For 15 days, jihadists have surrounded this village in the Ségou region of central Mali and have banned entry. While an attempt at mediation is underway, residents need to take their problems patiently.
“We have no news.” This villager from Farabougou makes sure that his whole family is well, but does not hide a certain feeling of abandonment. The food, which was dropped on Monday and Tuesday by Malian army planes, has been received, but food continues to be scarce, he testifies, and especially medicine.
Local brokers, who have established a dialogue with the attackers do not spare their efforts, but the completed process takes time.
The Malian Ministry of Defense expressed in its press release its “heartfelt condolences” to families victims of “murder” which preceded the blockade, and which according to the inhabitants would have left six dead and nine missing. The ministry says it has “stepped up air surveillance of the area to prevent any major attacks” and decided “progress by ground troops to break the terrorist siege.” It is a press release dated Monday, October 19, but which did not circulate until Wednesday afternoon.
For several days, official and local sources have stated that the troops’ progress on the ground is hampered by the condition of the road, muddy and fear of possible mines. Brokers, for their part, continue to oppose military intervention. They want the blockade lifted in a peaceful way to avoid a new cycle of violence in the area.
► Also read:who are the attackers of Farabougou?
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