Five Malian soldiers killed in two attacks in central Mali

Five Malian soldiers were killed and five wounded on Sunday in the middle of the day during two simultaneous attacks in central Mali, a region theater since the beginning of the year of several attacks attributed to jihadists, said the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa). .

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The double attack took place around 12:30 p.m. (GMT and local). “ Between Goma-Coura and Diabaly, a #FAMa mission was hooked up by terrorists. At the same time, the #Gomacoura camp was attacked with heavy weapons , ”the army said on Twitter.

“ During this attack, the #FAMa recorded a provisional toll of 5 dead, 5 wounded and vehicles destroyed. On the enemy side, no assessment is yet available. A reinforcement has been dispatched there. The excavations are still in progress ”, according to the same source. " It is a military convoy leaving Goma-Coura towards Diabaly " which was targeted, declared to AFP on condition of anonymity a local elected official of Diabaly, a locality about 300 km north-west of Bamako.

“ He was ambushed around noon. There are four pickups and a BRDM (armored vehicle) missing, ”added this elected official, explaining that the inhabitants of this area of ​​the Niono circle, in the region of Ségou, a hundred kilometers from the Mauritanian border, live " Fear in the stomach ".

At least 24 Malian soldiers were killed in mid-June in an ambush attributed to jihadists in the town of Bouka Wéré, south-east of Diabaly. On January 26, the Sokolo camp, also in central Mali, was the object of an attack that claimed the lives of 20 soldiers, claimed by the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM) , the main jihadist alliance in the Sahel affiliated with Al-Qaeda.

The center of Mali has been caught in a whirlwind of violence since the appearance in 2015 of a jihadist group led by the Fulani preacher Amadou Koufa, who has widely recruited within his community, and joined the GSIM from its creation in 2017.

This violence has spread to neighboring countries, Niger and Burkina Faso. The jihadist attacks are mixed with clashes between the Fulani, mainly pastoralists, and the Bambara and Dogon ethnic groups, mainly practicing agriculture, who have created their " self-defense groups ", in particular by relying on traditional " dozo " hunters. . Relations between the army and certain communities in Niono cercle have also been strained since the start of the year.

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A report from Minusma, the UN Mission in Mali, accused the Malian army in April of being involved in the deaths of at least 50 people in Niono cercle between January and April. This report notes " with concern the growing involvement of the FDSM (security and defense forces) in human rights violations " in this area.