The village of Guirowel, in the central Mopti region of Mali, has been completely abandoned after Malian army soldiers shot and killed seven unarmed civilians during an early-morning patrol on 17 May. Witnesses told RFI that soldiers arrived from the west before 6 a.m. and opened fire on residents who panicked and attempted to flee, killing six on the spot and a seventh elderly man inside his home; a young man returning from his farm was also arrested and has not been heard from since. The incident has driven the entire population to scatter toward nearby towns and across the river, and a local resident noted that at least 31 Guirowel inhabitants have been killed or gone missing during army passages since 2020, underscoring a deepening pattern of civilian harm amid Mali's ongoing counter-insurgency operations.