In Mali, new carnage in the center of the country. A terrorist attack targeted several villages belonging to the commune of Diallassagou, during the weekend. No official assessment at this stage, none ...

Mali: jihadist massacre in Diallassagou

Location of the town of Diallassagou, in Mali.

Text by: David Baché

2 mins

In Mali, new carnage in the center of the country.

A terrorist attack targeted several villages belonging to the commune of Diallassagou, during the weekend.

No official report at this stage, no communication from the army, despite requests from RFI.

From a UN source, there would be at least forty dead, probably many more, according to information collected by RFI from security sources and local notabilities, which all evoke more than a hundred civilians killed.

David Baché obtained details on the course of the attack.

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Diallassagou, Diamweli, Dessagou, Saturday June 18, then Ségué on Sunday.

According to several concordant local and security sources, the jihadists appeared around 4 p.m. on Saturday and did not leave until the middle of the night: a hundred motorcycles with armed men on board.

The traditional dozo hunters stationed in Ségué were able to repel the attackers, one person would have been killed in the clashes despite everything.

But it is in the other villages of the commune of Diallassagou that the jihadists committed terrible massacres, kidnapping groups of men to execute them around, in different places.

Along the way, the jihadists set fire to the market, homes, shops and vehicles.

They also took cattle.

Hundreds of villagers fled, most in the direction of Bankass, about forty kilometers away.

A local inter-community peace agreement was reached in February last year in Diallassagou, which for a time silenced the guns and allowed residents to move freely.

This Saturday's attack has not been claimed, but according to several concordant local sources, the jihadists of Katiba Macina, a member of Jnim, the Support Group for Islam and Muslims, linked to AQIM, would have acted by retaliatory measure: they accuse certain inhabitants of having broken this local agreement and of having in particular helped the Malian army and its Russian auxiliaries to recently carry out operations in the area.

Operations during which the Fulani community would have been specifically targeted.

In a press release, the Minusma indicates that it has contacted the Malian authorities in order to be able to send a support mission for the protection of civilians in the area.

MINUSMA immediately made contact with the civil and military authorities and plans to send a support mission for the #protectionofcivilians and the stabilization of the area.

— MINUSMA (@UN_MINUSMA) June 19, 2022

Finally, another attack took place on Monday morning, still in the Bandiagara region.

The jihadists this time targeted the dozo post, the traditional hunters, of Djiguibombo.

Mali: jihadist massacre in Diallassagou

Mali: jihadist massacre in Diallassagou

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