The Improvised Explosive Device is beginning to establish itself as a weapon of choice in Mali. One French special forces soldier died and two were seriously injured yesterday when an IED destroyed their vehicle in the north of the country. This brings the French death toll to six since Paris launched its intervention in January. The 4,000 troops originally sent for the successful operation to drive militants out of the towns they had seized in northern Mali are currently being reduced to a core of 1,000 who will support the government forces and the 12,000-strong peacekeeping force of African troops authorized by the United Nations. It is, however, clear that there is not a lot of peace to keep. Driven from all major population centers, the militants are now operating out of remote desert locations from which they are launching ambushes on troops and convoys and attacks on the heavily-garrisoned towns. It had been thought that a steady flow of French casualties would have brought public pressure on President Francois Hollande to disengage more quickly from Mali. France's participation in the NATO operation in Afghanistan was never popular, even though the 88 deaths among French soldiers, 72 of them as a result of enemy action, is relatively modest compared with American and British losses in the fight against the Taliban and its Al-Qaeda allies. However, the bombing of the French embassy in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, has changed the public mood. The French government has vowed to track down the bombers and French newspapers have generally approved the reaction. Moreover, some commentators who were initially hesitant about French involvement in Mali are swinging behind the operations against the militants. If Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) wanted the French to stay in Mali, in the hope of inflicting humiliating defeats on them, they have succeeded admirably. Unfortunately, a vengeful French special forces presence in Mali is likely to stoke the fires of conflict that will be encountered by the UN forces. The Malian army is still being trained by the French but diplomatic reports suggest that at present the number of government units that are considered battle-ready remains very limited. The ideal people to confront AQIM are the Tuaregs, who live in and know this region intimately. Yet it was their armed rebellion, simmering for some 20 years, that AQIM exploited last year by making common cause with them. There has since been a falling out between the militants and the majority of the Tuaregs. As yet, however, the Tuaregs have not resumed the fitful negotiations with the government in Bamako. Mali's interim president Dioncounda Traore should make these talks a priority and, moreover, should be prepared to enter into them without preconditions. The Tuaregs want autonomy. That may be a step too far, certainly for Mali's neighbors Algeria, Niger and Libya which also have restless Tuareg communities. Yet it seems clear that some form of self-government needs to be offered with sufficient checks and balances to ensure Mali's continued cohesion as a sovereign state. What must not be allowed to happen is for the presence of French special forces and the UN peacekeepers to become a provocation to the Tuaregs, perhaps driving them back into an alliance with AQIM rather than confronting them. France's burning desire to settle accounts with the militants therefore carries significant dangers.
