‘Armed bandits’ kill 12 civilians in Mali attack

At least 12 civilians were killed in an attack in Mali’s northeast, close to the border with Niger.

The deaths took the tally for recent months to more than 100, many of them civilians. Armed Touareg groups and authorities said the attack took place in a region where groups that have pledged allegiance to ISIS operate.

On Sunday, “armed bandits linked to local criminal groups operating on the Mali-Niger border overran Injagalane”, two Touareg armed groups said. “They opened fire on civilians.” The groups said 12 people were killed and three vehicles set on fire.

The attack was confirmed by an official from the government in Menaka, the main city in the area.

“Armed men on motorbikes overran the market in Injagalane,” the official said, but put the death toll at 14 when attackers fired into the crowd.

There have been several attacks in Mali in recent months, highlighting the fragile security situation in the West African nation as it prepares to hold elections on July 29.

Mali’s unrest stems from a 2012 ethnic Tuareg separatist uprising, which was exploited by militants to take over key cities in the north. The extremists were largely driven out in a French-led military operation in January 2013.

But large stretches of the country remain beyond the control of the foreign and Malian forces, which are regularly targeted in attacks despite a peace deal signed with Tuareg leaders in mid-2015. The violence has also spilt over into Burkina Faso and Niger.

There have been several attacks in Mali recently, highlighting the fragile security situation in the West African nation