Social media has been buzzing with rumours since Sunday about events in Bounti, and villagers there told AFP that a wedding party was attacked by an unidentified helicopter. Separately, French military headquarters told AFP fighter jets had “neutralised” dozens of jihadists in central Mali after the group had been tracked for several days. “The reports relating to a wedding do not match the observations that were made,” an army spokesman told AFP. Offensive aerial operations in Mali are mainly conducted by the Malian military or by the French anti-jihadist force Barkhane. A French military source who was familiar with Sunday’s operation told AFP: “There can’t be any doubts or ambiguity, there was no wedding.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 05, 2021 16:52 UTC