IS-affiliated militants retaliate against civilians in Mali... At least 48 people died

AP and Reuters reported on the 20th (local time) that at least 48 civilians were killed in an attack by Islamic State (IS)-linked militants in Mali, West Africa.

Moussa Ag Acharatoumane, a Tuareg leader and member of Mali's National Transitional Council, told the AP that militants from the Islamic State Sahel Branch (ISSP) attacked the Menaka region in eastern Mali from the night of the 18th to early the next day, and that children and the elderly were among the dead.

ISSP militants attacked residents, accusing them of informing government forces of their whereabouts, Acharatumane explained.

Reuters also reported, citing security authorities and local officials, that ISSP attacked at least five villages in the Menaka region over the weekend.

Recently, Malian government forces, pro-government militias, and the African Corps, a Russian paramilitary organization that supports the Malian military, are said to be carrying out attacks against ISSP in the region.

The Sahel region (sub-Saharan region), including Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, has been experiencing frequent attacks by Islamic extremist militants in recent years.

In these countries, as military governments have taken power through coups since the 2020s, they have cut off military and security cooperation with the West, including France, and are trying to improve the security situation with support from Russia.

However, in Mali, an unstable security situation continues, with the Al Qaeda-linked group 'Junim Support Group for Islam (JNIM)' (JNIM) and the Tuareg separatist Front for the Liberation of Azawad (FLA) joining forces to simultaneously attack the capital Bamako and surrounding military towns in April, resulting in the murder of the defense minister at the time.

Meanwhile, the IS Sahel branch is engaged in a power struggle not only with government forces but also with JNIM in Mali and Burkina Faso.

IS' Sahel branch claimed to have thwarted a JNIM ambush attempt in Burkina Faso last week and killed 400 JNIM fighters, Reuters reported.