Islamists in northern Mali said today they have carried out fresh amputations and warned of more to come, just days after the UN approved plans for an African-led military intervention force to take back the region.
“We cut off the hands of two people on Friday. Eight others will soon share the same fate,” said Moctar Barry, a
leader of the Islamist group controlling the northern city of Gao.
“It’s God’s law and no one can stop us from applying it,” said Barry, from the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO).
His claims were confirmed by witnesses, with one resident saying the amputees had committed theft.
I saw one of them, they gave him an injection before the amputation. He cried out. Both amputees are now at the
hospital,” another resident told AFP.
Moctar Barry,
Gao lawmaker Abdou Sidibe blamed the amputations on “theinternational community’s laxness”, saying its indecision over whether to intervene to reconquer Mali’s north were making the Islamists feel invincible.
“The international community needs to know that it is its hesitation over intervening, or no, in northern Mali that is encouraging the Islamists to show they are at home and are not afraid of anything,” Sidibe said.
The amputations took place a day after the Security Council approved plans for the African-led 3,300 troop
intervention but vowed to work toward a peaceful solution for the Mali crisis.
Al-Qaeda linked groups and other Islamists have been controlling regions in northern Mali for months, in a conflict
that has so far displaced more than 400,000 people, according to the UN.
———————————————–(AFP)