Karou and Ouatagouna massacres

On the evening of August 8, 2021, around 6pm local time, more than 80 militants affiliated with Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) carried out simultaneous attacks on four villages in central Mali: Karou, Ouattagouna, Daouetegeft, and Dirga. The villages lie in close proximity to one another. Militants arrived on motorbikes and opened fire on residents, many of whom were outside their homes or on their way to the mosque at the time.

According to eyewitness accounts, ISGS fighters moved from house to house, rounding up men and children while sparing some women. Malian military officials stated that the militants killed indiscriminately, set homes on fire, and stole cattle during the assault. Many of those killed were reported to be women and children.

Malian military officials said the attacks were carried out in apparent retaliation, alleging that residents of the targeted villages had shared the locations of ISGS fighters with the Malian military following recent humanitarian aid deliveries to the area.

In the aftermath, local officials gave a provisional death toll of 51 civilians killed. Of these, twenty were reported killed in Karou and fourteen in Ouattagouna, with an unknown number of additional deaths in Daouetegeft and Dirga. A representative of the local Songhai human rights organization Songhoy Chaawara Batoo stated that the attacks took place within eighteen kilometers of a Malian military base.

Following the massacres, Malian officials said they established a heightened security presence in the affected area. The United Nations also opened its own investigation into the killings in late 2021.