Cattle raiding by jihadis soars in Mali, fuels conflict
Associated PressBAMAKO, Mali — Ayouba Ag Nadroun was at the market in central Mali in March when Islamic extremists attacked his village, killing dozens of people and stealing about $10,000 worth of his cows and camels. Cattle raiding by Islamic extremists is soaring at unprecedented levels in Mali, with jihadis linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group stealing millions of dollars’ worth of cattle to buy weapons and vehicles to fund their insurgency across the war-torn West African country and region below the Sahara Desert, known as the Sahel. While the groups have several funding streams, including drug trafficking, hostage taking and gold mining, analysts say livestock raiding is one of the most preferred because of the consistent cash flow, especially in Mali, which is the second biggest cattle exporter in the region after Nigeria. “It’s likely that cattle rustling continues to provide sources of revenue because countries in the region will continue to buy from Mali,” she said. Two years ago, villagers in the Gourma region said they noticed a spike in jihadis selling thousands of stolen cattle in villages at a third of the price, making it hard for traders to compete.
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