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Mali Officials Accuse French Military of Killing Civilians

VOA News

   Officials in Mali on Friday accused the French military of killing
   civilians in a Thursday airstrike.

   Reuters said the number of killed was six, while AP reported at least
   five deaths.

   The incident happened in the western Gao region of Mali and was the
   second time this year France hasbeen accused of killing civilians.

   The French military reported the strike had killed a group of militants
   60 kilometers north of Deliman.

   "This strike was ordered after a phase of surveillance and
   identification permitting the characterization of the presence of an
   armed terrorist group," it said in a statement, according to Reuters.

   The strike was a part of Operation Barkhane, a effort led by the French
   military to root out Islamic extremism in the Sahel. The operation
   began in 2014.

   Local officials claim those killed were civilian males aged 15 to 20,
   and that they were hunting birds with one gun among them.

   "I know all these young people. Some are from my family," Mohamed
   Assaleh Ahmad, mayor of the nearby village of Talataye, told Reuters by
   telephone. "We have seen these airstrikes in the past here. We have
   never said anything, but this time, it is 100% an error."

   The United Nations is investigating a January 3 incident near the
   village of Bounti. Local officials said a French airstrike hit a
   wedding party, killing 10. The French military deniedthe account and
   said it killed 30 extremists.

   Al-Qaida-linked extremists have been waging a widening campaign against
   national militaries across the Sahel.

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