The crescent moon has been spotted in the Malian sky.
The Malian government decreed the end of Ramadan on April 30, and kicked off Eid.
But in the family of Alhassan*, in Gossi, the heart is not at the party.
Since the revelation of the existence of a mass grave by a double video, one of Wagner's mercenaries accusing Barkhane, the other of the French forces denouncing a set-up, the Malian has no more news of his two cousins.
Are they part of those bodies half buried under the sand, around which the images of unidentified white soldiers are busy?
To discover
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Read alsoMali: in Gossi, the population fears a security vacuum and new violence
“
The question haunts us
”, slips Alhassan.
On the Malian side, the army accused Barkhane of "
subversion
" and "
provocation
".
The use of a drone to film the scene is also qualified as "
espionage
".
The harshness of your tone is unprecedented, but what about the bodies?
First claiming that it was "
false images fabricated from scratch
", the Ministry of Defense, the same day, opened an investigation.
Between these contradictory versions, the population is caught in a vice.
“
We just see that there is a divorce between Barkhane and the FAMA, and that all shots are allowed.
For the rest, we are in total uncertainty
,” says Alhassan.
A roundup of the FAMA the day before in Hombori
The long distances and the faulty network do the rest.
In the heart of the Sahara, information does not circulate, or badly.
When, on April 17, Barkhane arrested six suspects not far away, shepherds, including an old man, and his two sons, the day before he left, the news spread like wildfire.
Are these the bodies later found in the mass grave?
The rumor will not stop until their release a week later, but the process goes badly from an army supposed to be on the way out.
"
All foreign forces, whether Russian or French, are harmful
," commented a member of civil society on social networks.
As long as there are several forces, our populations will remain mistreated and the perpetrators unknown
”.
Yacouba* has another hypothesis.
This Malian was at the fair in Hombori, a neighboring town, on April 19.
“
To stock up, like every week
,” he says.
The same day, the FAMA and their Russian auxiliaries burst in.
A vehicle in their motorcade explodes.
In this mined area with a strong jihadist presence, any villager is considered suspect.
They open fire, sad reminiscence of the Moura massacre, a few weeks earlier, in central Mali.
“
Some people died instantly, others were released after being tortured.
But others are still missing
,” says Yacouba.
Read alsoIn Mali, the appalling massacre of Moura
When he saw the Malian army convoy heading back to Gossi early the next day, the young man grabbed his phone and called everyone he knew in the villages and on the road, warning them to get on the road. shelter.
“
It's only a four-hour drive to Gossi, but they only arrived at 6 p.m.
What have they been up to in the meantime?
They stopped and transported people along the way, that's for sure
,” the Malian believes.
uncertainty and fear
If the Minusma said it was worried about the abuses in Hombori, the Malian army remained silent.
Yacouba, a graduate of the University of Bamako, himself took the initiative with several relatives to identify the missing.
"
Every day, someone calls me to tell me: I have such a brother I haven't heard from, such an uncle
," he says.
Thirty names are already there.
Another list, drawn up by the surrounding villagers, counts the dead and wounded
.
With this urgent appeal at the bottom of the page: “This
information is to be verified.
We want supplements in case you have any!
This is how we will move forward
”.
“
We are looking, we are still looking for the disappeared,
repeats Yacouba.
“We fear Wagner much more than the terrorists, in fact.
Terrorists have never come to decimate a market”.
Yacouba*, resident of Gossi
In reality, the young man finds it difficult to believe in the responsibility of Barkhane.
“
I can't say whether this or that army did it.
But, personally, I will accuse the part that takes the side of ignoring, and says that it does not exist
, he decides.
Barkhane has been there since 2013. If they had carried out massacres, there would be no one left in the area
”.
An opinion shared by Abdoulaye*, a local shepherd.
“
I think that if Barkhane had committed such abuses, he would have taken the time to hide the victims better.
And the soldiers had very good relations with the population of Gossi
”.
After the departure of the last French soldiers from the base two weeks ago, the population expects a difficult period.
The weekly market of Hombori and that of Gossi are closed, until further notice.
“
We live in fear.
Wagner is much more feared than terrorists, in fact.
Terrorists have never come to decimate a market
, says Yacouba.
What hurts in these massacres is that we, the population, have become a toy between the forces: the terrorists, on one side, the armies on the other side.
It's really outrageous.
My anger is great
”.
*Name and functions are kept silent for security reasons.