On Tuesday night, a bus from Mopti was targeted by armed men about thirty kilometers from Bandiagara, in Dogon country. The charge is heavy: eight dead. It is an area that has already been targeted in the last month by several jihadist attacks, and where the army has subsequently been accused of abuse.
Of the thirty passengers on the bus that were attacked on Tuesday night between Parou and Songabia, eight were killed, including two babies, said a source within the Malian army. A report confirmed by the United Nations mission in the country shows that it took care of ten lightly injured and seven seriously injured, evacuated to Bandiagara. Minusma also deployed a patrol to secure the premises after the attack.
Attacks that are not currently claimed but that take place three weeks after those targeted Sokoura’s military camp. Eleven soldiers killed and then 13 civilians in the attack on a bus, according to the official report. The bus was attacked almost in the same place as the one targeted last night. GISM, the support group for Islam and Muslims affiliated with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, assumed responsibility.
Operation of the Malian army
The Malian army immediately launched a major counter-terrorism operation in the area. Known as Yelema, this operation aimed at “protecting civilians and fighting terrorism” lasted for two weeks. According to the Army, it has mobilized “several land units” and aircraft. This operation made it possible to “neutralize” – thus kill or capture – combat and recover equipment, according to the army, which did not announce a final assessment.
But it also gave rise to allegations of abuse: about twenty inhabitants of the village of Libbé would have been executed, and a large part of the village burned, according to several community associations (Kisal, Tabital Pulaaku), condemning a “punitive expedition” of the soldiers against ethnic group Fulani, suspected of collaborating with jihadist groups.
Local elected officials confirm these allegations, but not the army, which speaks of “false propaganda” and even indicates being hung up by a terrorist group near this village during its operation. The human rights unit in Minusma has opened an investigation.
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