OIC condemns terrorist attack in Mali

JEDDAH: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has condemned the terrorist attack launched by armed men on a number of villages in the Republic of Mali, which killed dozens of civilians.
The OIC reiterated its stance against all forms of terrorism, stressing its full solidarity with the Malian authorities in their fight against terrorism and extremism.
For his part, OIC Secretary-General Dr. Yousef bin Ahmed Al-Othaimeen offered his condolences to the families of the victims, wishing a speedy recovery to the injured.
Mali, a landlocked and impoverished state in the heart of the West Africa’s Sahel region, has been battling an insurgency since 2012. The crisis began with unrest in the north of the country that spread to Mali’s ethnically volatile center and then to neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso.
Armed groups linked to Al-Qaeda and Daesh are steering the terrorist campaign.
Thousands of civilians and troops have died and hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes. Mali has suffered two coups since August last year, and on July 20 military leader Colonel Assimi Goita survived an attempted assassination at a mosque in Bamako.
Alioune Tine, an independent experts on human rights in the Sahel who reports to the UN, last week warned that a “critical threshold” had been breached in the country’s security situation.