Mali: three dead in Goma Coura as mediation resumes in Niono circle

Jihadist fighters in Mali (Illustration).

AP Photo / File

Text by: David Baché

2 min

In Mali, the weekend was marked by a new attack in the center of the country.

Three people were killed this Sunday in Goma Coura, in the Niono circle.

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Several local elected officials give an assessment of three people killed.

However, the figures differ on the number of injured - between two and six - and there is also talk of one missing.

The Malian army has not been able to confirm a toll.

The pattern is now classic: peasants from Goma Coura were going to the fields to harvest when armed men, on board two pickups and several motorcycles, attacked them.

Goma Coura is located

, in the circle of Niono, a circle that lives under the influence of jihadist fighters who have prevented residents from moving freely for more than two months now.

A local elected official explains that traditional dozo hunters escorted the peasants who were attacked this Sunday, and deplores that the army "is

 " of protecting populations.

Another adds that the presence of the hunters, themselves accused of abuses against the Fulani, is perceived as a provocation by the jihadists, which increases the risk of attack.

New attempt at mediation

To help calm the situation, discussions are underway.

Since Saturday, a new attempt at mediation has started, led by the High Islamic Council and notables of the area, in accordance with the recommendations of the government forum held in Niono last month.

Direct mediation with dozo hunters, jihadist fighters, and Fulani self-defense groups.

Objective, according to one of the members of this mediation: "to 

 " and to put an end to this cycle of violence.

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