Mali: "The jihadists are gradually establishing themselves in the circle of Koulikouro"
Jihadist fighters in Mali (Illustration).
AP Photo / File
Text by: David Baché
2 min
Two Moroccan carriers were killed in Mali on Sunday September 12.
Their truck was attacked by armed men in Didieni, in the Koulikouro circle.
The identity of the attackers is unknown.
The area is rather famous for acts of banditry.
It is not particularly frequented by jihadist terrorists, at least it was not until recently.
But that is precisely what is changing.
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The municipality of Didieni is located on an axis on which circulate a lot of goods which arouse just as much envy. Modibo Galy Cissé is a researcher at the University of Leiden, specializing in security and inter-community issues in Mali. “
There are big transport trucks,
” he says, “
vehicles coming from Europe and a lot of other second-hand goods imported from France, Europe or the United States. Along this route, there have always been attacks in the past, passengers robbed and stripped of all their belongings. There were even army patrols to secure these roads or deter armed bandits.
"
But the men who
killed the two Moroccan transporters on Sunday
did not touch their truck or the merchandise.
The attack has not been claimed.
The jihadist groups are not very established in the circle of Kolokani, in the region of Koulikouro, but for the researcher Modibo Galy Cissé, the noose is tightening: “
There are communes which are starting to have visits from jihadists who come preach in the villages.
There are also audios circulating on social networks, which attest that they are starting to descend a little bit towards this area.
They're establishing bases here and there and settling in little by little.
"
Before the summer,
several attacks
sparked intercommunal tensions in the circle, a breeding ground on which jihadist groups showed they knew very well how to rely to establish themselves locally.
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Mali
Terrorism