[ad_1]
Malian Prime Minister Boubou Cisse ended Sunday a five-day visit to the troubled downtown area, where he pledged to boost security, several days after the humanitarian coordinator of the city's capital city. The UN has decried the "catastrophic record" of violence in that city.
Despite the military badistance of France and the United Nations, the Malian government is trying to calm the violence that erupted in the north of the country in 2012 and is triggered by radical Islamist and Tuareg militias.
Ethnic violence in central Mali has increased after the formation in 2015 of a Fulani-majority jihadist group led by preacher Amadou Kufa.
"We are going to create a bigger security network," Cisse said at the start of his tour in the central region.
"Our forces will be deployed in the field and a total of 3,500 troops will be set up", 1,500 of whom have already arrived in the region, he added.
On Sunday, Cisse ended his tour with a visit to the village of Hombori, whose leader was recently killed by suspected jihadist attackers.
Central Mali has seen a wave of mbadacres this year between the Dogon and Fulani ethnic communities.
The Fulani are mainly pastoralists and nomadic traders, while the Dogon ethnic group is traditionally a sedentary farmer.
Between May 2018 and May 2019, the number of people fleeing violent attacks almost quadrupled in the central regions of Mopti and Ségou, from 18,000 to 70,000, said Ms. Mbaranga Gasarabwe, United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator (OCHA). ) this week.
"Many villages have almost been emptied of their population. Civilians in areas affected by violence live in constant danger, "said Gasarabwe.
Food insecurity is also severe, with Mopti accounting for a quarter of the 3.8 million people facing high food insecurity or threatened in Mali during the lean season (June-August), said the Office of Coordination. United Nations Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). in his report.
Saturday in Bandiaga, stronghold of the Dogons, Cissé spoke of his "firm determination" to ease inter-community tensions.
The day before in Bankbad, near the border with Burkina Faso, the Malian Prime Minister called on all parties to "overcome their resentment and their bruises".
After Cissé 's visit to the troubled area "at least there is hope," said AFP Bocari Sagara, a deputy in Bandiagara, in the eastern Mopti region.
On Thursday, Cissé launched an operation to distribute 8,000 tonnes of grain to local communities to combat levels of food insecurity that could ease tensions between communities, local community leaders said in meetings organized during his visit.
Source link
