130 dead after attacks
UN mission supports Mali in massacre investigation
06/21/2022, 4:00 p.m
After attacks in West African Mali, the UN peacekeeping mission is supporting the Bandiagara region with reconnaissance work. On site, the team visits the crime scenes and treats the injured. A spokesman for the mission commented on the fact: it was abominable and violated international law.
The UN peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA), in which the Bundeswehr is also involved, wants to support the investigation and identification of the perpetrators after the massacre of more than 130 civilians in the central Malian region of Bandiagara. In a statement published during the night, a MINUSMA spokesman condemned the attacks as “disgusting” and a serious violation of international law.
A team from the Mopti mission visited the crime scenes with local authorities. Help is also provided with the care and evacuation of the injured. The government of the Sahel state put the total number of victims at 132 civilians.
Several villages were attacked on Saturday and Sunday. The government in Bamako blamed fighters from an Islamist militia linked to the terrorist organization al-Qaeda for the attacks. According to the UN, she is also responsible for dozens of attacks and ambushes against Malian soldiers.
Mali, with around 20 million inhabitants, has experienced three military coups since 2012 and is considered to be extremely unstable politically. Since the most recent coup in May, the country has been led by a transitional military government that is supposed to maintain close ties with Russia. Islamist terrorist groups have been troubling the crisis-ridden state for years.
The military junta has promised elections by the end of March 2024. The Bundeswehr is still present in Mali. She is involved in the UN peacekeeping mission MINUSMA. However, the European training mission EUTM will be largely stopped in the future.