General El Hadj Ag Gamou is one of the leaders of a progressive armed movement, the Tuareg Imghmad and Allies self -defense group (Gatia).
Le Monde With AFP
A renowned commander of the Malian army fighting the jihadists in Mali called the young Tuareg in the country and outside to fight against the expansion of the Islamic State group in the North, in a circulating audio message On Whatsapp.
General Touareg El Hadj Ag Gamou, a major figure in the Malian conflict engaged in fighting against the Islamic State organization at the Grand Sahara (EIGS, affiliated with IS), “gives all the young Touareg of ten days Algeria, Libya and elsewhere to join the surroundings of Gao “, the largest city in northern Mali prey to the violence of the jihadist group, in a message in Tamasheq language authenticated by AFP.
El Hadj Ag Gamou is one of the leaders of an armed group progress, the Tuareg Imghmad and Allies (Gatia) self -defense group, while officially general of the national army. The EIGS has multiplied since March the offensives in the immense regions of Gao and Ménaka. The UN expressed its concern on different occasions before the degradation of the situation.
The unions of the Gao region called for a 48 -hour work stoppage Tuesday and Wednesday to protest against the deterioration of the security situation and “the inaction of the government”. They require in particular “a security response” and “the recall to the order of certain agents of the security forces who engage in unjustified drifts and racketeering”. On Monday, the junta in power had neither reacted to the words of General Gamou nor to the call of the unions.
Near Gao, the State has a very low presence and the populations, mainly nomads living in camps scattered in the desert, are taken between two fires, victims of massacres and reprisals because suspected of pact with the ‘enemy, or deprived of livelihoods. The Touareg community is made up of dozens of nomadic subcommunications established in the Sahara between several countries, mainly in Mali, Algeria, Niger, and Libya.
In 2012, majority armed groups composed of Tuareg fighters declared independent a territory in northern Mali, which they called Azawad, before abandoning their independence hints by signing a peace agreement three years later With Bamako. Others have joined the jihadist nebula of Al-Qaida, now led by Iyad AG-Ghali, himself Touareg.