| 2022 Bandiagara highway bombing | |
|---|---|
| Part of Mali War | |
| Location | Sibo, Bandiagara-Goundaka highway, Mopti region, Mali |
| Date | October 13, 2022 |
| Deaths | 11 civilians killed |
| Injured | 53 injured |
| Perpetrator |  Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin |
On October 13, 2022, an IED hit a civilian bus travelling along the Bandiagara-Goundaka highway in rural Mali, killing 10 civilians and injuring dozens more. The attack was alleged to be coordinated by Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM).
The tri-state area between Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger has been a hub of jihadist violence since 2013, escalating in 2015. The area is home to several jihadist groups, including Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin, Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, and Ansar ul Islam. [1] In these areas, these militant groups often conduct bombings or ambushes along the highway against Malian, Nigerien, and Burkinabe troops, although they often conduct attacks against civilians. [2] In 2022, the United Nations reported an increase in civilian attacks in rural Mali, especially due to roadside bombs. [2] The Mopti region, where Bandiagara is located, was the deadliest region for these attacks, due to fighting between the army, pro-government and ethnic civilian militias, and the jihadist groups across the Mali-Burkina Faso border. [2] Two deadly bus bombings and ambushes occurred in northern Burkina Faso in September 2022, with one in Silgadji and one in Gaskinde killing a total of over seventy people, including dozens of civilians.
On the afternoon of October 13, a civilian convoy was travelling between Bandiagara and Goundaka, when they hit an IED near the village of Sibo. [3] [1] Moussa Houseyni, the leader of the Bandiagara Youth Association, in conjunction with local hospitals, claimed that the death toll was eleven killed and fifty-three people injured. [3] A local policeman, speaking to Libération, claimed all the dead were civilians. [4] Data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) suggested the perpetrator was Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin. [5]
Al-Mourabitoun was an African militant jihadist organization formed by a merger between Ahmed Ould Amer, a.k.a. Ahmed al-Tilemsi's Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa and Mokhtar Belmokhtar's Al-Mulathameen. On 4 December 2015, it joined Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The group sought to implement Sharia law in Mali, Algeria, southwestern Libya, and Niger.
Ansarul Islam is a militant Islamist group active in Burkina Faso and in Mali. It was founded by Boureima Dicko, also known as Ibrahim Malam Dicko, and it is the first native Jihadi group in Burkina Faso. The group cooperates closely with Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM).
Events in the year 2021 in Mali.
Opération éclipse took place between 2 and 20 January 2021. According to a UN investigation it occasioned the deaths of 19 civilians in the village of Bounti in Mali.
An Islamist insurgency has been ongoing in the Sahel region of West Africa since the 2011 Arab Spring. In particular, the intensive conflict in the three countries of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso has been referred to as the Sahel War.
On October 6, 2021, al-Qaeda-allied jihadists from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) ambushed a Malian convoy in Mopti Region, killing scores of Malian soldiers. The ensuing firefight left dozens of jihadists dead.
On October 13, 2020, jihadists from al-Qaeda linked group Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) attacked a Malian military base in Sokoura, Malian reinforcements attempting to relieve the troops at the base were ambushed by more jihadists at the bridge in Parou, with the ensuing firefight killing 12 civilians. The attack was the deadliest attack in Mali since Bah Ndaw took power in a coup in August.
On September 5, 2022, a bus travelling from Djibo to the Burkinabe capital of Ouagadougou hit a mine outside the town of Silgadji, killing 35 people and injured dozens more.
On September 26, 2022, a convoy bound for the besieged city of Djibo in northern Burkina Faso was attacked by armed gunmen, killing 27 soldiers and 10 civilians. The Mali-based jihadist group Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) claimed responsibility for the attack. The Gaskinde attack was a key reason for the September 30 coup in Burkina Faso, as many frontline officers were disgruntled about Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba's handling of the jihadist insurgency.
On December 25, 2022, a bus traveling from Fada N'gourma to the trading town of Kantchari hit a landmine near the village of Bougui, Burkina Faso. Ten people were killed and fifteen were injured.
Between February 18 and 19, 2022, clashes broke out in Archam, Mali, near the border with Burkina Faso and Niger, between the Malian Army and unknown jihadists.
On March 20, 2022, unknown jihadists ambushed Burkinabe soldiers in Natiaboani, Gourma Province, Burkina Faso, killing thirteen soldiers and an unknown number of jihadists.
On April 24, 2022, militants from Katibat Macina attacked Malian Army bases in the cities of Sévaré, Niono, and Bapho, all in central Mali's Mopti Region. The attacks killed fifteen soldiers and six civilians.
On January 2, 2023, militants from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin attacked the villages of Markacoungo and Kassela, on the Bamako-Ségou highway, killing five civilians. The attack was the first by JNIM in the Bamako area in months.
On October 29, 2022, gunmen from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin ambushed a convoy of Burkinabé soldiers near the village of Kikideni while they were on their way from Fada N'gourma to Natiaboani, Est Region, Burkina Faso.
On March 5, 2017, jihadists from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin attacked Malian forces in Boulikessi. The attack was the first by JNIM since its inception that month.
On January 28, 2023, suspected Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin militants stopped two buses headed from Banfora to Mangodara near the village of Linguekoro, Comoé Province, Burkina Faso, and killed fifteen passengers.
The Toeni bus bombing occurred when a school bus drove over an improvised explosive device in Toeni, Burkina Faso, killing fourteen people and injuring nine others on January 4, 2020.
On January 22, 2020, six Malian soldiers were killed in an ambush by unknown jihadists in Dioungani, Mopti Region, Mali.
On July 1, 2020, Fulani militants attacked four Dogon villages in Mali's Bankass Cercle, killing at least thirty-three people.
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