Bamako: By forging a temporary alliance with the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) has removed all ambiguity about its true nature. Behind the veneer of political rhetoric on self-determination, a convergence of interests with terrorists responsible for mass violence against all civilian populations in Mali, without distinction, is now clearly emerging.

According to Burkina Information Agency, April 25, 2026, marks a turning point in this regard. This date will be remembered as the day the FLA crossed a red line by openly associating itself with an organization affiliated with Al-Qaeda to carry out coordinated attacks on Malian territory. This alliance leaves no room for doubt: the FLA is now part of a deliberate destabilization strategy and terrorist obedience.

Long presented to the naive as a political-military movement with territorial demands, the FLA now appears as an actor that fuels the insecurity it claims to denounce. By multiplying offensives against the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) for years, it has contributed to further weakening already vulnerable areas, thus opening up space for terrorist groups to expand.

JNIM, on the other hand, maintains no ambiguity. Created in 2017 from the merger of several armed groups, it pursues a clear objective: the collapse of the Sahelian states and the imposition of an order based on a radical interpretation of Sharia. Behind this fallacious argument, this movement aims to turn the Sahel into a lawless zone and a haven for illicit trafficking.

To achieve this goal, JNIM has adopted a bloody modus operandi: deadly attacks, improvised explosive devices, kidnappings, pressure on civilian populations, and coercive control of territories. The toll of its actions is heavy: considerable loss of life, massive population displacements, destruction of essential infrastructure, and the closure of schools and health centers. In areas under terrorist influence, fundamental freedoms, including the right to life, are reduced to nothing.

By aligning itself, even tactically, with such an organization, the FLA assumes responsibility. This collaboration, whatever its justifications, amounts to de facto endorsing the methods and objectives of a group whose actions are devastating the entire population of Mali and those of the AES. The leaders of the FLA will have to answer to history. But right now, they will have to explain to the people of Kidal, Timbuktu, Gao, and Menaka the reasons for such an alliance with those who, only yesterday, were violently imposing amputations, summary executions, and daily terror.

Beyond the rhetoric, the facts are there: this convergence between a so-called independence movement and a terrorist organization, far from obtaining a supposed autonomy, further strengthens the grip on populations who only ask to live in peace and harmony with each other without distinctions of race, color, or ethnicity.

The strength of a nation lies in its territorial grandeur and the union of its people around a common pact, not in its fragmentation to serve personal ambitions and imperialist interests. Madiba understood this and has been fighting since the early days of his independence to keep his large, blessed territory, rich in its ethnic and cultural diversity.

Just as in 2012, terrorists unsuccessfully attempted to seize Bamako using the FLA, in 2026, JNIM and its cursed ally failed. One thing is certain: The Malian people will always find the resources to defeat all their enemies and move towards the path of sustainable development that benefits all its populations without distinction.

To this end, Mali benefits from the unwavering support of its brothers in the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) who have joined forces to recover their sovereignty and dignity, long trampled upon by imperialists and their local lackeys.