Madar (Bamako) - Mali's army said it "neutralised several terrorist elements" in an air strike on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, against a group of motorcyclists in the Ouagadou forest, near the village of Ngoma Koura, as part of operation Dougoukoloko, according to a statement by the armed forces general staff carried on Thursday by the APA news agency.
According to the statement, several columns of motorcyclists had been detected and tracked using intelligence, before a group gathered under a tree near Ngoma Koura was targeted once the information had been checked.
The army gave no figures and did not identify the group targeted or its affiliation. Surveillance and reconnaissance operations are continuing in the area to assess the results of the strike, establish a final toll and search for any fighters still present.
The Ouagadou forest, in the Nara circle north of Bamako near the Mauritanian border, covers about 25,900 hectares and has suffered for years from insecurity affecting local people's activities and movements, the agency said. Mali has faced a security crisis since 2012 involving jihadist groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.
