Tuareg rebels in northern Mali said they have taken over a military camp and checkpoints in the town of Bourem, endangering a 2015 peace agreement.
This follows weeks of fighting with the national army and Wagner mercenaries, according to Al Jazeera.
The Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA), a Tuareg rebel alliance, on 12 September, captured Bourem, which is located between the historic cities of Gao and Timbuktu. This came after the military consolidated its hold on power in two coups in 2020 and 2021 and expelled French forces as well as the United Nations peacekeeping mission MINUSMA.
The region, which was the birthplace of the armed uprising that has spread throughout the Sahel, is experiencing a rise in tension, partly due to the withdrawal of UN peacekeeping forces that helped to keep the fragile peace.
