Malian soldiers and members of the new Takuba force on patrol near the Niger border in Dansongo Circle, Mali, on August 23. Reuters
Malian soldiers and members of the new Takuba force on patrol near the Niger border in Dansongo Circle, Mali, on August 23. Reuters
Malian soldiers and members of the new Takuba force on patrol near the Niger border in Dansongo Circle, Mali, on August 23. Reuters
Malian soldiers and members of the new Takuba force on patrol near the Niger border in Dansongo Circle, Mali, on August 23. Reuters

Militants massacre 31 civilians and kill UN worker in Mali


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Militants killed at least 31 people in central Mali on Friday when they fired on a bus ferrying people to a local market, local authorities say.

It's the latest deadly attack in a region racked by violent insurgency.

The bus was targeted by unidentified gunmen as it travelled its twice-weekly route from the village of Songho to a market in Bandiagara, 10 kilometres away, said Moulaye Guindo, mayor of the nearby town of Bankass.

"Armed men ... shot at the vehicle, slashed the tires, and shot at the people," Mr Guindo said.

He and another local official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said at least 31 were dead with many more wounded or missing.

The villages sit in the heart of the Mopti region, an epicentre of violence in Mali fuelled by insurgents linked to Al Qaeda and ISIS.

An internal security memo, shared by a source, said first responders at the scene of the latest attack discovered 25 burned bodies in the truck.

Images on social media showed the smouldering frame of a passenger bus filled with bodies, still slumped over in their seats. Reuters could not independently verify their authenticity.

Jihadist attacks have surged across Africa's Sahel region, killing thousands and displacing millions across Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

The UN mission Minusma has deployed about 13,000 troops to try to contain the violence, while France is in the process of drawing down a counterinsurgency force, from around 5,000 troops to around 3,000, supported by a mix of European Special Forces and focused on training the Malian army.

Minusma has recorded more than 250 fatalities since it started in 2013, making it the most dangerous UN peacekeeping mission in the world.

Unidentified armed men attacked a convoy belonging to the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali on Friday, killing one civilian worker and wounding another, the mission said.

The convoy was travelling from the northern city of Kidal to Gao and came under fire about 100km (62 miles) northeast of the town of Bourem, the mission said.

Armed attacks by Islamist militants and other groups are common across vast swathes of Mali, despite a heavy presence of international troops.

Three ways to limit your social media use

Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.

1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.

2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information. 

3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.

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Updated: December 04, 2021, 7:57 AM`