UN raised concerns about the bloodshed in Sahel jihadist flashpoint

According to the UN’s peacekeeping force in Mali, jihadist strikes at a known hotspot in eastern-central Mali have claimed scores of deaths.

“The security situation in the tri-border area between Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso has worsened significantly in recent weeks, notably in the communities of Tessit, Talataye, Ansongo, and the Menaka region,” the MINUSMA force stated in a statement released late Thursday.

“Attacks by armed terrorist organisations have had a catastrophic impact on the already vulnerable civilian population, resulting in scores of deaths and massive population displacement to Gao and Ansongo,” the report stated.

“A unit has been sent to the region for over a week and is in the midst of deploying another today,” MINUSMA stated.

The tri-border region, where the borders of Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali intersect, is a lawless, dry territory.

Since 2015, when jihadists in northern Mali reunited after being scattered by French military involvement and expanded their campaign into neighbouring countries, the country has been engulfed in conflict.

Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) have been accused of assaulting people suspected of being informants or collaborators on several occasions.

JIhadists from the newly declared “Sahel province,” according to the IS media outlet an-Naba, have carried out a string of attacks on the Coordination of Movements of Azawad (CMA), an alliance of separatist Tuaregs and nationalist Arabs, according to a text authenticated by the specialist US organisation SITE.

Between March 9 and 11, over 250 CMA fighters were slain in the Menaka area, and three of their bases, in Tamalat, Inchinane, and Anderamboukane, were overrun, according to the report.

In an attack on an army post in Gao, jihadists “killed and wounded scores” of Malian troops, according to An-Naba.

According to UN numbers released on March 24, approximately 600 people perished in Mali last year, primarily as a result of terrorist attacks, but also as a result of self-defense militias and the military forces.