Mali’s armed forces announced on 24 October that a joint patrol with their partners had discovered 54 bodies in a camp at Tagadayat, approximately 35 kilometres southeast of Ménaka. The victims were buried at the site, while nine survivors were taken to Ménaka for care. The statement did not specify when the patrol made the discovery.
The announcement follows the community’s account of killings on 18 October. In a statement dated 19 October, the Idaksahak community had put the toll at at least 48 civilians and reported families fleeing towards Ménaka. The military’s figure of 54 is a subsequent count connected to those attacks, not an additional 54 deaths to be added to the earlier toll.
The army said initial witness accounts implicated Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, the organisation’s regional branch. Responsibility remains based on those accounts; the military announcement supplied neither a detailed reconstruction of the killings nor the identities of the dead.
The attacks struck camps mainly inhabited by members of the Daoussahak, also known as Idaksahak, community. Security and community sources told AFP that gunmen arrived on motorcycles and opened fire. The Movement for the Salvation of Azawad, an armed group aligned with Mali’s military authorities, originated within that community. A security source described the killings as retaliation for recent military operations and attacks by the movement.
For surviving families, the immediate consequences extend beyond the death toll: evacuation, medical treatment and leaving exposed settlements. The army said it was facilitating movements from threatened camps towards Ménaka and continuing patrols. The number of people newly displaced, their accommodation arrangements and the survivors’ medical conditions were not specified.