Deadly suspected militant attack in Mali leaves over 20 Civilians dead

• Mali has been ravaged by militants and other armed groups for over a decade, with violence intensifying since 2015.
• The attack began before nightfall and lasted around three hours.
• The violence has resulted in thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of displacements.

Militants carried out an attack in central Mali on Monday that killed more than 20 civilians, according to two local officials, marking the latest in a series of killings in the troubled Sahel region.

Mali has been ravaged by militants and other armed groups for over a decade, with violence intensifying in the country’s central region since 2015.

An official from the provincial authority, speaking on condition of anonymity, reported on Wednesday that militants had killed at least 21 civilians in the village of Djiguibombo, located several dozen kilometers (miles) from the town of Bandiagara.

Another provincial authority official, who spoke overnight, reported that about 20 people had been killed, and due to the security situation, authorities were unable to access the site.

However, a local youth representative mentioned that the army had arrived afterward.

Both local authority sources requested anonymity due to their positions. Since the junta came to power in 2020, information about such incidents has not generally been made public.

The attack, according to the youth representative, began before nightfall and lasted around three hours. They requested anonymity for security reasons.

“Twenty people have been killed. More than half are young people. Some victims had their throats cut,” the source said.

“Many inhabitants fled toward Bandiagara. Those who stayed were not even able to bury the dead properly,” he said.

The deteriorated security context, remote locations, and lack of reliable information often result in delays in confirming attacks.

Since 2012, Mali has been plagued by various factions affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Daesh group, as well as self-declared self-defense forces and bandits.

The militant violence, which began in the north, spread to the center of the country in 2015 with the establishment of Katiba Macina, led by the Fulani preacher Amadou Kouffa, an Al-Qaeda-affiliated group.

Human rights groups frequently condemn widespread impunity for attacks on civilians.

Radical Islamist groups impose pacts on local populations, allowing them to conduct their activities in exchange for paying a tax, adhering to Islamic rules, and refraining from cooperating with the Malian army or other armed groups.

Communities face retaliatory measures for non-compliance with these agreements.

The violence spread into neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger, leading to military regimes seizing power in all three countries.

Thousands have died, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced by the violence.

Since a 2020 coup brought them to power, Mali’s military rulers have terminated their anti-militant alliance with France and European partners, instead shifting their political and military focus toward Russia.

The junta has enlisted what it presents as Russian military instructors, but experts and observers widely believe they are mercenaries from the private Russian company Wagner.

Bamako frequently asserts that it has gained the upper hand against militants and separatists in the north.

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