Mayors want soldiers redeployed to Central Mali

Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The mayors of three communes of Kendi, in the Bandiagara district, in the Mopti region, in central Mali, have called on the Malian government to redeploy soldiers Malian to their localities, saying that their populations feel abandoned. They said the decision to make the call was taken at a meeting initiated by the Association for the Development of Bandiagara (ADB), engaged in the search for peace, reconciliation and social cohesion, in this part of the country which frequently comes under jihadist attacks and theater of inter-community conflicts. "The state, which has to provide security to the people and their property, is absent ... Our people feel abandoned by the state," lamented officials at the meeting. The spokesman of the elected officials of Kendie communes, Habib Yalcoute, said the three communes want peace between all communities, under the protection of the State. "We are in the quest for peace, reconciliation and social cohesion, the war only delays us, it is time for us, the local children, to give us their hand," said an official the area," Seydou Tembely. The region of Mopti, in the center of Mali, has experienced, in recent years, inter-community conflicts between Dogon farmers and Peul herders, having caused several deaths on both sides, cattle abductions and destruction of homes. In addition to the state and the international community, several associations in the region are busy, in recent times, to bring peace to this part of the country. -0- PANA GT/JSG/KNDVAO 29July2019