There goes Mali...

While I was without internet as I moved into a new place in beautiful Tacoma, WA some interesting events occured in Mali...none of them good.

For some time now the Malinese government has been in conflict with the Taureg tribe in central and northern Mali while at the same time attempting to ensure Al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb does not set down roots in the country. The fight against AQIM, with the cooperation of Mauritania as well as the US and France, seemed to be going well enough...although there were occasional hiccups which I wrote about here.

Apparently the fight against the Taureg was not going so well and the military staged a coup, announcing they were angry at the inability of the government to put down the Taureg insurrection. Who was in charge of this coup? A captain of course. It's almost always a captain (seriously, watch out for those captains. They are easily angered and think they know everything).

Of course what happened as soon the coup occured was that the Taureg seized the initiative and began going on the offensive. The tribe has seized Timbukto, an important trading town, and the strategic eastern town of Gao. Now that the Tauregs essentially control much of northern Mali they have declared the independent state of Azawad. Good for them.

So what's the problem?

The problem is that a faction of the Taureg rebellion, Ansar Dine, is closely tied with AQIM and other fundamentalist Islamists. Ansar Dine is demanding Sharia Law be instated and reports have come out that they are executing members of secular groups.

The Taureg's for there part are condeming AQIM and Ansar Dine and are vowing to fight them, but I'm not buying it. AQIM and other radical groups have gained popularity in Timbukto and elsewhere in the region so it's unlikely that the Taureg will do anything to upset these organizations when the tribe's hold on power is so tenuous at the moment.

Just when I thought Al Qaida allied organizations where teetering on the edge of defeat in Africa they pull off what is essentially a hail mary pass. Damn captains.