Mali: Barbarity Of Another Age

MALI

‘Barbarity of Another Age’

Gunmen costumed as traditional hunters killed at least 134 people and injured 55 others in an attack on a village in central Mali on Saturday.

The Malian government vowed “to hunt down the perpetrators of this barbarity of another age and to punish them,” CNN reported.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the attack on the village of Ogossagou in the Mopti region. But the region’s Fulani ethnic community is frequently targeted, and accused of having ties to jihadist organizations in the area, according to the United Nations.

A day after the incident, Mali’s government announced it was disbanding the Dan Na Ambassagou self-defense group composed of members of the Dogon ethnic group, though it made no direct connection between the Dogon group and the attack.

Violence appears to be intensifying in central Mali and particularly in the Mopti region, where ethnic strife is taking a toll on women and children, said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.

“Since 2017, rising insecurity has led to an increase in the killing, maiming and recruitment of children. Gender-based violence is on the rise,” Fore said.