On March 30th, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) concluded its investigation into France’s January 3rd airstrike in Bounti, Mopti Region. The investigation concluded that the airstrike, carried out by Operation Barkhane, had killed at least 22 people in total. Of those fatalities, 19 were civilians. The three other fatalities were suspected members of Katiba Serma, a local insurgent group linked to the Macina Liberation Front (FLM). Additionally, at least eight civilians were injured by the airstrike. The MINUSMA report found that “about 100 civilians” were gathered for a wedding at the site of the strike. The investigation’s findings confirm the accounts reported by local sources such as Jeunesse Tabital Pulaaku (JTP) immediately following the attack. Mali has faced escalating conflict since 2012, when insurgent groups began gaining power in northern Mali. According to ACLED, 2020 was the conflict’s deadliest year on rec
Published date: 1 April 2021 21:36 UTC | Last update: 1 week ago
Human rights activists are demanding France open an investigation into an air strike that killed at least 19 civilians in central Mali, after a United Nations report contradicted claims by French officials that the target of the 3 January raid was an armed terrorist group .
According to a report released this week by the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (Minusma), France s account of targeting and killing dozens of fighters from the Katiba Serma armed group in the village of Bounti was heavily disputed.
Instead, the UN body found that the strike, conducted by a Reaper drone and two Mirage 2000 fighter jets. hit a wedding party attended by more than 100 guests. Five men, understood to be - but not confirmed to be - part of the armed group, were in attendance.
Injured people were abducted by gendarmerie to avoid testifying, reports organization leader Aurore Bonny | 23.01.2021
LOME, Togo
Public opinion is calling on the Malian and French governments to investigate the French airstrike of Jan. 3 in central Mali, but for the local organizations contacted by Anadolu Agency those surveys will not produce any results.
A dozen people lost their lives in that air strike led by the French military in Mali. But according to the French General Staff, the Barkane Force carried out a single strike against an armed terrorist group (GAT) in the region of Douentza, one kilometer north of the village of Bounti .
French airstrike in Mali: Witnesses say French bombs hit a wedding washingtonpost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from washingtonpost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.