| Hombori massacre | |
|---|---|
| Part of Mali War | |
  Hombori Hombori (Mali) | |
| Location | Hombori, Mali |
| Date | 19 April 2022 |
| Victims | 50+ civilians killed 500-600 arrested |
| Perpetrators |  Malian Armed Forces  Wagner Group |
| Motive | Retaliation to a bombing |
The Hombori massacre took place on 19 April 2022. It was perpetrated by the Malian Army and Russian Wagner Group mercenaries, when they opened fire on a market in Hombori, Mali.
Around 9:30 a.m. on 19 April, a Malian army vehicle ran over an IED outside of Hombori, killing a Wagner mercenary. The Malian and Russian troops then proceeded to walk over to the market square in Hombori, and opened fire on the crowd gathered there due to the town's market day. [1] A Malian aid worker present at the scene later stated that
"It was a fair day. A few terrorists were in hiding. There were firefights. Then the soldiers attacked everyone, assaulting the inhabitants, robbing them of their jewellery, money and telephone, while others fired in all directions." [2]
The market shooting killed around 50 civilians. [3] Immediately following the massacre, Malian and Russian soldiers detained around 500 civilians at the local base in Hombori. [4] Days later, one Malian soldier shot 20 out of the 27 detained civilians at the base. [4] Two more detainees were tortured to death. [5] The rest of the 500 were freed later. [4] The victims of the market massacre also included a woman and a child. [4]
The Malian Army, after an initial denial, confirmed the death of the Russian mercenary, although both Mali and Wagner Group denied claims of the massacre. [6] [7] Instead, the Malian government claimed that they launched a counter-terrorism operation "neutralizing" 18 "terrorists". [7] In the statement, the government claimed to have also arrested around 600 people, with one dying in custody. [8]
The United Nations expressed concern about the Hombori massacre, as it came just a month after Mali and Wagner troops killed around 300 civilians in Moura. [9] On 23 April, just four days after the massacre in Hombori, clashes in Mondoro and Boni killed several Malian and Wagner troops. [7] Twelve people were also killed, although it is unclear whether they were extremists or civilians. [7] On 10 May, Wagner kidnapped five people at the Hombori market. [10]
After a video was released of Caucasian soldiers in unidentifiable uniforms burning dozens of bodies, and a subsequent video of a mass grave near Gossi, the Malian government released a statement blaming the French for the killings. [8] [11] Russia backed these claims, also accusing France. [8] France instead claimed that the bodies were from the Hombori massacre, denying the Russian and Malian claims stating that they had relinquished control of the base to Malian troops days prior to the Hombori massacre. [9] France also claimed the Twitter account the videos surfaced from was a Russian disinformation campaign. [11] MINUSMA backed up France, stating that the bodies arrived at the base on 20 April, when France no longer had control over the base. [12] Mali did not respond to these claims. [12]
The Mali War is an ongoing conflict that started in January 2012 between the northern and southern parts of Mali in Africa. On 16 January 2012, several insurgent groups began fighting a campaign against the Malian government for independence or greater autonomy for northern Mali, which they called Azawad. The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), an organization fighting to make this area of Mali an independent homeland for the Tuareg people, had taken control of the region by April 2012.
The Battle of Konna was a battle in the Northern Mali Conflict in the town of Konna in central Mali. Various Islamic fundamentalist rebels fought with the government of Mali, the latter of which was supported by French soldiers participating in Operation Serval. This battle was among the first French engagements in their intervention in the Mali War.
The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali was a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali. MINUSMA was established on 25 April 2013 by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2100 to stabilise the country after the Tuareg rebellion of 2012, and was terminated over a decade later on 30 June 2023. Officially deployed on 1 July 2013, MINUSMA was the UN's second-most dangerous peacekeeping mission after Lebanon, with 304 peacekeepers killed out of a force of about 15,200 as of May 2023.
The Second Battle of Kidal took place during the Mali War, when MNLA forces in control of Kidal attacked Prime Minister Moussa Mara's convoy during a visit to the town. Consequently, Malian government forces launched an offensive to retake the city, successfully recapturing it.
The following lists events that happened during 2013 in the Republic of Mali.
The 2016 Nampala attack was an armed assault against a Malian Army base in the Niono Cercle subdivision of the Ségou Region of Mali on 19 July 2016, that left at least 17 government soldiers dead and 35 others injured. The Katiba Macina, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and the ethnic Fula militant group National Alliance for the Protection of Fulani Identity and the Restoration of Justice (ANSIPRJ) claimed joint responsibility.
Events in the year 2021 in Mali.
The Moura massacre was carried out by Malian Armed Forces and Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group between 27 and 31 March 2022, in the central Malian town of Moura, Mopti Region in conflict with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb's Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin. Over 300 civilians are alleged to have been killed according to US-based Human Rights Watch.
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.
Events in the year 2022 in Mali.
Events in the year 2023 in Mali.
The Mondoro attack took place on 4 March 2022, when al-Qaeda-linked jihadists attacked a Malian military base, causing heavy casualties.
On April 2, 2021, insurgents from the al-Qaeda-linked group Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) attacked a contingent of Chadian troops serving in MINUSMA, the UN's peacekeeping branch throughout the Mali War. The Chadian troops effectively repelled the JNIM attack, inflicting heavy casualties.
On the night between March 1 and 2nd, 2022, Malian forces with the aid of Wagner Group killed over three dozen civilians in Danguèrè Wotoro, near Dogofry, Mali.
The Wagner Group, also known as PMC Wagner, and as the Africa Corps in Africa, a Russian paramilitary organization also described as a private military company (PMC), a network of mercenaries, and a de facto unit of the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) or Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU, has conducted operations in various countries in the African continent since 2017.
The Ménaka offensive was a series of offensives launched by the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara against the Malian Army, Tuareg self-defense groups including the Movement for the Salvation of Azawad (MSA) and Imghad Tuareg Self-Defense Group and Allies (GATIA), and the al-Qaeda-aligned Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin. The offensives took place in the Ménaka Cercle, in southeastern Mali.
The raid on Dioura was an attack on a Malian military base in the town of Dioura, Mali, by Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) on March 17, 2019.
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.
The battle of Gourma-Rharous took place on April 18, 2017, between French and Malian forces against an attacking Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin.
