SUMMARY

The Malian rebel group FIAA (Front Islamique Arabe de l’Azaouad, Islamic Arab Front of Azawad) was engaged in an intrastate armed conflict against the Government of Mali in 1994. The same year, it also carried out one-sided attacks against civilians.

The leader of FIAA, Zahaby Ould Sidi Mohamed linked the attacks committed by his group to one-sided violence carried out by government forces and non-state groups possibly cooperating with the government: When asked in the summer of 1994 if he was going to continue the attacks that were currently being carried out, he responded: “The attacks – the thing is, people are responding to the massacres of civilians. If the army stops these massacres of civilians, the attacks will probably stop too.“ When asked if he would claim responsibility for these attacks he said: “I don't claim responsibility for anything. I personally am a person who believes that as long as civilians are being killed, you have to react.” Zahaby also suggested that the group commanders had little control over the fighters carrying out the attacks.

Researchers argue that the broader northern Malian rebel movement out of which FIAA emerged initially tried to win the support of civilians at the start of the armed conflict in 1990 that was at first only fought by the MPA (Mouvement Populaire de l'Azaouad, Azawad People’s Movement). Their strategies included making the locations of their bases public, protecting civilians from harassment by government forces, and punishing group members, who mistreated civilians. However, as the rebel movement split and disputes over hierarchy and clan representation emerged, the killings of civilians on ethnic grounds became common. Thus, analysts argue that most civilians targeted by FIAA, were selected because of their ethnic origin. In several incidents, the victims were shot or killed by grenades. However, few details on those killed and the manner of killings have been available.

FIAA first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 1994, when the one-sided violence resulted in over 25 civilian deaths. The threshold was reached on 14 July that year when the group attacked a truck on the Nampala-Niono road, killing at least 18 civilians.