Mali authorities reported at least 51 civilians, and 12 troops were brutally slaughtered in the northern parts of the region by suspected jihadists during an ambush in neighboring Burkina Faso.
On Sunday, alleged terrorists breached the villages of Karou, Patagonia, and Daoutegeft near the region's border with Niger, a military officer said. It was revealed that officials used the term "terrorist" to refer to jihadists.
Suspected Jihadist Terrorists
The source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the criminals massacred everyone in the area they invaded. The local prefecture released a document that noted 51 people were killed during the brutal, coordinated attacks. The paper also said that the terrorists looted homes and stole cattles.
Another individual, a local official who also spoke under the condition of anonymity for security reasons, said 20 of the massacred civilians were from Karou. He added that 14 were from Ouatagouna, and the rest were killed in the hamlet of Daoutegeft, Yahoo News reported.
The official said that the criminals were riding motorbikes before they committed the horrific acts. Another official at a fourth village said his area was also attacked by the assailants. A military officer revealed that an army unit was deployed to provide assistance to the affected communities. However, a source from a Malian NGO said communications in remote areas were poor after the terrorists sabotaged telecoms sites.
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Since 2012, Mali, an impoverished state found in the center of the Sahel region in West Africa, has been struggling to control the jihadists insurgency. The most recent attack began in the northern regions of the country that extended to the center and later on, neighboring regions.
Today, terrorist campaigns in the region are being led by armed groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group. The attacks have cost thousands of civilians and troops their lives and forced hundreds of thousands of others to flee their homes in fear of their deaths, News18 reported.
Brutal Massacre
No terrorist group has yet to take responsibility for the brutal assault in the region that has been the center of battles between Malian troops, French and European forces, and United Nation peacekeepers. The groups have been struggling to battle insurgencies in the area.
Cologne Souleymane Dembele, the spokesman for Mali's army, confirmed the attacks but did not provide additional details. Other sources noted that the terrorists stationed themselves at the entrances of the towns and fired indiscriminately, targeting civilians.
Malian troops later swept the area after the attacks and requested assistance from the military escort for aid with the funerals, reassured the population, and offered condolences to the grieving families, the administrator said, VanguardNGR reported.
The UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, MINUSMA, condemned the attacks and said courts were legally allowed to prosecute such attacks on civilians as crimes against humanity. The latest incident also comes after the region suffered two coups since August last year, and an attempted assassination attempt of Colonel Assimi Goita, who survived the planned attack.
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