Malian operation, Maliko and Keletigui leaves a balance so far of 16 extremists killed

The General Staff of the Armed Forces (FAMA, for its acronym in French) of Mali announced this Wednesday that its troops, in the continuity of what it calls “their search and destruction missions of terrorist sanctuaries within the framework of the Maliko plan and the operation Keletigui”, would have killed 16 extremists.

According to the FAMA statement, the previous Sunday, commandos of the military force carried out air-land operations in the Ménaka sector, in the east of the country and bordering Burkina Faso, after the terrorist attacks against the populations of the area.

The army note points out that such air strikes on the areas of refuge of the terrorist groups would have made it possible to “hit hard” in the areas of Ménaka, Andarboukane, Inchinana, Harodi infokaratene, in Araban, Tabankort Tamalet with numerous losses in their ranks.

The statement details operations also in Diabaly, Ségou region; Bony; Sikasso; Goumbou, Nara, which, in total, caused the death of 16 suspected terrorists.

The news comes just as international human rights organizations published a report Tuesday that identifies the Malian Armed Forces and armed terrorist groups as the perpetrators of the murder of at least 107 civilians in central and southwestern Mali since December 2021. .

This document reports that the victims, most of whom are believed to have been summarily executed, include merchants, chiefs, religious leaders and children. According to Human Rights Watch, “Mali’s transitional government should carry out credible and impartial investigations into these alleged killings, of which at least 71 implicate members of government forces and 36 implicate members of armed terrorist groups.”