2023-12-08T12:46:35+00:00
A-
A
A+
/ On Friday, unidentified gunmen in Mali kidnapped four buses carrying about 100 people, most of them children and women, and took them to an unknown destination and then demanded a financial ransom for their release.
The German channel “Deutsche Welle” reported that negotiations are still ongoing between the kidnappers and notables of the region to release them, as they are demanding a sum of money, but the identity of the kidnappers is still unknown.
Oumar Tissouji, administrative secretary of the local youth committee in Dimbal, in the Bankass district, central Mali, confirmed to the channel that “the delegation of the Bankass district met with Prime Minister Shoguel Kokala Maiga and the Minister of Reconciliation, Colonel Ismail Wague, but they are silent about the security situation.”
Youth and notables of the area in the Bankas district had planned to demonstrate on Tuesday to protest the deteriorating security situation, but the demonstration was later cancelled.
The region’s notables in the Dogon region denounced the lack of interest by the Malian government and state in protecting people and their property on this road, which connects the entire region to the rest of the country.
There was no further information regarding negotiations with the kidnappers or the possible imminent release of dozens of kidnapped people in Dogon Territory.
Military confrontations have intensified in northern Mali since 2012, as groups linked to Al-Qaeda and ISIS then took control of several regions in the country, while violence practiced by extremist groups and organizations in those regions escalated, resulting in a deep financial, humanitarian and political crisis.