Published on: 07/12/2022 – 14:31 Changed on: 07/12/2022 – 14:33
In Mali, a new operation by the Malian army and its Russian auxiliaries has been overshadowed by allegations of abuse. It took place yesterday morning, Tuesday 6 December, in Kita, a village in the municipality of Dioura, near the Mauritanian border. It was market day. Local sources confirm two to five dead and injured. According to these sources, they are civilians.
They arrived aboard several helicopters early in the morning for the start of the weekly carnival. The Malian Armed Forces (Fama), accompanied by their Russian auxiliaries, simple instructors according to Bamako, were according to multiple local sources, Mercenaries of the Wagner group to most Western and African countries.
The Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM or JNIM in Arabic) jihadists linked to al-Qaeda have a presence in the area. Did the Malian army – which refused to respond to RFI’s pleas – and their Russian auxiliaries seek a moment of refueling by intervening on a market day? “You would do better to intervene where the jihadists are instead of coming to the middle of a market,” complains a notable daycare center. Because the weekly fair of this city, crossroads between Mali and Mauritania, is obviously frequented by a large number of civilians.
The director of the health center for the wounded
According to the sources joined by RFI, the Malian soldiers and the Russians stayed in Kita until the afternoon, shooting into the crowd several times, killing four or five people, according to the sources. Three men were injured, evacuated to Mauritania in civilian transport and eight others arrested.
Money from several stores was also taken away by the military. Among the dead and injured are cattle dealers and the head of the daycare health center.
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