Jihadists in Mali suspected of killing 40

By Nathan Morley

It’s reported that 40 people in Mali, mostly young men, from the Tuareg ethnic group, were killed after several days of violence in a border region with Niger.

A Tuareg tribal leader claimed that jihadist groups carried out the mass murder in retaliation Tuareg militias making military gains.

On Friday, tribal leaders said 30 people were slaughtered; a day after another attack by gunmen had left 12 people dead in the Menaka district, where the so-called Islamic State’s Saharan affiliate is based.

These terror groups are sowing discord by exploiting tensions between ethnic groups— such as those between Tuareg and Fulani herdsmen, who quarrel over precious desert watering points.

The United Nations warned that insecurity in Mali ‘continues to rage’ and Jihadist groups pose a huge threat to security across the Sahel region of Africa. The UN added that the precarious security situation there is being further exacerbated by pervasive food insecurity and extreme poverty throughout Africa's Sahel region.

In 2013, France sent troops to Mali to help government forces drive jihadists out.