A massacre occurred on December 3, 2021, in Mopti Region in central Mali. A group of unknown insurgents shot at a bus and set it on fire, killing 31 civilians. Most of the victims were women travelling from the town of Songo-Doubacore to a market in the town of Bandiagara.

The mayor of the closest town, Bankass, said that the gunmen shot the tires on the bus before going on to shoot the civilians to death. After the crime scene was visited by state security officers, they found 25 burnt bodies in the vehicle's trunk.

Mopti bus massacre

The massacre happened on the same day that Islamist rebels attacked a group in the region, killing two UN peacekeepers. The attacks were part of a bigger campaign by jihadists in West Africa.

Mopti bus massacre

Reactions

Mali's president, Assimi Goïta, ordered all people in Mali to fly the country's flags at half-mast from Sunday to Tuesday, during which Mali would hold three national days of mourning.

Mopti bus massacre

References

2021 crimes in Africa

2021 fires

Arson

Attacks on buses

December 2021 events

2020s in Mali

Mass murder in 2021

2020s mass shootings in Africa

2021 mass shootings

Massacres in Africa

Terrorist incidents in Africa in the 2020s

Terrorist incidents in 2021