Islamist mujahedeen fighters in northern Mali. Even as jihadist militias surge south from their territory in Mali's desert north towards the capital Bamako, the movement is splintering—and French military intervention raises the stakes. Writer Andy Morgan, famous as co-manager of the Tuareg "desert blues" band Tinariwen, examines the factions and weighs the danger of ethnic war pitting Tuaregs, Arabs, Songhai, Peul (Fulani), Bambara and Malinké against each other.

Photo: Andy Morgan Writes

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