Two attacks claimed by the Al‑Qaeda‑linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) in central Mali have killed more than 30 people, according to local security and administrative sources cited by AFP on Thursday.
The assaults on the villages of Korikori and Gomossogou were carried out in near‑simultaneous strikes on Wednesday, a youth official said, resulting in at least 35 fatalities. Both a security source and an administrative source confirmed the death toll, while WAMAPS, a network of West‑African journalists covering Sahel security, put the provisional figure at over 50 villagers killed and several others missing. The group reported that houses were looted and some properties set ablaze.
According to the security source, the attacks were retaliation for actions taken by the Dan Nan Ambassagou militia, a self‑defence group formed by local communities in response to the wave of violence that has plagued central Mali. The source added that most victims were militiamen, but teenagers and children were also among the dead. Dan Nan Ambassagou, composed largely of traditional Dogon hunters, has refused a government order to disband after being accused of a massacre in the central village of Ogossagou that left 160 dead.
The Malian army announced that it had conducted a targeted operation against terrorist groups in the area, neutralising around a dozen fighters, but provided no further details.
The attacks follow a broader surge of violence in the region. On 25‑26 April, JNIM and the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), a Tuareg separatist movement, struck strategic locations including Kidal in the north and Kati, a garrison town near Bamako. Defence Minister Sadio Camara, who had overseen Mali’s military partnership with Russia, was killed by a car bomb at his home. Several northern towns have since fallen under the control of the FLA and jihadist groups, which have imposed a blockade on the capital.
Central Mali has a history of deadly incidents. After the 2019 killings, Ogossagou experienced a February 2020 raid that killed about 30 Fulani civilians. In March 2022, roughly 300 civilians were massacred in Moura, with Human Rights Watch attributing responsibility to the Malian army and its Russian allies, likely Wagner mercenaries. In June 2022, JNIM attacks claimed more than 130 civilian lives in Diallassagou.
In the wake of the recent attacks, security, legal and family sources reported that several opposition figures and military personnel have been detained or abducted. The military prosecutor’s office claimed to have “solid evidence” of the complicity of certain army members in planning and executing the attacks. A political official described the arrests as a “witch hunt” aimed at purging the opposition and the army.
Since 2012, Mali has endured a deepening security crisis driven by Al‑Qaeda and Islamic State affiliates, local criminal gangs and separatist groups. On 30 April, JNIM called for a “common front” to end the junta and usher in a peaceful, inclusive transition. The country remains under military rule after successive coups in 2020, and the recent violence underscores the fragility of Mali’s security situation and the challenges facing any political resolution.
