A local official and residents said that more than 50 people had been killed near the city of Gao in northeast Mali on Friday after armed attackers have tensioned a convoy accompanied by an army battalion Financial and Russian Wagner forces, said a local and resident official.
The attack took place near the village of Kobe, about 30 kilometers from the Gao in an area where the elements of the Islamic State and the Al-Qaeda organization are active for more than a decade, which has led to a destabilization of financial stability and its two neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger.
According to local sources, the convoy was subjected to a surprise attack by armed men; The fire was exchanged between the two parties and 5 trucks belonging to the financial army were destroyed.
“People have jumped vehicles to flee. A large number of civilians have been killed and injured,” said the local official, who refused to bear his name for security reasons.
The official said that up to 56 bodies were counted at Gao hospital, adding that there were also an unknown number of military victims.
One of the residents of the GAO said that around 50 people had been killed and set fire to vehicles, noting that the murderous attacks were so repeated that the army is organizing the custody almost daily.
The French and local media declared that the dead were on the way to gold exploration sites and were secured by the army forces and the elements of the Russian Wagner forces.
No one announced its adoption of the attack until the moment and the government of Bamako made no comments on the issue.
The rebellions broke out in northern Mali following a separatist rebellion of the Tuareg in 2012. Islamic activists have since spread to other countries in the poor, the region of the Sub-Saharan Central of the Sahel.
According to the International Migration Organization, the attacks led to the murder of thousands and contributed to a humanitarian crisis with the displacement of more than 3.2 million people until January.