Mali wedding airstrike
- Airstrike
- v
- t
- e
Tuareg rebellion (2012):
- 1st Ménaka
- 1st Aguelhok
- Tin-Hama
- In Emsal
- 1st Andéramboukane
- 1st Tessalit
- 1st Niafunké
- 1st Tinzaouaten
- Tinsalane
- 1st Goumakoura
- 1st Tessit
- Sudere
- 1st Kidal
- 2012 counter-coup attempt
- Djicoroni
- 1st Timbuktu
- 1st Gao
- 1st In-Delimane
- Tagarangabotte
- 2nd Ménaka
- Khalil
- In Arab
Foreign intervention:
- Operation Serval
- AFISMA
- Chadian military intervention
- EUTM
- MINUSMA
- Konna
- 2nd Gao
- Diabaly
- 3rd Gao
- 4th Gao
- Ifoghas
- Panther
- 5th Gao
- In Khalil
- Timetrine
- 1st Kidal attack
- Imenas
- Tin Keraten
- Tigharghâr
- 1st Djebok
- 2nd Timbuktu
- 6th Gao
- 3rd Timbuktu
- 2nd Kidal attack
- 1st Ber
- Hamakouladji
- 1st Anéfis
- 2nd Anéfis
- Fooïta
- Douaya
- 2nd Tessalit
- Amazragane
- 1st Araouane
- 3rd Kidal attack
2014
- Kondaoui
- Tamkoutat
- 1st Ametettai
- Dayet
- Inabohane and Ebahlal
- 2nd Kidal
- 2nd Aguelhok
- 3rd Anéfis
- 1st Tabankort
- 2nd Indelimane
- 2nd Ametettai
- N'Tillit
- 2nd Tabankort
2015
- 1st Nampala
- Ténenkou
- 3rd Tabankort
- Tabrichat
- Bamako restaurant
- 4th Kidal attack
- 1st Léré
- Tin Telout
- Nara
- Takoumbaout
- Sama Forest
- 1st Gourma-Rharous
- Sévaré hotel
- 4th Anéfis
- Tiébanda
- Bamako hotel
- 5th Kidal attack
- 1st Talahandak
2016
2017
- 6th Gao
- 1st Boulikessi
- 2nd Gourma-Rharous
- Foulsaré Forest
- 1st Dogofry
- 1st Serma Forest
- Bintagoungou
- Kangaba
- Inkadogotane
- 2nd Djebok
- Takellote
- 4th Timbuktu
- Tin Biden
- 3rd Indelimane
2018
- 4th In-Delimane
- Youwarou
- Soumpi
- Inaghalawass
- 2nd Araouane
- Akabar
- 5th Timbuktu
- Aklaz and Awkassa
- 1st Talataye
- Tabarde
- 1st Boni
- Inabelbel
- Soumouni
- 2nd Dogofry
- Ndaki
- 2nd Ber
- Farimake
- Tinabaw and Tabangout-Tissalatatene
- Abanguilou
2019
- Koulogon
- 2nd Serma Forest
- Taghatert and West Inekar
- 4th Aguelhok
- Elakla
- Dialloubé
- Diankabou
- 1st Dioura
- Ogossagou
- Tiésaba-Bourgou
- Guiré
- Sobane Da
- Gangafani and Yoro
- Fafa
- 2nd Boulikessi
- 5th In-Delimane
- 4th Tabankort
- 3rd Ménaka
- 1st Wagadou Forest
2020
- Dioungani
- Sokolo
- 1st Tarkint
- 1st Bamba
- 2nd Talahandak
- Bouka Weré
- Bankass
- Coup
- 1st Farabougou
- Sokoura
- 3rd Boulikessi
- Tadamakat
- Niaki
2021
- Wedding airstrike
- Boulikessi and Mondoro
- 2nd Boni
- 2nd Tessit
- 5th Aguelhok
- Coup
- 2nd Tarkint
- Karou and Ouatagouna
- Dangarous Forest
- Nokara
- Bodio
- Mopti
2022
- Archam
- Danguèrè Wotoro
- Mondoro
- Ménaka
- 2nd Andéramboukane
- 3rd Tessit
- 2nd Talataye
- Tadjalalt and Haroum
- Moura
- Hombori
- Mopti Region
- Diallassagou
- Bandiagara
2023
- Markacoungo
- Diafarabé and Koumara
- Kani Bonzon
- 5th Timbuktu
- 3rd Ber
- Tombouctou and Bamba
- Bourem
- 2nd Léré
- 2nd Dioura
- 2nd Bamba
- Kidal Region
- 4th Kidal
- 2nd Niafunké
- Labbezanga
- 2nd Farabougou
2024
- Kwala
- Douna
- 2nd Wagadou Forest
- Mourdiah
- Abeïbara
- Djiguibombo
- 2nd Tinzaouaten
On 3 January 2021, the French Armed Forces carried out an airstrike targeting a wedding claiming that terrorists were killed without any collateral damage. A UN report later revealed that out of the 22 people killed, 19 were civilians.[1]
Background
On 2 January 2021, in coordination with the militaries of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger the French military launched Operation Eclipse in and around the city of Boni.[2]
Airstrike
On 3 January 2021, Islamic extremists confronted a wedding in the village of Bounti in Mopti Region, central Mali, ordering the attendees to separate by gender. A fighter jet airstrike then killed 22 people, including children, according to witnesses and local officials including the mayor.[3][4][5][6]
Residents also said a helicopter opened fire on the ceremony.[7] The French Armed Forces said they had killed "dozens" of militant Islamists in Hombori, a few kilometers away, on that day, but that a connection between the strike and a wedding party "does not correspond to information collected prior to the airstrike".[3][4][5]
On 30 March 2021, the MINUSMA United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali concluded that the strike killed 19 unarmed civilians and three armed men.[8] They said the strike was on a wedding attended by about 100 civilians and five armed men, presumably members of a group affiliated with al-Qaeda. [8]
The French military maintains its version of events, and called the UN report "biased".[9][10][failed verification]
References
- ^ Maclean, Ruth (30 March 2021). "A Wedding, an Airstrike, and Outrage at the French Military". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ^ "Mali: with French soldiers from Operation Eclipse chasing jihadists linked to Al-Qaeda". Le Monde. 4 February 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
- ^ a b "Witnesses say 20 are killed in an airstrike in central Mali during a wedding party". CTV News. 5 January 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
- ^ a b "Wedding guests killed in Mali airstrike, local sources say". The Guardian. 5 January 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ^ a b "Unexplained deadly airstrike at Mali wedding raises questions over French involvement". The Telegraph. 6 January 2021.
- ^ Freudenthal, Emmanuel; Gebauer, Matthias; Huon, Patricia; Nsaibia, Héni; Popp, Maximilian P; Sandberg, Britta; van der Weide, Youri (9 June 2021). ""People Collected Severed Arms, Legs and Heads"". Spiegel. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
- ^ "Sahel conflict: France rejects reports of airstrike on Mali wedding". BBC. 5 January 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
- ^ a b "French air attack in Mali killed 19 unarmed civilians, UN says". Al Jazeera. 30 March 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ^ Thomas-Johnson, Amandla. "'Stop lying': Malians call for justice over French air strike". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
- ^ "Mali/France: Investigate French Airstrike Killing 19". Human Rights Watch. 21 January 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2021.