On 6 April 2022, the
UN and
Human Rights Watch reported that government forces and over 100 Russian fighters had summarily executed an estimated 300 civilian men, some of them suspected of being jihadist fighters. The killings occurred over a period of 5 days at the end of March 2022; the armed forces executed the men in small groups having rounded them up in a surprise operation in Moura in central Mali. The killings were accompanied by arbitrary arrests, looting, rape and theft by the armed forces. These reports preceded a month of militant
attacks in northern Mali, some of which are highlighted below (as listed by International Crisis Group, Mali/March 2022):
- 4 March 2022: Jihadists killed at least 27 soldiers at an army base in Mondoro near the border with Burkina Faso.
- 7 March 2022: Two UN peacekeepers were killed in Mopti when an explosive device was detonated.
- 15 March 2022: Human Rights Watch reported that government forces killed at least 71 civilians - "allegedly summarily executed" - in Central and South-Western Mali since December 2021
- 21 March 2022: Alleged IS militants launched twin attacks on government forces in Tessit and Boni towns.
In addition: On 24 April 2022, militants killed six soldiers and injured 20 in simultaneous attacks targeting
three army bases (in Severe, Niono and Bapho). The attacks were carried out with vehicles packed with explosives and is said to have been carried out by "˜Katiba of Macina", an al-Qaeda-linked group and the biggest jihadist network in the Sahel (Africa News, 24 April 2022).
World Watch Research analyst Yonas Dembele comments: "Despite the government"s will to counter jihadists, their presence still persists, as shown by the attack on 24 April brazenly launched on army bases that would ordinarily be well protected. The message is clear: If an army base is not off-limits for jihadists, then no one is safe. This puts the lives and livelihoods of civilians at great risk, especially for Christians in the areas where Islamic fighters are active. This is because jihadist ideology is directly opposed to the presence and practice of any religion other than Islam and the rule of any form of government other than an Islamic caliphate. The situation in Mali resulting from jihadist attacks has now been made worse by the atrocities carried out by the state armed forces who have been launching attacks, making arbitrary arrests and carrying out rape and theft in the very communities they are mandated to protect."
