Fighters affiliated with the al-Qaeda-linked group Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) killed at least 30 people — and possibly more than 50 — in near-simultaneous attacks on the villages of Korikori and Gomossogou in Mali's central Mopti region on Wednesday. The strikes, confirmed by local, security and administrative sources, represent the deadliest violence in the country since a major coordinated offensive erupted less than two weeks ago. Villages were looted and properties set on fire, according to a group of West African journalists specialising in Sahel security, who reported a provisional toll of over 50 dead with several people still missing.

The attacks were described by a security source as retaliation for actions carried out by Dan Nan Ambassagou, a self-defence militia made up mainly of ethnic Dogon hunters that has long operated in central Mali in response to jihadist violence. Authorities had previously ordered the group to disband after accusing it of a 2019 massacre in the village of Ogossagou that left 160 dead — an order the militia has refused. A security source noted that while most victims were militiamen, teenagers and children were also among the dead. The Malian army said it conducted a targeted operation in the area and neutralised around a dozen fighters, though it offered no further details.

The latest bloodshed follows the devastating offensive of April 25–26, when JNIM joined forces with the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), a Tuareg separatist movement, in a coordinated assault on key towns including Kidal in the desert north and Kati, a garrison town near the capital Bamako. That offensive killed Defence Minister Sadio Camara in a car bombing and drove Russian-aligned troops from strategic positions. JNIM has since announced a blockade on Bamako, setting up checkpoints on roads leading to the capital. The Malian army's commander acknowledged that