Suspected jihadists have been holding more than 110 civilians in central Mali for six days. Local sources report this to AFP.
Monday April 22, 2024 at 3:11 PM
The perpetrators stopped three buses with civilians on board and forced the drivers to drive towards a forest, between the villages of Bandiagara and Bankass. A number of associations and a local municipal councilor reported this.
After the kidnapping, rumors circulated that the Malian army had freed the captured civilians.
On April 16, the same group of associations issued a press release denouncing the “continuation of terrorist attacks,” the “growing number of displaced people” in the cities and “the inaction of the armed forces” in the region. They didn’t mention the kidnapping at that time.
Plagued by violence
Mali has been plagued by groups affiliated with Al Qaeda and IS, violence and crime since 2012. The violence spread to neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger, leading to military coups in the three countries.
The three West African countries also broke with France and its European partners, targeting Russia militarily and politically. They formed a joint defense alliance, the so-called Alliance of Sahel States, in November and announced their withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States.
The military, which has been in power in Mali since 2020, had promised to organize presidential elections in February to make way for a civilian government. That did not include Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga, who was appointed by the army. He said power cannot be handed over to civilians until the situation is stabilized across the country.
