Mali’s military government on Friday announced its plan to integrate 26,000 fighters of a past northern rebellion into its national army under a peace deal with leaders of the former independence movement, reported The TRT World.
The announcement was made after meetings in Bamako this week which was attended Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga, representatives of the armed groups and representatives from Algeria.
“The government of Mali will spare no effort to fulfill these commitments,” Maiga said.
Mali’s military junta said in a statement that the reintegration of ex-combatants will occur in two phases of 13,000 each.
The statement, however, did not specify a start date but said the second tranche would be spread over a period of two years, with the second being completed in 2024.
The integration is part of the 2015 so-called Algiers peace agreement which was signed between the Malian government and groups of ex-rebels from the country.
The integration of the 26,000 fighters is expected to help restructure the army and better represent northern populations.
Implementing all the conditions of the Algiers agreement is considered a key step towards a way out of Mali’s decade-long crisis.
Last month, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune also called on Mali’s ruling junta to abide by the agreement and hold elections in the country as soon as possible.
Mali, a poor and landlocked country in the heart of the Sahel, has seen two military coups since August 2020, when the military ousted elected President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. A second de-facto coup occurred in May 2021, when strongman Goita pushed out an interim civilian government and took over the presidency.
Amid pressure from West African neighbors in the wake of two coups, Mali’s ruling military junta in early July agreed to a new electoral law and a timetable that includes a presidential election in February 2024.
