His Excellency Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations
Subject: On the potential contribution of Tuareg communities to the fight against jihadist terrorism in Azawad and the Sahel
Your Excellency,
First and foremost, we wish to express our profound gratitude for the constant attention you devote to the situation in West Africa, and more specifically in the Sahel. Your important address delivered on 18 November before the Security Council, dedicated to the theme “Strengthening regional cooperation in counter-terrorism efforts in West Africa and the Sahel” [1], stands as a testament to your sincere commitment to the security and stability of this crucial region.
On that occasion, you rightly recalled the gravity of the situation: “The recent events in Mali remind us starkly of the seriousness of the situation. Since September, JNIM has disrupted the supply of fuel along the main roads leading to Bamako… This situation is causing enormous hardship for the population… Armed groups are expanding their influence. Several coastal States are under threat. We risk a catastrophic domino effect across the entire region…” These realities—coupled with the forced displacement of nearly four million people, the closure of approximately 15,000 schools and more than 900 health facilities—illustrate the magnitude of the ongoing crisis.
This dramatic development is, unfortunately, the direct result of the policies carried out by the Malian military authorities, whose actions have enabled an ethnic cleansing campaign targeting Tuareg [2], Moor and other communities of Azawad. Devoid of any democratic legitimacy, the ruling junta has dangerously weakened the State, to the point of allowing JNIM jihadists to advance toward the gates of the capital and threaten the very sovereignty of Mali.
The successive expulsion of the French “Barkhane” operation, the European “Takuba Task Force” operation, the decision to impose the termination of the UN MINUSMA mission, as well as the unilateral withdrawal from the Algiers Peace and Reconciliation Agreement signed on 14 May 2015, have deeply destabilized the security landscape. The Malian army—consistently prioritising military force—now relies on Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group and is responsible for serious human rights violations: summary executions, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, sexual violence, pillaging and destruction, as well as the mass exodus of civilians toward Mauritania or areas along the Algerian border. The Azawad Civil Monitoring Observatory for the Defence of Human Rights has recorded, for the year 2024 alone, more than one thousand executions or attempted executions, over five hundred abductions or arbitrary detentions, as well as multiple acts of torture and pillage. On 14 November, two drone strikes in the Timbuktu region once again claimed the lives of thirteen civilians, including seven children.
Your Excellency,
Allow me to recall that our organisation, the Amazigh World Assembly—an international NGO dedicated to defending the rights of Amazigh (Berber) peoples worldwide—has long alerted various institutions and leaders to the gravity of the situation in Mali:
– the European Union, through Mr. Josep Borrell;
– the African Union, under the presidency of Mr. Mohamed Ould Cheikh El-Ghazouani;
– Presidents Emmanuel Macron, Vladimir Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Cyril Ramaphosa;
– as well as the foreign ministers of several North African and Sahel countries, including more recently those of the Kingdoms of Morocco and Spain.
Despite our repeated warnings, none of these interlocutors has provided any substantive response. Today, concern is growing as Mali appears on the verge of falling under the control of Al-Qaeda.
In your address, you called for enhanced dialogue and cooperation among regional actors, as well as improved coordination between the security and intelligence services of ECOWAS member states, the Alliance of Sahel States, Mauritania and Algeria.
However, it must be emphasised that Algeria—sometimes perceived as a potential stabilising actor—is, according to numerous studies and analyses, at the origin of a significant share of regional instability. The Algerian military intelligence services played a decisive role in the creation and structuring of the group formerly known as AQIM (now JNIM), as evidenced in particular by the work of François Gèze and Salima Mellah [3]. Iyad Ag Ghali, the current leader of JNIM and wanted by the International Criminal Court, remains largely instrumentalised by the Algerian authorities in their strategy of influence over Mali.
Your Excellency,
The political path must be prioritised, alongside targeted and supervised military actions. Former President of the European Commission and your Special Envoy for the Sahel from 2012 to 2014, Mr. Romano Prodi, stated with remarkable foresight [4]: “Without an agreement with the North, there will never be peace in Mali.” The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), now integrated within the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA), the Permanent Strategic Framework (CSP), and more recently the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), is an indispensable actor in any lasting solution.
Ultimately, you reaffirmed that the United Nations remains firmly committed to supporting the States of the region through the work of your Special Representative, Mr. Leonardo Santos Simão, as well as through the Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact. In this respect, it is essential that the Malian military authorities and the Tuareg and Moor representatives of the Azawad Liberation Front urgently be brought together at the negotiating table. The establishment of a federal system, based on broad autonomy for Azawad—similar to the Moroccan proposal of 2007 regarding Western Sahara, recently bolstered by Security Council Resolution 2797 [5]—could enable the emergence of a joint front between the FLA and the FAMA to effectively confront JNIM. The transitional government must understand that it now faces a decisive choice: granting genuine autonomy to Azawad, or running the grave risk of Al-Qaeda seizing power in Mali.
Please accept, Your Excellency Mr. António Guterres, the assurances of our highest consideration.
Rachid RAHA, President of the Amazigh World Assembly
Notes :
[1]- https://press.un.org/fr/2025/sgsm22914.doc.htm
[3]- https://shs.cairn.info/au-nom-du-onze-septembre–9782707153296-page-378?lang=fr&tab=premieres-lignes
[5]- https://press.un.org/fr/2025/cs16208.doc.htm
