Following the August 8 attacks on several Malian towns attributed to the jihadists, near the border with Niger, which killed 42 civilians, there are now many displaced civilians. More than a thousand people have left their villages to go to Labbézanga, very close to the Niger border, or more within Malian territory. Voluntary organizations went there.
as reported from Bamako,Serge Daniel
In the Malian town of Labbézanga and its surroundings, there are more than a thousand displaced people, according to local authorities. Public schools are required on site to function as housing. In other places in this region of Gao, out of fear or on behalf of the jihadists, poor civilians have also abandoned their villages.
Abdoul Nassir, chairman of the network of peace communicators in the Ansongo district, is on the ground. “These populations are coming in the greatest fate, in the greatest insecurity,” he explains to us by telephone. It’s scare-who-can. It is “no comment”, what is happening in this area. “
“Psychosis” According to him, the situation is likely to worsen. “Psychosis is winning over other municipalities. People are on alert, because so far, and when we speak, there is no military presence in this area. And that worries the population a lot.”
Local and foreign NGOs are on hand to assess the needs and provide assistance to the population, one week after the jihadist attacks that killed 42 civilians.
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