by Admin
Dec 21, 2024
Islamic jihadists struck a deadly blow across six villages in Bandiagara eastern province of Mali on Friday evening killing 22 people including women and children.
A local elected official who pleaded to be anonymous told AFP reporters that “Six villages in the region of Bandiagara were attacked yesterday (Friday) by jihadists. Grain silos were burned, the local populations fled. There were also about 20 dead”.
A Mali security official also told AFP that five villages in Bandiagara were attacked. “We counted 21 dead and many injured,” he said.
Bocary Guindo, a representative of a local youth association, revealed that there had been at least 22 deaths in four villages, and two other villages had been burned down by the Jihadist.
Since 2012 Mali has suffered from various waves of violent attacks from Islamic Jihadist militants who have ties with Al Qaeda and Islamic State (IS).
However, since 2016 Mali has not experienced such a devastating attack until September this year when a police academy and a military airport in Bamako, the country’s capital was attacked by the Islamic jihadists.
Mali experienced a simultaneous coup in 2020 and 2021 with the ascension of General Assimi Goita. The Mali government severed its relationship with its former colonial ruler France, and expelled its foreign diplomats and mining companies from the country.
However, the country’s human rights groups have accused the country’s new ally the Russian military of human rights violations against the civilians in their war against the Islamic militants.