DAKAR: A suspected militant attack on a convoy escorted by Malian soldiers and Russia’s Wagner mercenaries has killed 32 people in northern Mali, officials said on Saturday.
The attack took place on Friday between the northern cities of Gao and Ansongo, they said.
The death toll was initially put at 10 but soon rose to 32.
“We have more than 30 bodies from the scene,” said a hospital source in Gao.
“The militants ambushed a civilian convoy escorted by Malian soldiers and Wagner mercenaries,” a local official told AFP, requesting anonymity.
“There are civilians and soldiers among the dead.”
A medical source said many of the dead and wounded had been transferred to Gao, the main city in northern Mali.
A source from a transport trade union said: “According to a transporter who managed to escape, militants ambushed the convoy’s escort and opened fire on everyone at random to cause the largest number of victims.”
Another local official told AFP: “The Malian soldiers and Wagner (mercenaries) were in around 10 vehicles protecting a convoy of 22 minibuses with civilian passengers, six large buses and eight lorries.”
“At least five lorries were destroyed by Daesh militants.”
Daesh has not claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Malian army has not officially commented on the reported attack.
“We control the situation on the ground between Ansongo and Gao,” a military source said.
The route between Ansongo and Gao has seen several attacks in recent months blamed on militants or bandits.
Another local official said the civilian victims were mainly foreigners traveling to a gold mine in Intahaka, the main gold mining region in northern Mali.
The country is one of Africa’s top gold producers, though production has plunged recently.
Mali has faced serious security problems since 2012 linked to violence both by groups linked to Al-Qaeda and Daesh and by local criminal gangs.
In January the Malian army said it had arrested a top Daesh leader and killed several ” militant” fighters in an operation in the Gao region.
It named the suspect as Abou Hach, a “wanted terrorist long known to the intelligence services.”
The impoverished west African country has been plunged into instability by a series of coups since 2012 and has struggled to deal with the security crisis in the north.
Its military rulers have broken ties with former colonial ruler France and turned politically and militarily toward Russia.
Suspected militant attack kills 32 in Mali
https://arab.news/prdg2
Suspected militant attack kills 32 in Mali
- The death toll was initially put at 10 but soon rose to 32
- “We have more than 30 bodies from the scene,” said a hospital source in Gao
In rare overlap, Chinese Muslims observe Ramadan with Lunar New Year
- Lunar New Year started on Feb. 17 and is celebrated for another two weeks
- Chinese Indonesians make up about 3 percent of the Indonesian population
JAKARTA: Every year, on the first day of Lunar New Year, Febriani visits relatives and gathers for a feast with her Chinese Muslim family, part of a long-standing tradition honoring their ethnic heritage.
But this year, as Thursday marks the beginning of Ramadan, she is celebrating two important occasions within the same week, in a rare overlap that last took place in 1995.
“I’m very happy and grateful that Lunar New Year and Ramadan are celebrated so closely. I observe both every year, so it’s truly special,” she told Arab News.
Widely observed across Asia, the Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year festival is believed to date back to the 14th century B.C., to the times of the Shang Dynasty, China’s earliest ruling dynasty, when people celebrated good harvests.
In 2026, it started on Feb. 17 and is celebrated for another two weeks. For many, celebrations typically involve elaborate feasts, giving children pocket money in red envelopes, and watching dragon dance parades.
In Indonesia, Chinese-descent citizens make up an estimated 3 percent of the country’s Muslim-majority population of more than 280 million. While most are either Buddhists or Christians, a small minority professes Islam.
For 25-year-old Febriani, both Lunar New Year and Ramadan are equally meaningful.
“The two celebrations teach us to strengthen bonds, to share with one another, and to become closer to family,” she said.
“They are both important to me because they happen only once every year and they’re always an occasion to gather with the extended family. It is also a chance to self-reflect and strengthen relationships with your loved ones.”
For Naga Kunadi, whose family lives in Central Java’s Cepu district, Chinese New Year is all about embracing his ethnic identity.
Earlier in the week, his family was busy preparing for the new year’s feast, which was a fusion of Chinese and Indonesian dishes, such as claypot tofu, meatball soup and shumai, or steamed dumplings.
“To celebrate Chinese New Year, we prepared halal Chinese food at home. It’s also a way to introduce to my children the traditions from our Chinese side, but there’s a bit of a fusion because my wife is Javanese,” Kunadi told Arab News.
Kunadi, an Islamic teacher at the Lautze Mosque in Jakarta, sees both Chinese New Year and Ramadan as opportunities to teach important life values for his two children.
Upholding Chinese New Year traditions with his family is for him a way of preserving his ethnic heritage.
“We want to preserve cultural values as long as it does not clash with our religion,” he said.
“If we leave our culture behind, we might lose our identity, so this is something I want to teach my children.”
The fasting month of Ramadan, on the other hand, gives him a chance to teach and practice honesty.
“I want to focus on the religious and moral aspects during the holy month of Ramadan, when we practice honesty on a personal level,” Kunadi said.
“There’s always an opportunity to eat or snack in secret without anybody knowing, but we train ourselves not to do that. For me, Ramadan is a time for everyone to put honesty into practice, including myself and my children.”
