Jihadists stormed two villages in Mali’s Mopti region on Wednesday night, killing at least 30 people by one count and at least 50 by another. It was the deadliest single assault since armed groups opened a coordinated offensive across the country in April.
The AFP news agency, citing sources, put the dead at no fewer than 30 in Korikori and Gomossogou. Diplomatic and aid sources told Reuters the toll had reached at least 50 after the simultaneous raids. WAMAPS, a network of West African journalists who cover Sahel security, also said the provisional figure for villagers killed was above 50. JNIM, the al-Qaeda-linked group, said it carried out the attacks.
“Unidentified armed men burst in, opening fire and ransacking the village,” a resident told Reuters. WAMAPS added that homes and shops were looted and some properties burned.
Who died
Nobody could say yet how many of the victims were civilians. Several villagers were still missing. One source told AFP: “The victims are mostly militiamen. But there are also teenagers and children.”
A security source told AFP the raids were revenge for acts blamed on Dan Na Ambassagou, a self-defence militia that local communities formed after years of violence in central Mali. The governor of the Bandiagara region condemned the killings on Thursday as “despicable and inhumane acts.”
The army’s account
Mali’s army described its own “targeted operation” in the area, saying about a dozen jihadist fighters were “neutralised.” In a later counter-attack, it said, nearly 10 “terrorists” were killed and their logistical base destroyed.
At a news conference in Bamako the same day, army commander Djibrilla Maiga said the fighters were trying to regroup after the April attacks, which killed the defence minister. “The threat is still present,” he said. The military, he added, was working to break up their advance.
A country under pressure
Insurgencies have gripped Mali since 2012, and large parts of the north and east lie outside government control. April brought nationwide coordinated attacks by jihadists allied with the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), a northern separatist group. Their aim is to topple the military regime of Gen Assimi Goïta, who took power in a 2020 coup.
The army fights alongside Russia’s Africa Corps, a paramilitary outfit that grew out of the Wagner Group. Under pressure from the attacks, the Russians pulled out of the northern city of Kidal, which the FLA now controls. The FLA says it will march on more northern cities and wants the Africa Corps out of the whole country. Insurgents have also set up checkpoints on the roads into the capital, a blockade of Bamako.
The junta enjoyed public support when it seized power, promising to end the long security crisis that began with a Tuareg rebellion in the north and was later taken over by Islamist militants. UN peacekeepers and French forces sent to deal with the insurgency left after the takeover.
