Mali: Anxiety grows as scores of travelling civilians kidnapped by armed insurgents
Reports from Mali say no less than 100 civilians are being held captive by suspected extremist insurgents after being kidnapped last week.
Local residents told the AFP news agency that the victims were travelling in three buses when the attackers forced them to drive in the direction of a forest between Bandiagara and Bankass.
They have not been located since the incident occurred six days ago.
Mali’s Mopti region is known for frequent attacks by insurgents, sparking unrest among residents.
In recent times, civil society organisations in Bandiagara have been staging protests, condemning the attacks on them and demanding a military camp to be set up to shield civilians from the repeated attacks.
The Malian military has been overwhelmed with security challenges since it expelled the thousands of Western troops stationed in the country, thereby leaving it open to frequent attacks.
Recall that Afri Reporters reported that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) recently pledged $25 million to fight terrorism in Nigeria, Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso.
Fatou Sarr, ECOWAS Commissioner for Human Development and Social Affairs, disclosed this during a news conference at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
Ms Sarr said $4 million was dedicated to humanitarian action to curb the devastating consequences of terrorism and mitigate the fallout of natural disasters in the sub-region.
She noted that humanitarian actions were critical because of the multiple crises and displacements within the community, adding that such actions never stop even where the target country is under sanctions.
