The Northern Mali Conflict

The Northern Mali conflict refers to the armed military encounters that began in January 2012. On January 16, 2012 several groups began fighting a campaign against the Malian government for independence. Western Mali now fears that the Islamists will utilize the rest of the country to disrupt West African as a whole. Recently, “heavily armed gunmen shouting ‘Alluhu akbar’ stormed a Radisson Blu Hotel” (Searcey). The attack in Bamako November 20, 2015, resulted in 21 people dead and about 170 hostages. Two of the people found dead were militants. Later in the week, it was discovered that about 30 people were able to escape during the siege. An African jihadi group took responsibility for the attack. Only three days after the attack the Malian