The five ruling colonels are digging in for a long stay – but neither Wagner s mercenaries nor the army are stemming the jihadist tide, The military junta is making itself comfortable. That much was clear on 21 February when the National Transitional Council (NTC), a hastily convened rubber-stamp parliament of 120 placemen of the colonels in Bamako, unanimously voted to hold elections in five years time.
Foreign Minister Diop s attacks on France and peacekeepers meets sceptical silence at UN Security Council, After accusing France of supporting Islamist militia groups at a UN Security Council meeting on 18 October, Bamako s foreign minister Abdoulaye Diop dialled down the rhetoric five days later at the Dakar Security Forum, insisting Mali could work with any partner, including Paris, if they didn t dictate policy. But the Bamako junta s stance, including using Russia s Wagner Group mercenaries, is deterring countries from contributing to the UN peacekeeping force.
Mali has opted out, so other Sahelian states are trying to cooperate militarily to fill a vacuum in which the jihadists are thriving, New alliances are being reinforced by states on the front line against jihad to make up for Mali s decision to go it alone and expel France and its advanced military resources. Niger and Burkina Faso are working together and with the foreign powers, but they are also being joined by threatened coastal nations.