2022 Bandiagara highway bombing

The tri-state area between Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger has been a hub of jihadist violence since 2013, escalating in 2015. The area is home to several jihadist groups, including Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin, Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, and Ansar ul Islam.^[1] In these areas, these militant groups often conduct bombings or ambushes along the highway against Malian, Nigerien, and Burkinabe troops, although they often conduct attacks against civilians.^[2] In 2022, the United Nations reported an increase in civilian attacks in rural Mali, especially due to roadside bombs.^[2] The Mopti region, where Bandiagara is located, was the deadliest region for these attacks, due to fighting between the army, pro-government and ethnic civilian militias, and the jihadist groups across the Mali-Burkina Faso border.^[2] Two deadly bus bombings and ambushes occurred in northern Burkina Faso in September 2022, with one in Silgadji and one in Gaskinde killing a total of over seventy people, including dozens of civilians.

On the afternoon of October 13, a civilian convoy was travelling between Bandiagara and Goundaka, when they hit an IED near the village of Sibo.^[3][1] Moussa Houseyni, the leader of the Bandiagara Youth Association, in conjunction with local hospitals, claimed that the death toll was eleven killed and fifty-three people injured.^[3] A local policeman, speaking to Libération, claimed all the dead were civilians.^[4] Data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) suggested the perpetrator was Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin.^[5]