At around 4 p.m. on Wednesday, armed fighters struck two villages in central Mali’s Mopti region in a coordinated double attack, according to Col. Maj. Olivier Diassana, the military governor of the area. He said the assaults were “cowardly” and “barbaric” and acknowledged that “several people” had been killed and wounded, though he declined to release an exact death toll.
Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an Islamist armed group, claimed the operation in a statement posted on its website, saying it had targeted pro-government militias fighting alongside the Malian military. The group did not disclose its own casualty figures.
The villages of Kori Kori and Gomossogou lie in a region that has become a crucible of violence as JNIM and its allies expand their reach. The attacks come barely a month after JNIM and the Tuareg separatist Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) launched a coordinated offensive that seized key towns from government troops and the Russia-backed Africa Corps. That offensive killed several people, including former Defense Minister Sadio Camara, one of the junta’s most powerful figures.
Mali has been ruled by a military junta since a 2020 coup that ousted the elected government on a promise to restore security. Instead, the violence has worsened. The junta forced out French forces and a decade-long U.N. peacekeeping mission, then turned to Russia for security assistance, incorporating the Africa Corps into its operations. Critics say the strategy has left the state more vulnerable, not less. JNIM has also maintained a partial blockade on the capital, Bamako, since last month, restricting the movement of goods and people and adding to public anger.