Militants affiliated with the Islamic State have killed at least 48 civilians in eastern Mali, according to security sources and local officials. The weekend violence in the Menaka region unfolded as an apparent retaliatory strike following abuses allegedly committed against suspected informants by pro-government forces.
The attacks took place across at least five localities in Menaka, with the overall death toll remaining under evaluation as officials gathered more information. Four sources, speaking on condition of anonymity due to concerns regarding potential reprisals from Mali’s government, provided provisional death tolls ranging from 48 to more than 70 victims.
According to the reporting sources, the weekend assault was a response to actions carried out earlier in the week by a pro-government militia known as the Movement for the Salvation of Azawad, operating alongside members of Russia’s Africa Corps, a paramilitary group that supports the government in Bamako. A municipal official in Menaka stated that militiamen accompanying the Malian army and Africa Corps targeted individuals suspected of passing information to the Islamic State, killing approximately a dozen people, burning houses, and looting property.
During Sunday’s retaliatory sweep, fighters from the Islamic State Sahel Province set houses ablaze and stole livestock. The assault triggered mass displacement, sending hundreds of civilians fleeing toward Menaka town. Victims of the retaliatory violence perished either from gunshot wounds or after being trapped in burning homes.
The Islamic State Sahel Province did not immediately claim responsibility for the attacks. A spokesperson for the Malian military and the Russian embassy in Bamako did not respond to requests for comment regarding the incident. Malian authorities have previously denied allegations that security forces and allied counterinsurgency personnel have killed civilians during operations.
The latest bloodshed in Menaka coincides with intensifying combat between the regional Islamic State faction and al Qaeda affiliates, compounding the prolonged security crisis across West Africa’s Sahel region. Mali has faced continuous insurgency since 2012, when Tuareg separatists and al Qaeda-linked groups swept across the northern territory, prompting a French military intervention.
Security conditions have deteriorated further as rival militant networks clash for dominance. In April, the regional al Qaeda affiliate, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, alongside the Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front, launched coordinated nationwide attacks that killed the country’s defense minister and targeted the primary international airport in Bamako.
In recent weeks, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin has been locked in intense fighting with the Islamic State Sahel Province. Last week, the Islamic State affiliate reported that it had killed 400 rival fighters after successfully repelling an ambush attempt in neighboring Burkina Faso, a claim that, if verified, would represent the deadliest single engagement between the two factions.
Data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project indicates that the Islamic State Sahel Province and al Qaeda’s regional branch first clashed in 2019. Since then, the two groups have engaged in hundreds of skirmishes resulting in more than 2,000 deaths.
