Armed Malians perpetrate war crimes in Diabaly
The war in Mali is harsh and fierce. A racist liquidation is carried out among civilians who say their only fault was to support Islamists in northern Mali and Azwad.
Residents described wrongdoings against Arabs and Tuarges in northern Mali as “war crimes.”
Witnesses in Diabaly told Echorouk masked black people came to the village on military cars looking for Arab or Tuareg families. They killed many people and kidnapped a group of women.
“We were so panicked that we could not leave our houses. We thought it was genocide as the Malian army knew that residents had received Islamists and stayed with us in the village for few days,” said a witness.
“Later, we realized that the attackers looked for our neighbors who are Khairi Ould Hama’s family. He was killed I Gao, a few days ago. They belong to Beni Melouk tribe which comes from the Algerian south,” he added.
He also said they heard hollers and cries. The family begged the attackers to leave them alone. One of the masked men said: “Colonel, what should I do to them?” he told him: “kill them or bury them alive. They do not deserve life. They are scum. They want to turn Mali into an Islamic state and they received jihadists.”
In the victims’ house, three bodies were found. An old man was crying for what happened to his orphan nephews.
“Everyone is watching the killing of Arabs and Tuaregs but no one does something. They pretend they want to liberate the north from Islamists. Can liberty be acquired by attacking civilians and kidnapping women? They destroyed our village and killed our children,” Mohamed Ould Mahmoud Khairi, the victims’ relative told Echorouk.
“Today, Mali’s soldiers came here one again as they had already been there with the French army. They were wearing the Malian army military uniform. They were accompanied by English-speaking people. They destroyed the house door and gathered children. They killed them and destroyed a place where the Quran was taught. Then, they left the village,” he added.