Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
UNDERSTAND MALI
TOP OF CHAPTER
Mali Today
Mali's fall from grace in 2012 came as a surprise to many, although not to close watchers
of former President Amadou Toumani Toure (commonly referred to as ATT) who was ous-
ted in a coup in April 2012. A band of mutinous soldiers ousted the president and his cabin-
et in the run-up to elections in which ATT was not planning to stand, claiming the leader
was not adequately supporting the under-equipped Malian army against an Tuareg rebellion
in the northeast of the country.
Somewhat ironically, the coup only worsened the situation in the northeast, allowing
Islamist groups to gain hold of the region . They in turn pushed out the Tuareg groups and
went on to install sharia law in the ancient towns of Gao and Timbuktu, destroying ancient
monuments, tombs and remnants of history. 700,000 civilians were forced to flee in 2012
and early 2013, winding up in refugee camps in neighbouring countries as French forces
and Regional West African Ecowas (Economic Community of West African States) troops
launched air raids and ground attacks, successfully pushing back the Islamists from many
of their strongholds. French forces began to draw down in April 2013, but the majority of
the displaced had not returned home at the time of research, and Jihadi attacks continued.
Visiting Mali was dangerous and strongly unrecommended at the time of research. Al-
though there is some semblance of normality in the capital, Bamako, the risk of kidnappin
g and violence remains. Venturing further north or east than Mopti and Sevare should be
done with extreme caution.
The instability is deeply felt by most Malians; many businesses have closed, tourism rev-
enue has dropped dramatically; with the destruction of important sites in Gao and Tim-
buktu, many sadly feel that it is not only Mali's future that is under threat but its long-cel-
ebrated culture and history.
COUNTRY COVERAGE
At the time of research very few travellers were heading to Mali so we're providing historical and cultural informa-
tion rather than reviews and listings. A good source of information for on-the-ground travel in Mali is Lonely Plan-
et's Thorn Tree online travel forum
www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree
. Other sources of good internet-based inform-
