Sahel Edition

Sahel: Attack on bus in Mopti, Mali claims dozens of civilian lives

Posted On 4 December 2021

Number of times this article was read : 736

Suspected jihadists in Mali killed at least 30 civilians in an attack on a passenger vehicle in the volatile central town of Mopti, local officials said Saturday. “The passengers were sprayed with bullets and the vehicle was torched,” during an attack by “terrorists” near the town of Bandiagara on Friday, the officials told AFP. “The state has sent security forces to the scene,”  they said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

An elected official in Bandiagara confirmed the death toll, saying the victims included women and children. The attack has not been claimed by any of the numerous armed groups active in the West African country. Mali’s transitional government said in a statement broadcast on state TV that 31 people were killed and 17 injured and vowed to do everything necessary
to “arrest and punish” the perpetrators.

Mali has been struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency that first erupted in the north in 2012 and has since claimed thousands of military and civilian lives. Despite the presence of thousands of French and UN troops, the conflict has engulfed central Mali and spread to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger. Central Mali has become one of the most violent hotspots of the Sahel-wide conflict, where ethnic killings and attacks on government forces are frequent. A military junta overthrew the government last year after mass protests against the violence, but the new rules have not managed to stem the bloodshed.

AFP
Other Articles in this Week's IssueCovid-19: First case of Omicron in Tunisia comes from Turkey >>

More on the Sahel

West Africa: ECOWAS in turmoil

West Africa: ECOWAS in turmoil

West Africa’s economic grouping, ECOWAS, faces a new crisis as former chairman and Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo refuses to step down despite his mandate ending on February 27, 2025.  Embalo, who once criticized Sahelian coup leaders on behalf of ECOWAS, now defies the organization, even expelling its mediation delegation.

Brief: Fifteen Migrants Found Dead in a Boat off the Coast of Nouadhibou, Mauritania

Mauritanian authorities discovered a boat near Nouadhibou carrying 39 migrants, including nine deceased and ten in critical condition. Survivors, primarily from Senegal and Mali, reported that fifteen migrants died from exhaustion, though not all bodies were found. The deceased were buried by local authorities. Mauritania has become a key transit point for African migrants attempting to reach Europe via the Canary Islands.

The North Africa Journal's WhatsApp Group
.
Shield and Alert Sahel

Pin It on Pinterest

The Sahel Channel
The Maghreb Channel
The Egypt Channel
The North Africa Journal
The Sahel Channel
The Maghreb Channel
The Egypt Channel
West Africa: ECOWAS in turmoil
Sahel: Terror Groups Gain Ground as Armies Struggle to Contain Them
Mali: The Failing Campaign of Wagner in Mali Presages Trouble for the Junta in Bamako
The North Africa Journal's WhatsApp Group
.
Shield and Alert Sahel
Share This