| Karou and Ouatagouna massacres | |
|---|---|
| Part of Mali War | |
| Location | Karou, Ouattagouna, Daoutegeft, and Dirga, Mali |
| Date | August 8, 2021 |
| Deaths | 51+ [1] |
| Perpetrator |  Islamic State in the Greater Sahara |
On August 8, 2021, jihadist militants from Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) launched simultaneous attacks on four villages in central Mali, killing over fifty-one civilians.
Around 6pm local time, over 80 ISGS militants stormed the four towns of Karou, Ouattagouna, Daouetegeft, and Dirga, all within a short distance of each other. [2] [3] The militants fired guns while riding on motorbikes, "as most victims were in front of their houses; others going to the mosque" according to local official Oumar Cisse. [4] According to eyewitnesses, ISGS went from house to house, rounding up all of the men and children, only sparing some women. [3] Military officials stated that ISGS fighters massacred everyone, burning down homes and stealing cattle. [5] [2] Many of the dead were women and children. [6]
Malian military officials stated the attack was prompted because locals in the town had shared the locations of ISGS to the Malian military following recent humanitarian aid deliveries. [6]
The provisional death toll, according to local officials, was 51 killed. [5] Twenty civilians were killed in Karou, fourteen in Ouattagouna, and an unknown amount in Daoutegeft and Dirga. [5] A representative of local Songhai human rights group Songhoy Chaawara Batoo claimed that the attack occurred within eighteen kilometers of a Malian military base. [7] Malian officials claimed that after the attacks, they established a heavy security presence in the area. [6] The UN also launched its own investigation into the massacre in late 2021. [3]
The Islamic State – Sahel Province(ISSP), formerly known as Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (IS-GS), is an Islamist militant group adhering to the ideology of Salafi Jihadism. IS-GS was formed on 15 May 2015 as the result of a split within the militant group Al-Mourabitoun. The rift was a reaction to the adherence of one of its leaders, Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahraoui, to the Islamic State. From March 2019 to 2022, IS-GS was formally part of the Islamic State – West Africa Province (ISWAP); when it was also called "ISWAP-Greater Sahara". In March 2022, IS declared the province autonomous, separating it from its West Africa Province and naming it Islamic State – Sahel Province (ISSP).
The 2017 Ayorou attack occurred on 21 October 2017 when armed militants from the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara attacked a Nigerien military outpost in the village of Ayorou in southwestern Niger, killing 13 gendarmes. Occurring just weeks after a similar attack in the area killed four American and four Nigerien troops, the attack was carried out by ISGS gunmen who crossed the porous border from Mali.
Events in the year 2021 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.
The Mondoro attack took place on 4 March 2022, when al-Qaeda-linked jihadists attacked a Malian military base, causing heavy casualties.
Between March 15 and 16, 2021, Islamic State in the Greater Sahara fighters clashed with Malian and French troops over control of a Malian military base near the town of Tessit, with ISGS jihadists overrunning the coalition.
On February 3, 2021, Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin attacked a Malian base in the remote town of Boni. French troops from Operation Barkhane came to the Malians' aid, and successfully repulsed the attack. The attack came in direct response to the recent Franco-Malian counteroffensive of Operation Eclipse.
On April 6, 2020, jihadist militants from the al-Qaeda linked Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) attacked a secluded Malian military base in Bamba, killing dozens of Malian soldiers. A raid in retribution the following day killed JNIM leader Abu Yahya al-Jizari.
On June 17, 2019, ethnic Fulani militiamen attacked Dogon civilians in the villages of Gangafani and Yoro, in Koro Cercle, Mali, killing 41 people.
On January 15, 2019, militants from the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara attacked two villages in Ménaka, Mali, killing at least 40 people. The massacres were targeted against Tuaregs.
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.
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 December 11 and 12, 2018, Islamic State in the Greater Sahara fighters attacked Daoussahak Tuareg refugee camps in the villages of Tinabaw, Tabangout and Tissalatatene, all in the Ménaka Cercle of Mali. Between 43 and 47 civilians were killed by ISGS.
The battle of Akabar took place on April 1, 2018, between French and Malian forces aided by Tuareg rebels against Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.
On April 26 and 27, 2018, militants from the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara attacked two refugee camps near Andéramboukane, Ménaka, Mali, killing forty-seven people, mostly Tuareg civilians.
On November 8, 2016 Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) fighters attacked Nigerien forces in Bani-Bangou, Tillabéri Region, Niger.
Between May 31 and June 1, 2017, clashes broke out between Nigerien forces and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) near Abala, Niger. These clashes expanded to the Nigerien-Malian border near Bani-Bangou, and on June 1 the ISGS militants were confronted by French, Malian, and Tuareg militias when the militants fled towards Ménaka Region, Mali.
On March 12, 2020, Islamic State in the Greater Sahara militants attacked an outpost of the National Guard of Niger in Ayorou, Niger, killing several soldiers. French and Nigerien counterattacks killed dozens of ISGS militants.
On February 10, 2023, militants from Islamic State in the Greater Sahara ambushed Nigerien soldiers at Intagamey, Niger, killing at least seventeen people.
The Tin-Ediar attack or Déou attack occurred on February 17, 2023 when Burkinabe soldiers were ambushed by the Islamic State – Sahil Province (ISGS) near the village of Tin-Ediar while travelling between Déou and Oursi, Burkina Faso. Over 70 Burkinabe soldiers were killed in the ambush, and Burkinabe authorities stated 160 ISGS fighters were killed.