Mali: Jihadists assassinate Quranic teacher in Timbuktu region
Mali: Jihadists assassinate Quranic teacher, Abdoul Salam Maïga, in the Timbuktu region's Tonka.
As Mali’s security situation continues to deteriorate, jihadists have shot a Quranic teacher in a targeted assassination in the northern Timbuktu region, according to RFI and agencies on May 23rd.
Militants from the al-Qaeda affiliated JNIM shot dead Abdoul Salam Maïga at a madrasa in Tonka on May 21st.
JNIM, which is behind the fuel blockade Mali has experienced since September 2025, is particularly active in the Timbuktu region.
Maïga was chatting with friends near Tonka’s market when JNIM fighters ordered him to follow them; he was later blindfolded and publicly shot dead.
Some believe Maïga’s assassination was tied to religious differences or his apparent refusal to “work for [JNIM].”
However, Maïga’s close ties to the Malian Armed Forces (FAMA) have also been cited as a motivation for his assassination.
JNIM have previously carried out targeted assassinations of people with alleged FAMA ties in Tonka.
Notable examples are TikToker Mariame Cissé in November 2025 and youth leader Amadou Baby in March.
According to one Tonka resident, “In Tonka, Diré, Goundam or Timbuktu, people are shocked by all these assassinations.”
The resident added that the assassinations are “creating a great deal of emotion throughout the region .”
Following a wave of attacks since April 25th by JNIM and the Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), FAMA and its Russian auxiliaries have increased operations in northern and central Mali.
FAMA and the Russian Africa Corps have been accused of perpetrating executions and destroying communities in the Timbuktu region under the guise of counter-terrorism operations.
Defence Minister Sadio Camara was killed in the April 25th attacks; the FLA recaptured the northern Kidal region, a Tuareg stronghold that Malian authorities regained control of in 2023.
On April 28th, JNIM announced a renewed blockade of Bamako; Kidal’s Tessalit camps have been controlled by JNIM and the FLA since May 1st, after being deserted by Russian forces.
However, “security operations” and patrols by FAMA and the Russian Africa Corps have meant the blockade is not completely impenetrable.
Although food has remained plentiful in Bamako amid the renewed blockade, meat prices have doubled, and sheep have become unaffordable because they cannot enter Bamako.
Furthermore, Jihadists destroyed electrical infrastructure related to the Manantali Dam on May 9th.
Situated in the western Kayes region, the infrastructure is vital to Mali’s energy supply; its destruction may also affect Mauritania and Senegal.
Maghrebi contacted the Malian Prime Minister’s Office for comment on Maïga’s assassination, but has not received a response at the time of publication.
RFI and agencies, Maghrebi.org
Want to chase the pulse of North Africa?
Subscribe to receive our FREE weekly PDF magazine
