At least 30 people were killed on Friday in the attack by suspected jihadists on a transport vehicle in the central Mopti region.
“At least 30 Malian civilians were killed by terrorists near Bandiagara on Friday.
The civilians were in a transport vehicle.
The passengers were machine-gunned and the vehicle was burnt.
The state has sent security forces there, ”local authorities in Mopti told AFP who requested anonymity.
There would also be many wounded, and missing.
The bus was attacked by unidentified gunmen as it made its bi-weekly trip from the village of Songho to the Bandiagara market, 10 km away, Moulaye Guindo, mayor of the nearby town of Bankass, told Reuters. . "Armed men (…) shot at the vehicle, punctured the tires and shot people," Guindo said. An elected official from the locality of Bandiagara told AFP that there were women and children among the victims.
The attack was not claimed by any of the many armed groups plaguing the country.
In the region of Mopti, irrigated by the Niger River, insurgents linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State are rife, to which are added, as throughout the country, self-proclaimed self-defense militias and bandits.
The seizure of power in Bamako by the military following a putsch in August 2020 did not stop the spiral of violence.