Mali crisis talks end but political solution seems distant in wake of deadly clashes

Talks on finding a political solution to the deepening crisis in Mali ended on Sunday with calls for new elections but also uncertainty about the way forward as opposition groups boycotted the initiative.

The gathering notably did not push for dialogue with jihadists, who have been waging a bloody insurgency in the troubled West African country for seven years.

Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita convened representatives from political and armed groups on December 14 for a so-called “national inclusive dialogue” after a recent surge of ethnic and jihadist violence.

Islamists have killed more than 140 Malian troops since September, in a widening insurgency that has also inflamed bloodshed between Fulani herders and sedentary farmers in the central Mali.

The jihadist attacks form part of a Sahel-wide insurgency which national armed forces, backed by 4,500 French troops and UN peacekeepers, are struggling to contain.

The failure to find a military solution to the violence has encouraged a feeling that dialogue with the jihadists is the way out of the crisis. It has also raised questions about France’s deployment.