By Mohamed AG Ahmedou, journalist and specialist in Sahel-Saharan political and security dynamics.
Barely announced in Bamako, the Unified Force of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) is already revealing its darkest side. In Gargando, in northern Mali, a joint patrol of the Malian army and Russian soldiers from Afrika Korps wreaked havoc in several Tuareg villages, targeting unarmed civilians, their property, and their livelihoods. This violence raises questions about the true purpose of the security project pursued by the Sahelian juntas.
Akambou: Terror in Broad Daylight
On Sunday, December 28, the joint patrol composed of soldiers from the Malian Armed Forces (FAMAS) and Russian elements from Afrika Korps stormed the village of Akambou, located 5 km southwest of Gargando. The operation bore no resemblance to a military action against an armed group.
Shops were set ablaze with grenades, homes reduced to ashes, and the water tower and solar panels—vital infrastructure in an already fragile area—were riddled with bullets. Cattle, cows, and oxen were slaughtered. The terrified population fled the village, abandoning their homes, belongings, and livestock.
No fighting, no arrests, no weapons seized. Only civilians fleeing and a village systematically destroyed.
Tin-Aghass: A Teenager Executed
After spending Sunday night in Gargando, the patrol resumed its journey north on Monday, December 29. In Tin-Aghass, a locality four kilometers north of the town of Gargando, they shot and killed a sixteen-year-old boy, Mohamedoune Ag Abdalla Ag Kistini, a member of the Kel Ansar Tuareg community.
Again, no clashes were reported. The young boy was unarmed. His execution is part of a series of atrocities repeatedly targeting Tuareg civilians, often accused, without evidence, of being accomplices of jihadist groups.
The patrol continued its advance and spent the night in the commune of Adar Malane, on Lake Faguibine, leaving behind a trail of fear and mourning.
The AES, a force born in blood:
These events occurred less than a week after the summit of the Alliance of Sahel States held in Bamako, where the heads of the juntas of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger announced the launch of their Unified Force. General Assimi Goïta promised a coordinated response to terrorism.
But on the ground, reality contradicts the official narrative: the nascent force appears to be directed almost exclusively against civilian populations, particularly in the Tuareg and Arab areas of northern Mali.
This contradiction fuels a suspicion increasingly shared by observers: the war waged by the Sahelian juntas is not a war against jihadist groups, but a war of control, collective punishment, and terror.
Ibrahim Traoré’s Speech, a Symptom of a Decline:
In Bamako, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, head of the Burkinabè junta and new president of the AES confederation, made a strong impression with a bellicose speech. Evoking a “black winter,” he predicted that “blood will flow,” in a chilling metaphor.
For many, this speech, delivered on December 23, seemed less like a declaration of resolve than an admission of powerlessness. The public insults hurled at his critics reinforced the image of a regime on its last legs, tense, and incapable of offering a credible political alternative to its military failures.
The contrast is striking: upon his return to Bobo-Dioulasso the same day, Ibrahim Traoré was greeted by a sparse crowd, devoid of enthusiasm or popular jubilation. A symbol of the rapid erosion of public support for Sahelian juntas.
A War That Avoids the Jihadists:
While the villages of Akambou and Tin-Aghass are being ravaged, vast areas of southern and western Mali—Sikasso, Bougouni, Ségou, Koulikoro, Kita, Nioro du Sahel, and even the outskirts of Bamako—have been under a de facto jihadist embargo since September 3.
Roads are cut off, fuel is becoming scarce, and basic necessities are lacking. Yet, these strategic areas do not appear to be a military priority for Assimi Goïta’s regime.
The primary target remains elsewhere: Tuareg civilians, their water infrastructure, their livestock—in other words, their livelihoods.
A Scorched Earth Strategy:
The destruction of water towers, the slaughter of livestock, and the burning of shops are not random occurrences. They are part of a scorched-earth strategy, well-known in asymmetric conflicts, aimed at shattering the social fabric, provoking forced displacement, and subjugating populations through fear.
But this strategy, far from weakening jihadist armed groups, instead fuels resentment, cycles of revenge, and the dynamics of radicalization.
The Sahelian Impasse
In Gargando, Akambou, and Tin-Aghass, the United African Security and Humanitarian Aid (EASA) force did not protect civilians. It terrorized them. It did not fight jihadism. It destroyed villages.
As the Sahelian juntas become entrenched in an exclusively military response, supported by Russian partners accused of similar atrocities elsewhere, the political outlook for the Sahel darkens.
The predicted “black winter” seems to have already begun. And once again, it is the civilians who pay the price, as was the case during the killings of civilian populations in the localities of Tangata, Eghachar N’Tirikene, AMARANANE and Nijhaltate on November 13, 14 and 26 in the Gargando district by the Malian army and Russian soldiers of Africa Corps.
Mohamed AG Ahmedou
30-12-25