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Mass Grave With 21 Bodies Found Near Malian Capital

Mass Grave With 21 Bodies Found Near Malian Capital

Malian authorities have found a mass grave containing the bodies of soldiers in the southern garrison town of Kati, suspected to belong to the military faction Red Beret that stayed loyal to the current president after a failed coup earlier this year, France24 reported. The site grave , a short drive north of the capital Bamako, contained 21 bodies.

This discovery came just a few days after the detention of former junta chief General Amadou Sanogo, who led the March 2012 coup that plunged the West African country into chaos, for complicity in kidnapping.

Sources told France24 that the discovery of the mass grave could be used to prove that Sanogo was involved in murder too.

Mali’s newly elected President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita is battling to assert state control over the army, accused by human rights groups of excessive violence, torture and enforced disappearances. Another challenge he faces is restoring state authority in the lawless north, which was occupied by separatists and Islamist militants until a French-led intervention in January scattered them.