Jihadist attacks in Mali have gained ground since 2012 despite counter efforts. The latest deadly attacks, for which no one claimed responsibility, happened in four localities in Gao, Northeast region, last August 8. They claimed at least 51 lives, as reported by Colonel Souleymane Dembélé, spokesperson of the national army.

“Terrorists entered the villages and wreaked havoc,” a security official told Agence France Presse (AFP). Military sources say the criminals attacked the villages of Karou, Ouatagouna, Dirgua, and Daoutegeft, located near the border with Niger and Burkina Faso, in retaliation. They did so following the arrest a week earlier of two rebel leaders who were denounced by residents of two of the targeted villages.

What happened was another setback in efforts to foster lasting peace in a country that has been torn apart by conflict for about a decade. A report by the UN peacekeeping force in Mali (Minusma) recorded 43 extrajudicial killings by Malian defense and security forces in the second quarter of 2021. Human rights abuses by armed groups and community militias also increased to 258 cases in the first six months of 2021, or 88% of the total number of cases reported in 2020. Minusma reported 435 abductions in H1 2021, five times more than in 2020.

Since the events of 2012, with a multiparty alliance of independent rebels and jihadist fighters, Mali has been the scene of a security turmoil that has spread to the center of the country and now threatens the whole territory.

Stéphane Alidjinou