BAMAKO, June 25, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – At least 32 civilians were killed and
ten are missing following an attack in central Mali, believed to have been
carried out by traditional hunters, local officials said Sunday, as the
government said 16 bodies had been found.
Armed Dozo hunters, linked to the Dogon ethnic group, were suspected of
ambushing the isolated village of Koumaga in the Mopti region on Saturday,
killing dozens of Fulani herders, including children.
“They surrounded the village, separated the Fulani people from the others
and killed at least 32 civilians in cold blood,” said Abdoul Aziz Diallo,
president of the local Tabital Pulaaku association.
Another 10 people were missing, he added.
“The men were dressed in Dozo clothing but we wonder if they were all Dozo
hunters,” said an elected official from the region, speaking on condition of
anonymity. Violence has increased over the past three years in central Mali
between nomadic Fulani herders and Bambara and Dogon farmers, sparked by
accusations of Fulanis grazing cattle on Dogon land and disputes over access
to land and water.
“Despite the deployment of patrol missions to central Mali on June 23, a
violent clash” took place between communities,” the government said in a
statement.
“A deployment of Malian army forces despatched to the scene discovered 16
bodies and significant damage,” it added.
Central Mali is a vast area where the state is nearly absent and
jihadists, blamed for exacerbating the dispute, roam with little constraint.
The Bambara and Dogon ethnic groups accuse the pastoralists of colluding
with jihadists.
The armed forces are facing increasing accusations of arbitrary arrests
and extra-judicial killings in their fight against the insurgents.
“What is happening is very serious. We must avoid confusion. Just because
we are Fulani does not mean we are terrorists,” said Diallo.
– ‘Deeply concerned’ –
On May 19 a Malian soldier and at least 12 other people were killed in
violence that occurred during an army patrol through a market.
The army said the 12 were “terrorists” who had been “neutralised”, but
local residents said they were civilians.
The Malian army is often accused of making arbitrary arrests and carrying
out extra-judicial executions in the fight against jihadists.
On Thursday, the United States asked for a “credible and transparent”
investigation following the discovery of the bodies of 25 Fulani in three
mass graves in the Mopti region. Washington called on Bamako to recognise the
involvement of “certain personnel” of the army.
Canada, which has just begun to deploy some 250 peacekeepers in Mali, said
it was “deeply concerned” by the alleged military involvement and called for
the “perpetrators of these heinous crimes to be brought to justice”.
Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on Friday insisted on “the respect
of human rights by all the military, which has an obligation to protect the
population”. Mali’s unrest stems from a 2012 Tuareg separatist uprising
against the state which was exploited by jihadists in order to take over key
cities in the north.
The extremists were largely driven out in a French-led military operation
launched in January 2013.
But large stretches of the country remain out of the control of Malian,
French and UN forces, which are frequent targets of attacks.