News
Jihadists in Mali attacked civilians in two central regions in early November, killing a civilian at a market and forcing residents out of four villages, according to RFI, which reported the attacks on Saturday. The account rests on local sources the broadcaster contacted. The market strike took place on 8 November; the reported village flight was between 3 and 5 November.
On the afternoon of 8 November, around 5 p.m., a drone struck the market in Nampala, a town in the Ségou region, killing a butcher and truck driver who had travelled from the town of Niono and wounding about ten people, three of them seriously. A local notable told RFI that some of the injured had been playing draughts.
The group, JNIM, which is linked to al-Qaeda, has not claimed the market strike. RFI attributes it to the local sources it contacted, rather than to an independently inspected claim or investigation.
The sources offered a possible motive, which remains unconfirmed. Earlier that day, about 40 kilometres away, the army had reportedly killed several fighters in a skirmish before falling back to Nampala, and the jihadists are said to have retaliated. A local source said two military vehicles were at the market but the drone hit beside them.
In the Mopti region, RFI's sources say four villages protected by Dozos, which refuse to submit to the jihadists, have been emptied since early November. Residents fled the four villages between 3 and 5 November as attacks and JNIM drone fire multiplied, according to the broadcaster. They moved towards other towns, including Mopti; the report gives no overall displacement count.