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More Than 50 Dead in Attacks on Mali Villages

Annie Risemberg

   BAMAKO - Militants in Malihavemassacred more than 50 villagers near the
   borders with Burkina Faso and Niger. The area has seen increasing
   violence from armed Islamists,and activists are calling on authorities
   to act.

   Militants attacked three villages in northern Mali simultaneously this
   past Sunday, leaving more than 50 civilians dead and several injured.

   The neighboring villages of Karou,Ouatagouna, andDaoutegeftare in an
   area near the borders with Niger and Burkina Faso that has seen
   increasing, often deadly, violence the past few years.

   AlmahadyCissé is coordinator of the collectiveSonghoyChaawaraBatoo, a
   group of organizations representing theSonghoypeople, who make up most
   of the inhabitants of the Gao region,where the attacks occurred.

   He says througha messaging application from Bamako, the assailants shot
   at everything that moved, including those leaving the mosques and those
   returning to the village from the fields.

   Batoo has called on the Malian government and the international
   community to secure the area, and to disarm militants in a released
   statement.

   "We can't understand how a locality like Karou, likeOuatagouna, he
   says, where the military camps are not even 18 kilometers away, that
   massacres are happening and there are not reinforcements, there are no
   prosecutions'¦ we do not understand," he said.

   Since a Tuareg rebellion and coup in 2012Mali has seen
   bothchronicpolitical instability and increasingIslamist violence.

   Through a messaging application from Dakar,Alioune Tine, an independent
   U.N.expert on human rights in Mali, saidtheseIslamist groups
   areexploitinglocal mineral resources, mostly gold,andare able tofinance
   themselves.

   With funds, and control of the localarea,which is largely inaccessible
   by the state, they gain credibilityamong the local population.

   "In reality, we have, little by little, a state within the state, or
   two states within the state, and that is a real threat for the Malian
   state, for the survival of the Malian state," he said.

   Mali's neighbors, Niger and Burkina Faso, are also plagued byviolence
   from Islamist groups.

   The same day of the attacks in the Gao region, suspected jihadists
   attacked Burkinabe troops near Mali's border.

   Thirtycivilians were also killed in attacks in northern Burkina Faso
   last week.

   Tine says the Sahel needs a regional strategy, focused onall ofthe
   affected countries in the Sahel and West Africa.

   "The problem isn't just Mali," he says. "We can't just fix Mali with a
   national security response. We can't do this for Burkina Faso, nor
   Niger. What must be made is a regional strategy, with Africans that
   will cover the region, and who are supported -- this is important --
   supported by the international community,"

   VOA attempted to talk to Malian authorities for thisstory, but they did
   not make themselves available for comment.

   Elections in Mali are scheduled for February 2022.

   Tine says the insecurity in Mali's center and north remains
   thetoppriority for the transitional government.

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