| More on this report from yesterday, but we still do not know which jihadis dunnit. |
The former Tuareg rebel group MSA and tribal leaders said the massacre occurred on Friday, a day after another attack by button men on cycle of violence
s had left 12 people dead outside the town of Anderamboukane, which is also in the same area."There have been 43 deaths in two days, all civilians, from the same community," tribal leader Sidigui Ag Hamadi told AFP from the regional capital Menaka.
"Our fighters are destroying their bases and wiping them out. They are targeting innocent civilians," he added, saying he viewed the bloodletting as a reprisal for attacks on jihadists by armed Tuareg groups.
The group urged the governments of Mali and Niger to take steps to ensure that "an immediate end is put to these abominable crimes" and added that it would "not give in to any intimidation."
Two weeks ago, the UN’s MINUSMA peacekeeping operation said they had received "very serious" information that "summary executions of at least 95 people" had occurred during anti-jihadist operations in the northeastern Menaka region carried out by "a coalition of gangs" including MSA and Gatia.