Another attack in the center of worrying

In recent weeks, the Bandiagara region has witnessed a number of attacks by armed terrorist groups. These regular attacks have caused several civilian casualties and displacement, causing concern in the region.

According to several local sources, there were about twenty deaths and significant material damage. This is the result of the latest attack on the 1st^yes Guédjibombo village, Doucombo commune, Bandiagara region, July 2024. According to the same source, the village of Socolokanda was attacked at the same time, and two other people died in the same area.

A few days earlier, on 25 June, in the same commune of Doucombo, the village of Tégourou was attacked by unidentified armed men, resulting in two deaths and significant material damage.

According to local sources, on June 18, the same village had been targeted, the village chief was killed and another person was missing. According to the same source, all the houses were burned and the livestock were taken away. As a result, the village was emptied of its residents and most people, especially women and children, fled to other parts of the area, some to the neighboring village of Jobolo and others to the town of Bandiagara.

On May 25, 2024, armed men launched a large-scale attack in the Inssagou area of ​​the Diallasagou commune. According to a foreign news agency, citing police sources, the incident left 19 people dead and 21 injured, all civilians “accused of being accomplices of the Malian army.”

Furthermore, on April 16, the “jihadists” were captured on board three buses, forcing the vehicles and their passengers to move towards the forest between the Bandiagara and Bankass districts, and more than 100 civilians have not reappeared and are believed to be in the hands of these armed groups.

alarm

Terrorist attacks have occurred repeatedly in Bandiagara district. Every year at the same time in winter, they breed in different villages of the district, posing a threat to agricultural activities in these areas.

Adama Diongo, president of the Dogon National Youth Association, explained: “These attacks in winter are a way for the terrorists to drive people into famine by preventing them from engaging in farming.” As for the latter, the State must further mobilize all efforts to guarantee the safety of the people who have suffered from chronic insecurity in the region for years.

In a statement dated June 27, 2024, following the attack in Tegoulou on June 25, 2024, Ginna Dogon, the Malian Association for the Protection and Promotion of Dogon Culture, also stepped up to invite the country’s authorities to “redouble their efforts to better ensure the security of people and property, especially in the centre, in accordance with the commitments they made during several hearings and the sovereign obligation of the State to fairly and promptly ensure the security of people and property”.

The recurring insecurity in the Bandiagara region also led to a general weariness among the active forces in the region in August 2023, when they declared a “Dead Town Day” and organized a peaceful protest, which later deteriorated, resulting in injuries to the police force and one death among the protesters.