Keyword: Gao

How Mali's wanted jihadists are escaping justice

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“Sharia Square”in Gao, seen here in February 2013, where the occupying jihadists in 2012 carried out amputations in public. © Reuters “Sharia Square”in Gao, seen here in February 2013, where the occupying jihadists in 2012 carried out amputations in public. © Reuters

Since France’s military intervention in Mali in 2013 put an end to an offensive by Islamic extremists occupying the north of the country, and despite the subsequent UN peacekeeping mission to help stabilize the former French colony, it remains blighted by insecurity. Amid the continuing tensions, the government stands accused of a strategy of clemency towards senior jihadists who led a reign of terror during their occupation of the north. The vast majority of them have been allowed to escape justice, while the few who were placed in jail have been discretely freed, apparently in prisoner exchange deals. Rémi Carayol reports.

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