I’m enjoying the comments as much as your videos because they are not only informative but it shows how you have really engaged your viewers. Well done 👍
You're confusing things here: 1. The forces with whom Ukraine were involved are not "Islamists" but secular Tuareg separatists (Azawad, which also includes Songhay allegedly but the core are Tuareg anyhow). The Jihadists (various orgs. but primarily Turkey-backed Al Qaeda) exist in the tri-state border areas further south and were the pretext for the Russian intervention (12 years ago also for the French intervention but that's another story bc things have changed somewhat in this long decade) 2. Wagner does not exist anymore: it was integrated into the Russian regular military (or exiled to Belarus) and the African branch was turned into a special unit called Africa Corps. Sure: they are the same forces as former Wagner but they're not a PMC anymore, but part of Russia's Army.
@@slkozmaishere6312 - Firstly, Azawad is a claimed breakaway state encompassing in theory the northern half of Mali, the forces fighting for it have various names (sry, I don't recall all of them: several factions AFAIK). Secondly, no, the Azawadi forces were originally secular (the whole region is essentially Muslim but the political project was not religious, rather ethno-political). However in 2012, when the key events unfolded (military coup in Mali by a US-trained officer, followed by ECOWAS failing to do anything and eventually France intervening instead), one of those rather surprising events was that the ranks of Azawadi militias were suddenly overwhelmed by Jihadist infiltration, which was attributed to Qatari and Moroccan agitation. This essentially destroyed the secularist Azawadi liberation movement and turned it into a Jihadist craze that soon aligned mostly with the so-called Islamic State (DAESH). But more than a decade has passed and the Islamists moved southwards and became dominated by Al Qaeda instead, spreading their activities to neighboring "Francophonie" countries (Burkina Faso and Niger) especially since 2020. This was coincident with the rising tensions (almost open war) between Turkey (which became Qatar's protector in 2017 and was in the last decade-plus the main actor behind most Islamist terrorism, first as DAESH, later as Al Qaeda, in Syria but also obviously in West Africa, via Libya and probably also Morocco). Meanwhile the Azawadi liberation forces have managed to get rid of the Islamist infiltration (unsure about the details but it did happen) and resurface as such secularist separatist force (Tuareg and Songhay peoples allegedly). I find interesting that the Ukrainian forces have chosen a secularist and not an Islamist ally even if Islamists did fight for Ukraine within the broader fascist conspiracy networks. I wonder if this obeys to the complex maneuvering of Morocco and France, whose relation now is good but used to be bad (France did not fully align with Morocco's claim on West Sahara and courted Algeria, which has however stick to their alliance with Russia, which Macron hates after the Sahelian coups). It's quite complicated because it's what you get with "multipolarity": everyone pressing their own interests in an extremely convoluted dance of alliances, distrust and probable backstabs. It's not like you can simplify too much: for example Russia and Algeria are clearly aligned but Algeria is now rather hostile to China bc this one is cooperating with Morocco. Also France's position re. Morocco, etc., has been shifting, Morocco's position has also been quite convoluted, with only clear anchors being the USA and Israel, and unclear if they're closer to Turkey or to France, to Turkey or to Saudia-Egypt, etc. In any case I don't think there's any "alliance" between Azawadis and Al Qaeda (or other less important Jihadists), they just seem to be both hostile to Mali but for different reasons and in different geographies. The Jihadis seem to obey to Turkey and Qatar, while the Azawadis are an "independent" force which may now have found allies in the likes of France (which Ukrainian forces represent surely) and probably also Morocco, which has massive ambitions in the whole region, much bigger than the impoverished country can actually afford.
Ukraine can attempt to stymie Russian ambitions in Africa, and certainly has emotional, if not strategic, reasons to do so, but the blowback seems to have caused a reshuffle amongst Ukrainian leadership. Seems unlikely this sort of thing will happen again in a way which can be traced back to the Ukrainians, in my opinion.
@@slkozmaishere6312 - Certainly, although your phrasing is confusing: it's not "in Azawad" (only or primarily) but "in Mali and the wider Sahel region". I insist: te Jihadists have been since quite long ago rather absent from "Azawad" (North Mali) and displaced to SE Mali and connected areas in Niger and Burkina Faso (all three of them totally "not Azawad"). But sure: the arming and organizing of Islamist terrorists in Mali, etc. has been totally related to the Libyan civil war and especially to the Tripoli government, which Ankara supports and is broadly Islamist. Notice how the spillover of the Jihadist terrorism to BF and Niger is coincident in time with the rising France-Turkey tensions around 2020, when the two regional powers were one click away from outright war in the Libyan waters. It's less clear the role of the USA or its military and spy agencies but Uncle Sam seems to have been playing all against each other and that's a reason why the Niger Junta had them evicted from the country. One of Murphy's once-famous "laws" stated that "there is people so extremely twisted that they end up kicking themselves in the butt", this probably applies to Washington's imperial politics of the last many years.
Once again such a great video, haven’t even watched the whole thing and i’m excited! I hope you get the recognition you deserve. also i would never have thought that a proxy war between ukraine and russia would have been fought in mali 4 years ago, current times are so weird
This would be as ridiculous as calling the Russia-Ukraine war a proxy war between North Korea and Kenya or something like that. The war is occuring for its own reasons and not a side effect of the Russia-Ukraine war.
@@Googoogagaism Why do you think I used North Korea as an example?. There's North Korean troops fighting in Ukraine right now, like Afrika Corps operates in the Sahel. If that Makes Mali's issue a proxy war due to that, the Ukraine war is one for North Korea.
So Vladimir sent slave soldiers, recruited from prison, to a harsh desert, only to be defeated by desert rebels being trained by his arch-nemesis? When do giant worms enter into the equation?
How are they slave solders. Wagner doesn't use conscription it's an all volunteer force. The only ppl being forced to join are prisoners and even then it's volunteering for freedom. Wagner in africa tho doesn't use low end prisoners . It's a proffesial all volunteer branch.
I've collated some videos, and concluded that the Tuaregs hit the convoys, grabbed POWs and some kit, got out of X, before the AQ Affiliate arrived to sort out the rest of the pickings. Both groups probably had eyes on Wagner, but Tuaregs beat AQ to it.
I've kept wondering this because everytime I see a wiki page of some civil war, I just see a sneaky lil ukraine flag hidden somewhere in the war infobox
Great analysis, thank you! A bit off-topic, but I wanted to ask: My OKX wallet holds some USDT, and I have the seed phrase. (alarm fetch churn bridge exercise tape speak race clerk couch crater letter). How should I go about transferring them to Binance?
Ironic isn't it? Many African leaders complain about the terrible borders the Europeans created which lead to ethnic and religious conflicts. Yet when ethnic/religious communities try to form their own state the African leaders try to destroy them for trying to succeed.
Trying out some new stuff with our maps.
I’m enjoying the comments as much as your videos because they are not only informative but it shows how you have really engaged your viewers. Well done 👍
This event really didn’t get much coverage from the international media.
So many conflicts are overlooked I wish the media would cover more too
Yeah no kidding, I'm sure US support for Ukrainan aid will become waaaayyy stronger when the aid gets into al Qaida hands😂
@HammadiLobbongel it always does 😂
I don't see people putting Mali's flag on their pictures
You're confusing things here:
1. The forces with whom Ukraine were involved are not "Islamists" but secular Tuareg separatists (Azawad, which also includes Songhay allegedly but the core are Tuareg anyhow). The Jihadists (various orgs. but primarily Turkey-backed Al Qaeda) exist in the tri-state border areas further south and were the pretext for the Russian intervention (12 years ago also for the French intervention but that's another story bc things have changed somewhat in this long decade)
2. Wagner does not exist anymore: it was integrated into the Russian regular military (or exiled to Belarus) and the African branch was turned into a special unit called Africa Corps. Sure: they are the same forces as former Wagner but they're not a PMC anymore, but part of Russia's Army.
Isn't azawad in a military alliance with al Qaeda?
@@slkozmaishere6312 - Firstly, Azawad is a claimed breakaway state encompassing in theory the northern half of Mali, the forces fighting for it have various names (sry, I don't recall all of them: several factions AFAIK).
Secondly, no, the Azawadi forces were originally secular (the whole region is essentially Muslim but the political project was not religious, rather ethno-political). However in 2012, when the key events unfolded (military coup in Mali by a US-trained officer, followed by ECOWAS failing to do anything and eventually France intervening instead), one of those rather surprising events was that the ranks of Azawadi militias were suddenly overwhelmed by Jihadist infiltration, which was attributed to Qatari and Moroccan agitation. This essentially destroyed the secularist Azawadi liberation movement and turned it into a Jihadist craze that soon aligned mostly with the so-called Islamic State (DAESH).
But more than a decade has passed and the Islamists moved southwards and became dominated by Al Qaeda instead, spreading their activities to neighboring "Francophonie" countries (Burkina Faso and Niger) especially since 2020. This was coincident with the rising tensions (almost open war) between Turkey (which became Qatar's protector in 2017 and was in the last decade-plus the main actor behind most Islamist terrorism, first as DAESH, later as Al Qaeda, in Syria but also obviously in West Africa, via Libya and probably also Morocco). Meanwhile the Azawadi liberation forces have managed to get rid of the Islamist infiltration (unsure about the details but it did happen) and resurface as such secularist separatist force (Tuareg and Songhay peoples allegedly).
I find interesting that the Ukrainian forces have chosen a secularist and not an Islamist ally even if Islamists did fight for Ukraine within the broader fascist conspiracy networks. I wonder if this obeys to the complex maneuvering of Morocco and France, whose relation now is good but used to be bad (France did not fully align with Morocco's claim on West Sahara and courted Algeria, which has however stick to their alliance with Russia, which Macron hates after the Sahelian coups).
It's quite complicated because it's what you get with "multipolarity": everyone pressing their own interests in an extremely convoluted dance of alliances, distrust and probable backstabs. It's not like you can simplify too much: for example Russia and Algeria are clearly aligned but Algeria is now rather hostile to China bc this one is cooperating with Morocco. Also France's position re. Morocco, etc., has been shifting, Morocco's position has also been quite convoluted, with only clear anchors being the USA and Israel, and unclear if they're closer to Turkey or to France, to Turkey or to Saudia-Egypt, etc.
In any case I don't think there's any "alliance" between Azawadis and Al Qaeda (or other less important Jihadists), they just seem to be both hostile to Mali but for different reasons and in different geographies. The Jihadis seem to obey to Turkey and Qatar, while the Azawadis are an "independent" force which may now have found allies in the likes of France (which Ukrainian forces represent surely) and probably also Morocco, which has massive ambitions in the whole region, much bigger than the impoverished country can actually afford.
@@LuisAldamiz does turkey helping islamic radicals in azawad have to do anything with their embroilment in the libian civil war?
Ukraine can attempt to stymie Russian ambitions in Africa, and certainly has emotional, if not strategic, reasons to do so, but the blowback seems to have caused a reshuffle amongst Ukrainian leadership. Seems unlikely this sort of thing will happen again in a way which can be traced back to the Ukrainians, in my opinion.
@@slkozmaishere6312 - Certainly, although your phrasing is confusing: it's not "in Azawad" (only or primarily) but "in Mali and the wider Sahel region". I insist: te Jihadists have been since quite long ago rather absent from "Azawad" (North Mali) and displaced to SE Mali and connected areas in Niger and Burkina Faso (all three of them totally "not Azawad").
But sure: the arming and organizing of Islamist terrorists in Mali, etc. has been totally related to the Libyan civil war and especially to the Tripoli government, which Ankara supports and is broadly Islamist.
Notice how the spillover of the Jihadist terrorism to BF and Niger is coincident in time with the rising France-Turkey tensions around 2020, when the two regional powers were one click away from outright war in the Libyan waters.
It's less clear the role of the USA or its military and spy agencies but Uncle Sam seems to have been playing all against each other and that's a reason why the Niger Junta had them evicted from the country. One of Murphy's once-famous "laws" stated that "there is people so extremely twisted that they end up kicking themselves in the butt", this probably applies to Washington's imperial politics of the last many years.
Amazing video. Thanks
Once again such a great video, haven’t even watched the whole thing and i’m excited! I hope you get the recognition you deserve.
also i would never have thought that a proxy war between ukraine and russia would have been fought in mali 4 years ago, current times are so weird
Keep it up bro your videos are amazing
German troops were also stationed in Mali and just withdrew about a month ago...
You're covering unknown african wars for sometime. Please also shed some light on Djibouti civil war
This would be as ridiculous as calling the Russia-Ukraine war a proxy war between North Korea and Kenya or something like that.
The war is occuring for its own reasons and not a side effect of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Did you even watch the video?
Bro forgot to watch the vid-
@@Googoogagaism Why do you think I used North Korea as an example?. There's North Korean troops fighting in Ukraine right now, like Afrika Corps operates in the Sahel. If that Makes Mali's issue a proxy war due to that, the Ukraine war is one for North Korea.
So Vladimir sent slave soldiers, recruited from prison, to a harsh desert, only to be defeated by desert rebels being trained by his arch-nemesis?
When do giant worms enter into the equation?
They'll enter if some idiots are gonna cause trouble in the Philippines
How are they slave solders. Wagner doesn't use conscription it's an all volunteer force. The only ppl being forced to join are prisoners and even then it's volunteering for freedom. Wagner in africa tho doesn't use low end prisoners . It's a proffesial all volunteer branch.
Frank Herbert would have appreciated this comment 😊
Hmm I don't think Russia is gonna send conscripts to Africa instead they are gonna send some elite military units who
I've collated some videos, and concluded that the Tuaregs hit the convoys, grabbed POWs and some kit, got out of X, before the AQ Affiliate arrived to sort out the rest of the pickings.
Both groups probably had eyes on Wagner, but Tuaregs beat AQ to it.
Nice video, impressively objective
Agree!
I've kept wondering this because everytime I see a wiki page of some civil war, I just see a sneaky lil ukraine flag hidden somewhere in the war infobox
Vive Mali 🇲🇱
Great analysis, thank you! A bit off-topic, but I wanted to ask: My OKX wallet holds some USDT, and I have the seed phrase. (alarm fetch churn bridge exercise tape speak race clerk couch crater letter). How should I go about transferring them to Binance?
bruh that is like the password for your crypto wallet. don't put it on the internet or anyone can log in
They Still Have That Soviet Instinct
Tuaregs need a state
Easier said than done.
Ironic isn't it? Many African leaders complain about the terrible borders the Europeans created which lead to ethnic and religious conflicts. Yet when ethnic/religious communities try to form their own state the African leaders try to destroy them for trying to succeed.
Do they? I think they want something they ultimately cannot have, nomadism.
so does every tribe in africa
yet no one does
Free Azawad!
Next time, please use proper pronunciation of Kyiv, not Kiev 🤮
Are you from Midwest? You have a legit Chicago accent
Ah so Ukr is supporting Al-Queda. Funny why are we helping them again?