Fighters linked to the Islamic State group seem to have killed at least 48 people in Mali’s Ménaka region over the weekend, according to a community statement, a Malian lawmaker and sources who spoke to news agencies, though tolls differ by source. The executive bureau of the community that Xinhua and APA call the Idaksahak, and that AFP calls the Daoussahak, said in a statement posted on Facebook on Monday that 48 civilians died in Tagadayat, per Xinhua; the attackers arrived on motorcycles, the statement said. The earliest report this desk found came from AFP, citing security, local and community sources who spoke on Monday, Oct. 19, in a dispatch carried by La Croix.
AFP, per La Croix, says the attacks targeted several camps about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the town of Ménaka, including in the locality of Tinabow and the Tagadayat sector, and that most of the camps belonged to the Daoussahak community, from which the MSA (Movement for the Salvation of Azawad), an armed group close to the military government in Bamako, emerged. APA places Tagadayat in northeastern Mali near the border with Niger. Reuters, citing two security sources and two local officials, says the attacks took place in at least five localities in Ménaka.
The death toll varies. A Malian lawmaker, Moussa Ag Acharatoumane, a Tuareg leader and member of the National Transitional Council, told the AP that 48 people died and that casualties included children and older people, per AP copies on WTOP and ABC News. The four sources who spoke to Reuters gave “provisional death tolls ranging from 48 to more than 70,” and said the overall toll remained undetermined on Tuesday. Per La Croix (AFP), a security source in Gao spoke of about 40 dead, mostly men; a second security source said 50 civilians died, among them young and older people; and a local elected official spoke of more than 50 dead, including women and older people. This desk has seen no official Malian government toll; APA says official state confirmation of the figures remains pending.
Witnesses and sources describe homes set on fire. A local source in Tinabow told AFP that several dozen motorcycles arrived suddenly on Sunday evening and the riders began shooting and setting homes alight, and said the source saw dozens of bodies, per La Croix (this desk paraphrases AFP’s French). The Reuters sources said the attackers set houses on fire and stole livestock, sending hundreds of civilians fleeing to Ménaka town, and that some victims died in the fires while others got shot (Reuters). The community statement says families, including women, children and older people, left their homes and sought refuge in Ménaka, per Xinhua.
Sources offer different accounts of the motive. Ag Acharatoumane told the AP that the fighters targeted civilians they suspected of revealing ISSP positions to the Malian army, which had carried out a drone strike on the group (WTOP). The Reuters sources said the attacks appeared to answer actions last week against civilians suspected of informing for the Islamic State, which the sources attribute to the MSA militia and members of Africa Corps, the Russian paramilitary group that backs Bamako, and Reuters credits that account to the sources rather than stating it itself. A municipal official in Ménaka told Reuters: “They killed about a dozen people, set fire to houses, and stole other property.” A Gao-based security source told AFP the killings came in reprisal for recent military operations in the area and for MSA attacks, per La Croix. None of these accounts names its source publicly except Ag Acharatoumane, and this desk could not verify them.
This desk found no public response from the Malian military, the MSA or Russia to the reprisal account. A Malian military spokesperson and Russia’s embassy in Bamako did not respond to requests for comment, and Mali has previously denied killing civilians in counterinsurgency operations, Reuters says. The AP says that on Monday the Malian army announced it had located a major base housing “several terrorist elements as well as military equipment and logistical supplies” 65 kilometers (40 miles) southwest of Ménaka, and quotes an army statement: “After confirming the intelligence gathered and assessing the situation, the site was targeted and successfully struck” (WTOP). AFP, per La Croix, dates those army operations to Saturday.
AFP also reports, per La Croix, that the Gao security source said the Ménaka residence of the MSA’s leader, Moussa Ag Acharatoumane, who also sits on the National Transitional Council, came under attack as well, with no victims. The AP copies do not mention his MSA role.
The attack comes amid fighting between rival armed groups in the Sahel. Reuters says Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), the regional al Qaeda affiliate, has fought ISSP fiercely in recent weeks, and that ISSP said last week it had killed 400 JNIM fighters in neighboring Burkina Faso, which Reuters says would, if confirmed, make it the deadliest single battle between the two groups. Reuters, citing the conflict monitor Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, says the two groups have clashed hundreds of times since 2019, causing more than 2,000 deaths. The AP says ISSP operates mostly in the Ménaka region, where it faces stiff competition from JNIM. APA says community representatives appealed for “urgent humanitarian intervention” and for more military protection for rural communities in northern Mali.
