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Mali: MINUSMA denies allegations of executions

Mali: MINUSMA denies allegations of executions

Mali

Drugs, migrants and the influence of violent Islamists has put Mali on the map and the United Nations troops based in its town of Ansongo face a tense security situation.

The peacekeeping camp is one of the regularly targeted camps by Islamist jihadists since three people were killed last year April.

According to Malian local media establishments, allegations of targeted killings by militants are cropping up.

Lieutenant Colonel Moussa Souleymane, who heads the Nigerian battalion stationed in Ansongo and Ménaka refuted the execution allegations.

“Since we sent a mission to the area in question. We were able to make a clarification,” he said.

Residents of the area said they witnessed six people, including an Imam killed recently in Inékar, between Ansongo and Menaka area.

The assassinations have been attributed to Islamic terrorists who saw the victims as collaborators with former rebels of the CMA and International troops in the country while other sources theorized the attacks are between rival Tuareg factions.

“This is misinformation, so we have given clear and accurate information. Civil branch and the military branch of MINUSMA and then traditional and administrative authorities in the region are now working to find a solution to this misinformation,” the Colonel added.

In the Ansongo -Ménaka region, at least 28 incidents of violence have been reported since July, 2015. Three terror suspects have been arrested while four rockets were recovered by authorities before they were launched.

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