Mali is one of Africa's most fragile states, suffering multiple overlapping security, humanitarian, and developmental challenges. Since the 2012 Tuareg rebellion, which is the genesis of much of the country's current instability, a variety of criminal and Islamist armed groups have established themselves in the region, taking advantage of simmering local grievances and high levels of intercommunal violence to entrench themselves and expand their area of operations into neighbouring states. Despite bilateral and multilateral military operations, the number of terrorist attacks in Mali has increased year on year since 2015, adding to the massive humanitarian crisis which grips the region today.