Recently collected data from #Ansongo and #Gao has come in on the effects of the @Orange_Mali network disturbances over the past few weeks. Jihadist actors (notably ISGS for the areas mentioned above) have targeted telephone antennae. 1/n #Mali
Targeting the phone networks ramped up following the death of ISGS commander, Abdoulhakim al-Saharaoui. The impact of the network disturbances are widespread. First, people living in these areas rely on phone communication to simply let their relatives know they are alive 2/n
Not having a means to communicate to loved ones raises anxiety in an already tense environment marked by chronic insecurity. Second, and more importantly, the economic consequences of this communication-siege by jihadist actors are the crippling effects on the local economy. 3/n
Due to widespread armed criminality, local merchants and other economic actors in #Ansongo and #Gao have increasingly relied on Orange Money as a means of safely storing and moving funds. Liquidity has dropped significantly in larger cities in northern #Mali. 4/n
When the network is down, people struggle to even feed their families. There are people in #Ansongo that have sold off their motorbikes, family televisions, cell phones, etc. at small percentage of their actual value in order to simply make ends meet. Moreover, 5/n
the local banks can't actually conduct their transactions since the Internet is also crippled by these siege practices. Work is negatively affected for the NGO sector as well since communications with HQs in Bamako become hobbled. 6/n
In short, the violent practices of jihadist groups are cutting off larger northern Malian cities from the rest of the country. Rural areas are arguably already under the full influence (not necessarily control) of groups like ISGS and JNIM. 7/n
If this continues the territoriality of the Malian state will only be limited to an archipelago of towns that struggle to even maintain a minimal connection with the capital city (and therefore, seat of government). The only respite to be found seems to either be an exclusive 8/n
military focus on defending critical infrastructures like the telephony networks/antennae (which increases the vulnerability of other targets like the communities themselves), or paying protection rackets to jihadist groups to not vandalize/destroy the infrastructure, 9/n
(which means funding terrorist groups). It is a Catch-22 of epic proportions. 10/10.
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