Mali junta ends peace deal with Tuareg rebels

BAMAKO, Mali

Mali's military junta has announced an end to a 2015 peace deal with Tuareg rebels in the country’s north, a move that could further destabilise the Sahel nation.

The peace agreement was aimed at easing tensions at a time when Tuaregs mounted jihadist violence against the central government since 2012.

But the agreement has only been partially implemented.

Military authorities said late on Thursday that the so-called Algiers Accord, brokered by the United Nations, had ended with “immediate effect”.

In a statement read on state television, the junta spokesman Colonel Abdoulaye Maïga said it ended the deal due to other signatories not keeping their commitments and hostility by chief mediator Algeria.

There has not been any reaction from the Algerian government.

The rebel group, under the Coordination of Azawad Movements, said it was not surprised by the decision.

Last month, the armed groups suspended their participation in the deal pending the "organisation" of a crisis meeting with the Malian government "on neutral ground”.

The rebels have escalated attacks in recent months and gained some ground in northern Mali.

But they have also faced an onslaught from the Malian armed forces, who teamed up with Russian military contractor Wagner Group and kicked out French forces and the UN peacekeepers.