Jihadist violence has killed dozens of civilians in recent weeks in central-eastern Mali and the so-called three-border region, the UN mission (Minusma) in the country said in a statement on Thursday March 31. .
This vast expanse has been the scene for weeks of violence and clashes between many of the armed organizations (regular and irregular) present on the ground, including between groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State organization.
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The jihadists are accused of attacking civilians they suspect of collaborating with their enemies or informing them.
"
The security situation in the so-called three-border area between Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, particularly in the localities of Tessit, Talataye, Ansongo and the Ménaka region, has deteriorated considerably in recent weeks
", reported the Minusma in a press release where it expresses "
its deep concern
".
"
The attacks by armed terrorist groups have had a devastating impact on the civilian population, already in distress, resulting in dozens of deaths and significant population displacements towards the towns of Gao and Ansongo
", she adds.
Attacks on the MSA
Minusma says it has "
deployed a unit in the area for more than a week
" and another unit was "
being deployed on Thursday
".
According to a text from the Islamic State group's an-Naba newspaper, authenticated by the American specialized organization SITE, the jihadists of the newly proclaimed "
Sahel province
" carried out a series of attacks against the fighters of the Movement for the Salvation of 'Azawad (MSA), from the mainly Tuareg ex-rebellion, and killed around 250 of them around Ménaka between March 9 and 11.
The jihadists say they have seized three of their strongholds, Tamalat, Inchinane and Anderamboukane.
In Gao, they say they attacked a base of the Malian army "
killing and injuring dozens
of soldiers.
Challenges of the Malian authorities
At the same time, NGOs and ex-rebels incriminate the Malian armed forces (FAMa) for alleged abuses.
On Tuesday, the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA), which brings together Tuareg and Arab nationalist groups who entered into rebellion against the government in 2012, deplored "
arbitrary arrests followed by extrajudicial executions
" which were allegedly committed on March 26 .
against civilians in Ansongo "
by elements of the FAMa
".
The CMA named 17 civilians who had taken refuge in Ansongo to protect themselves from attacks by the Islamic State organization.
Asked about these accusations, the Malian authorities, dominated by the military since the August 2020 coup, did not respond Thursday evening.
They generally refute these accusations or say they have opened investigations.
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On March 15, Human Rights Watch (HRW) denounced in a report a “
new wave of civilian executions
” as well as looting by the Malian army and jihadists in central and southwestern Mali.
According to various reports published by Minusma, the most recent of which last week, nearly 600 civilians were killed in Mali in 2021 in violence attributed mainly to jihadist groups, but also to self-defense militias and the armed forces.
Mali has been in turmoil since 2012. The jihadist spread started in the north and spread to the center and into neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger.
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