MALI: Jihadists linked to the Islamic State are advancing in north-eastern Mali, according to local sources, forcing fearful residents to flee their homes. In March, the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) launched an offensive in the Gao and Menka regions, triggering fierce fighting between them and other jihadists.

Witnesses and additional sources reached by AFP confirmed ISGS' continued pressure in this isolated and dangerous area, and rights activists claim civilians have been massacred. Gao and Menaka, two important cities, have long been at the center of Mali's ten-year jihadist crisis.

Since 2012, an insurgency that has spread to the neighboring countries of Niger and Burkina Faso has killed thousands and forced hundreds of thousands more from their homes. Malian army officers staged a coup in 2020 as a result of their frustration over the death toll.

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Russian paramilitaries were introduced by the junta, prompting France to withdraw its troops fighting the jihadists for nine years. Outside the two cities, the area is mainly desert and home to nomads.

Between 2012 and 2015, he bore the brunt of the Tuareg conflict with the Malian army. They are currently caught in the crossfire between ISGS and armed organizations on one side.

The latter group includes al-Qaeda jihadists, separatist fighters who agreed to a peace deal with the government in 2015, and Tuareg fighters who support the government but previously engaged in conflict with separatist groups.

According to the United Nations and non-governmental organizations, communities that refuse to aid the enemy or join jihadists have reportedly been the target of repeated attacks. Human Rights Watch reported last month that ISGS fighters had killed hundreds of villagers.

A camp for the displaced near Gao was raided on Monday by motorcycle-borne gunmen, killing eleven people, according to local officials and aid workers.

According to Moussa Ag Achertoumen, leader of the loyalist movement, an "atmosphere of terror" existed for Azawad's safety.

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He claimed that roads have been destroyed and all economic activities have come to a halt. He declared that the situation was "an unprecedented humanitarian crisis" and said that Menaka was being uprooted by displaced people. In his district, the mayor of Menaka Administrative Region claimed that "no one is left."

According to a UN report published this month, some 60,000 people had arrived in the city of Gao. According to several sources, when the French withdrew their troops from the area, the jihadists took over the vacant lot. The fighting stops at the border with neighboring Niger.

Foreign forces, including France's Barkhane Mission, are assisting the Nigerian Army on the ground and in the air. A local elected official who fled to Bamako told AFP the army had taken refuge in the town of Menaka on the Malian side, leaving the jihadists "the way open".

He and others painted a horrifying picture of life in areas ruled by the jihadists. The officer declared, "If you are not with them, you are against them." Villages seized by militants are subject to a stricter interpretation of Sharia and forced to pay an Islamic tax.

In September, an unmarried couple aged 50 and 36 were stoned to death in Tin-Hama village, according to a humanitarian worker in Ansongo. The source claimed that on the day of the weekly market, "they dug a hole and put (them) into it up to their hips and then threw stones at them."

According to a security source in Niger, pro-government forces are trying to get outside aid for their cause. One suggestion is to join forces with ex-rebels from the Azad Movements and Support Group for the Coordination of Islam and Muslims, a shadowy organization run by Iyad Ag Ghali, a Tuareg with ties to al-Qaeda.

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According to an African diplomat in Bamako, however, the chances of forming a united front are slim. The diplomat said, "Politically, it would seem a bit of a stretch for people today to openly associate with al-Qaeda.