an Islamic caliphate in the region.