Gambiaj.com – (BAMAKO, Mali) – A particularly shocking video surfaced on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, on social networks in Mali, igniting widespread indignation and raising serious questions about the practices of the Malian armed forces. According to information from Radio France Internationale (RFI), the disturbing footage shows a man in a Malian military uniform disemboweling a corpse and announcing his intention to consume the victim’s liver, accompanied by the gravelly laughter of his comrades in arms.

The unbearable images, as described by RFI, depict the man in fatigues wearing the insignia of the Malian Armed Forces (FAMA). He is surrounded by other soldiers, who appear to approve of his macabre actions. Some of them laugh and even demand their share of the vile “breakfast,” with requests for the victim’s heart being heard in the background.

While the exact location and date of the recording remain uncertain, RFI cites security, community sources, and human rights organizations that place the incident either in Sokolo, in the Niono circle, in June 2022, or in Mourdiah, near the Mauritanian border, last May. Other sources have mentioned the Léré sector in recent weeks.

RFI reports that during these periods, the FAMA had repelled attacks by the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (JNIM), linked to Al-Qaeda, and displayed the disemboweled and emasculated bodies of jihadists killed in combat.

These images of alleged cannibalistic acts are unprecedented concerning the Malian army. In response to the uproar, the General Staff of the Armed Forces published a press release this evening, distancing itself from the video and asserting that “these practices are contrary to the ethics, values, habits, and customs of our army.”

The General Staff of the Armed Forces informs national opinion that a video of a rare atrocity comparable to cannibalism has been circulating on social networks since this morning, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. pic.twitter.com/EroFlPSES6

— FAMa (@DirpaFa) July 17, 2024

However, this incident is not the first of its kind in Mali. In 2019, a video showing traditional Dozo hunters cutting out the liver of a corpse to offer it to their leader had already shocked Malians. The Dozos, known for their amulets and alleged magical powers, regularly serve as supplements to the regular army in operations carried out in the center of the country.

According to a Malian security source cited by RFI, “several similar cases have recently been reported to the hierarchy.” This source attributes these atrocities to the harshness of the terrain and its consequences on the psyche of the soldiers.