Mali: Muslims murder 13 civilians in jihad attack on village, torch buildings, abduct three people

Another step on their way to establishing a caliphate in West and Central Africa.

“13 Civilians Killed In Jihadist Attack In Mali: Local Sources,” Agence France Presse, February 24, 2023 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

A jihadist attack on a village in central Mali has killed 13 civilians, local officials told AFP on Friday.

A local politician said “terrorists” had killed at least 13 civilians and burned homes in the village of Kani-Bonzon on Thursday, adding that the death toll could be as high as 20.

Jihadists “killed more than 13 civilians”, torched buildings and took away three people, according to another local politician speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

“We ask the government and MINUSMA to come and help us,” he said, referring to the UN peacekeeping mission that has supported the West African nation in the long-running fight against jihadist rebels.

A local government official said the attackers had also stolen cattle. People came out to protest in the nearby town of Bandiagara on Friday to demand more security, he added.

Mali has been battling a security and political crisis since jihadist and separatist insurgencies broke out in the north of the country in 2012.

Jihadists affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have escalated their operations into central Mali and neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso.

Thousands of civilians, police and troops have been killed, across the region, and more than two million have been forced to flee their homes.

In northern Burkina Faso, at least 70 soldiers and around a dozen civilian auxiliaries have been killed in less than a week in attacks blamed on jihadists.

Central Mali has been one of the hotspots for jihadist violence in the Sahel region since 2015 and the arrival of the Katiba Macina group, which has ties to Al-Qaeda….

The military junta that has ruled Mali since a 2020 coup claims it is pushing back the jihadists.

But a UN report published in January said armed groups in the centre of the country were continuing to exploit tensions between communities, extend their influence and gain new recruits….

In northeastern Mali, the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) group has for months been engaged in fierce fighting with other armed groups and rivals affiliated with Al-Qaeda….