Mali: Jihadist attack forces civilians into displacement
In central-eastern Mali, the town of Farabougou has been under jihadist control since August 19th, forcing civilians to flee as the Malian army struggle to regain ground.
According to Afrique-RFI, Islamist militant group JNIM is responsible for the attacks, having reportedly seized several military positions in Mali’s central Segou region. The jihadists have allegedly been parading the spoils of their successful assaults, flaunting captured weapons and causing havoc amongst the civilian population.
As a result, there has been a heightened sense of insecurity amongst locals, many of whom are purportedly fleeing on foot or aboard overloaded carts. Farabougou and the surrounding villages have suffered significantly, some residents have spoken of their experience.
“My family and I had to take refuge in Dogofry. On Tuesday, armed groups attacked our village. They took the women and children out so they could kill all the men. While many died, others like me were able to flee. Then they burned the entire village. We weren’t able to bury the bodies,” a man told Afrique-RFI’s correspondent.
Farabougou has faced jihadist pressure before, the town was placed under a blockade in 2020, which was only lifted after Malian clerics intervened to persuade the militants to ease their grip.
As for the response from the ruling junta, they have seemingly abandoned the idea of any immediate operations to retake lost territory. This has only further fuelled the concern of civilians, as well as local officials who plead with the leadership in Mali to act.
The junta are facing pressure from multiple angles, a possible explanation for their lax attitude toward this particular situation. As Maghrebi reported, Goita’s regime recently quelled a coup plot, making multiple arrests. One of the incarcerated individuals was a French diplomat which has caused tensions with France who call for his immediate release.
Internal pressure from the people of Mali also add to the junta’s long list of issues, with protests erupting in the country as a reaction to the leadership extending their rule to 2030, despite promises to return the country back to democracy by 2024.
It becomes increasingly obvious that the ruling junta are not only stepping back on their promise of democracy, but also their promise to protect.
Afrique-RFI, Maghrebi.org
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