Nineteen “terroristsand three armed groups have been eliminated by the Malian armed forces since March 22 during operations against jihadists, according to a press release from the General Staff published on the night of Thursday to Friday April 8 in Bamako.
Read alsoIn Mali, the appalling massacre of Moura
In total, the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) announced “the neutralization of four terrorists in the Niono area“, in the center of the country as well as, in the South, the elimination of “three GATs» («terrorist armed groups“) in the Baoulé forest and “15 terroristsin the areas of Manfoune, Vanekui and Mandiakui. AFP was unable to verify the death toll provided by the Malian army, whose press release does not announce any loss in its ranks. This count is added to the “203 fighters” of “terrorist armed groups“that the FAMa previously announced to have killed during an operation”large scopeat the end of March, in the Moura area (center), for which witnesses interviewed by the press or the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) speak on the contrary of a large-scale massacre of civilians (300 according to HRW) committed by Malian soldiers and foreign fighters.
Questioned by AFP, Colonel Souleymane Dembélé, director of communication of the FAMa did not answer a question on possible military losses during the operations mentioned in the press release of the night but he reported the death of eight soldiers in Moura in “battles on the outskirts and […] around the city“, without specifying a date. Ruled by a military junta since August 2020, Mali has been in turmoil since 2012. The jihadist spread, starting from the north, has spread in the country and reached neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger. According to several reports by the United Nations mission in Mali (Minusma), nearly 600 civilians were killed in the country in 2021 in violence attributed mainly to jihadist groups, but also to self-defense militias and armed forces.
“Spiral of Violence”
Malian military justice announced on Wednesday the opening of an investigation into the recent events in Moura. While welcoming this announcement, the UN envoy for Mali, El-Ghassim Wane, urged the Bamako authorities on Thursday to allow the UN access to this very difficult to reach locality, and from where no photos have emerged since the controversial events. The deployment of a Minusma mission on the spot did not “until nowwas not authorized, he told the United Nations Security Council. Without alluding to Moura, the Malian general staffguest“in his press release”populations to distance themselves from terrorists to minimize the risk of collateral damage knowing that the lesson learned during the last actions confirms the use of civilians as human shields“.
Read alsoMali: military justice announces opening an investigation into the events of Moura
A collective of NGOs, the Citizen Coalition for the Sahel, for its part, is asking “the opening of an independent investigation” to “that full light be shed on the allegations of serious human rights violations by the Malian armed forces, particularly in Moura“. “Moura’s tragedy is just the latest in a series of allegations of crimes against civilians by different actors in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger“, writes this grouping of about fifty NGOs, mainly Burkinabe, Nigerien and Malian, in a press release expressing “its deep concern at the spiral of violence of which the civilian populations are victims in the Sahel“.
SEE ALSO – Mali: the army and the Russians accused of having executed 300 civilians