Mali
Casualties and Victim Assistance
Casualties
Five new mine casualties were identified in Mali in 2011. In June, two young men were killed in the Wagadou forest when their car hit an antivehicle mine.[1] In September, in the same area, one Mauritanian man was killed and two Malian men injured by a victim-activated improvised explosive device.[2] Previous to that, in 2009, six explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties were identified in two incidents.[3]
From March to June 2012, UNICEF recorded a sharp increase in incidents in Mali: 27 incidents involving ERW resulted in 42 casualties, including 21 children.[4] A majority of these incidents occurred in the region of Gao, followed by Kidal, Timbuktu and Douentza. These incidents are caused by new contamination resulting from the recent fighting between government forces and Tuareg rebels, which started in January 2012.
The Monitor identified a total of 33 mine/ERW casualties in Mali from 1999 to 2011, all of which occurred after 2006, including 24 people killed and nine injured.[5]
[1] “Forêt de Wagadou: Encore un mort et des blessés” (“Wagadou Forest: one more fatality and some injured”), Maliweb.net, 1 October 2011, http://www.maliweb.net/news/insecurite/2011/10/01/article,29483.html, accessed on 22 August 2012.
[2] “Mali: Al-Qaeda Lays Landmines In Wagadou Forest,” Eurasia Review, 14 October 2011, http://www.eurasiareview.com/14102011-mali-al-qaeda-lays-landmines-in-wagadou-forest/, accessed on 22 August 2012; and email from Teresa Tavares, Child Protection-Mine Risk Education Specialist, UNICEF Mali, 28 August 2012.
[3] “Attaque à la grenade contre l’élite touarègue de Gao: 2 morts et 2 blessés graves” (“Grenade attack against Touareg elite in Gao: 2 killed and 2 seriously injured”), Malijet, 5 January 2009, www.malijet.com; “Escalade de violence sur fond de tension ethnique à Gao: Les grenades continuent de pétiller dans les rues” (“Escalation of violence in the background of ethnic tension in Gao: grenades continue to explode on the streets”), Maliweb, 8 January 2009; “Situation dans la région de Gao: Un 4x4 de la SNV enlevé à Gao” (“Situation in Gao Region: an SNV 4x4 stolen in Gao”), L’Indépendent, 8 January 2009, www.malijet.com; “Dans la foulée de la terreur des grenades…: Arrestations massives de marcheurs contre l’insécurité à Gao” (“In the wake of the grenade terror…: Massive arrest of demonstrators against security in Gao”), Malijet, 12 January 2009, www.malijet.com; and email from Amadou Maiga, President, Réseau des Journalistes pour la Sécurité en Afrique de l'Ouest, 7 March 2009.
[4] Email from Teresa Tavares, UNICEF Mali, 28 August 2012.
[5] Casualties were reported in 2007 (14), 2008 (8), 2009 (6) and 2011 (5). See previous Landmine Monitor reports on Mali, www.the-monitor.org.