Dozens killed in attack on village in central Mali | Political news

Mali is plagued by armed groups with links to al-Qaeda and ethnic minorities, but UN peacekeepers have been forced to withdraw.

Unknown gunmen killed about 40 people in an attack on a village in central Mali, local officials said.

The attack took place on Monday in the village of Djiguibombo in the Mopti region, one of the regions in northern and central Mali where groups linked to al-Qaeda and IS have been active for more than a decade.

“It was a very serious attack, armed men surrounded the village and shot at people,” Moulaye Guindo, mayor of the town of Bankass, told Reuters.

While he did not give an exact death toll, two local officials who asked not to be identified said about 40 people were killed.

“It was a bloodbath, they surrounded the village where a wedding was taking place… There was panic, some managed to escape, but many others were killed, most of them men,” said one of the officials.

A local youth representative told AFP news agency that the attack began before nightfall and “lasted about three hours.”

“Many residents fled to Bandiagara (city). Those who stayed could not even bury the dead properly,” he said.

Officials have not determined the identity of the attackers and no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Groups allied with al-Qaeda and IS have been active in Mali since 2015, conquering territory and making large parts of the country ungovernable.

The violence that began in the north spread throughout the country that same year when the al-Qaeda-affiliated group Katiba Macina was founded and led by Fulani preacher Amadou Kouffa.

A military government took power after a coup in 2020 and promised to tackle rising insecurity, but attacks remain commonplace. The military has also been accused of human rights abuses, according to international human rights groups.

In December, the ten-year deployment of the UN mission in Mali – known as the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) – officially ended with a withdrawal ordered by the Malian military government.

Since the coup in 2020, Mali’s military rulers have broken off their alliances with France and its European partners and turned politically and militarily to Russia.