By Agency Report
More than 100 suspected jihadists have been freed in Mali under a deal to halt attacks on fuel convoys that had paralyzed the capital, Bamako, official and security sources told AFP on Sunday.
Armed fighters linked to the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), an Al-Qaeda affiliate, have targeted tanker convoys since September, causing severe disruptions and bringing the capital, Bamako, to a standstill at the peak of the crisis in October.
A local elected representative confirmed to AFP the “release of more than 100 jihadists” in exchange for “the opening of a corridor to allow convoys of tanker lorries to pass through.”
“We learned this week that more than a hundred young people accused of being jihadists have been released by the state security services”, and “in return, fuel convoys have not been attacked,” added an elected representative from central Mali who lives in Bamako.
Multiple security sources also indicated that the ceasefire arrangement is expected to remain effective until the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, referred to locally as Tabaski, scheduled for the end of May.
“Many of the Fulani who were arrested have also been released,” AFP was told by an association representing this ethnic group, which is often conflated with jihadists.
Mali, a landlocked West African nation, has been grappling with a deepening security crisis since 2012, driven largely by violence from groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, alongside activities of local criminal networks.
AFP
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