Farabougou siege shows Malian forces' inadequacies

Significance

Intervention by the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) on October 23 broke the siege, but sporadic attacks have continued, and jihadists retain a presence in the surrounding areas. The situation was unusual in that it attracted the attention of the highest levels of the government, but it also pointed to the state’s fragile position, and sometimes absence, throughout much of the country.

Impacts

• Security incidents -- soldiers killing civilians, intercommunal clashes and jihadists attacks -- will challenge the transitional government.
• Farabougou will draw attention to the Ouagadou forest in Mali near the border with Mauritania -- an on-again off-again jihadist hideout.
• Yet jihadist violence should not shake Mauritania’s relative stability which appears fairly durable.