Nairobi — An Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist armed group killed at least 32 civilians, including 3 children, and set fire to over 350 homes in centralin January 2024, forcing about 2,000 villagers to flee, Human Rights Watch said today. Earlier in January, an ethnic militia killed at least 13 civilians, including 2 children, abducted 24 other civilians, and looted property and livestock in central Mali. These attacks violate international humanitarian law and are apparent war crimes.
Witnesses said that on January 27 the JNIM attacked Ogota, populated mainly by ethnic Dogon, as retaliation for the presence of Dan Na Ambassagou militia in the vicinity."They invaded the village, shooting at anything and anyone for more than an hour," said a 40-year-old woman."They set the whole village on fire."
"The Malian transitional government's failure to hold Islamist armed groups and ethnic militias to account only emboldens abusive forces to commit further atrocities," Allegrozzi said."The authorities should ramp-up efforts to appropriately investigate and prosecute all those responsible for grave abuses."
Villagers said they believed they were attacked because some members of the Dan Na Ambassagou militia refused to lay down their weapons following a deal between the militia and the JNIM. The Dan Na Ambassagou is an umbrella organization of self-defense groups started in 2016"At the beginning of the movement, we fought the jihadists, but in late 2018, we realized that the jihadists were better armed and that our involvement in the militia made our villages the targets of the jihadists.
"We buried the bodies the day after the attack," said a 45-year-old farmer."Some bodies had bullet wounds everywhere. Others, especially those charred, could not be lifted, so we buried them where we found them. The others were buried separately.""I was home when I heard heavy gunfire," said a 43-year-old farmer."By the time I had gathered my family, I saw the terrorists coming in large numbers. They screamed 'Allah Akbar' and shot continuously.
On satellite imagery that Human Rights Watch analyzed, burn marks are visible all over Ogota and Ouémbé villages. They first appeared over both villages on an imagery from January 28, 10:38 a.m. local time, and were not visible the previous day at the same time. Additional burn marks appeared over both villages on an imagery of February 1, 10:38 a.m. local time, that were not visible the day before.