UN investigating dozens of deaths in central Mali

The United Nations says it is investigating allegations that dozens of people were massacred in central Mali, as unrest continues to spread across the West African country.

Olivier Salgado, spokesperson of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) made the remarks on Friday, a day after a video circulating on social media showed dozens of badly-burned bodies with their eyes blindfolded in the flashpoint town of Diabaly, where militants are battling Malian soldiers.

An official in central Mali, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the video shows the bodies of 35 men that were found on Tuesday night in Diabaly, adding that there were no eyewitnesses to the men's deaths but that they are believed to be people who were arrested by the Malian army, some on February 20 and others on March 1.

A senior Malian military officer, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said the video was filmed in Diabaly but that the circumstances of the deaths were not yet clear.

Salgado noted that the human rights division of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali is investigating the deaths, saying, "We are concerned about these allegations and information, as well as these horrible images of people killed in circumstances that are not yet clear."

Mali's military spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

The UN has repeatedly accused Malian soldiers of summarily executing civilians and suspected militants over the course of their decade-long fight against groups linked to al-Qaeda and Daesh.

The military has in some cases acknowledged that its forces were implicated in executions and other abuses, but few soldiers have faced criminal charges.

The latest development comes as relations between France and Mali have deteriorated since the ruling military took power in August 2020.

Mali PM slams France's plots to partition African country

Mali

Back in February, Paris declared that it would withdraw thousands of troops from Mali due to a breakdown in relations with the country, a decade after launching a war without the initial approval of the United Nations or the French parliament.

Mali's armed forces spokesperson Souleymane Dembele shrugged off France's announcement, insisting that European troops had failed to curb militancy. 

In early February, Mali's prime minister blasted France for attempting to divide his country during a foreign military mission against terrorist groups.

Choguel Kokalla Maiga, head of the government that came to power in June 2021, said the French intervention "later turned into a de facto partition of the country."

The Malain authorities also accused France of colluding with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) against the sovereignty of the territory. 

Mali tells France to keep ‘colonial reflexes’ to itself, stop meddling

Mali has called on France to keep its "colonial reflexes" to itself and not interfere in its internal affairs.

France’s military mission in Mali began in 2013 to purportedly counter militants. Paris also deployed thousands of soldiers to presumably prevent separatist forces from reaching Mali’s capital, Bamako.

The war caused several thousand deaths and more than a million people to flee their homes. There have been two military coups in little over a year, amid growing demonstrations against France’s military presence.

Three days of mourning

A militant attack on an army base in central Mali killed 27 soldiers and wounded 33 others on Friday.

The Malian army said in a statement that seven soldiers are still missing following the attack in the rural commune of Mondoro.

The statement added that 47 "terrorists" were also "neutralized," without specifying which militant group was responsible for the assault.

Following the deadly incident, the Mali presidency announced three days of public mourning.

Mali has been battling militant groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and Daesh for almost a decade, with around two-thirds of its territory outside state control.

The militants began operations in Mali in 2012, and the conflict has since spread to neighboring Niger and Burkina Faso, killing and displacing thousands of civilians.

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