Tuareg rebels launched an offensive on January 17 and have attacked several northern towns including Aguelhok as they demand autonomy for their nomadic desert tribe, a struggle which has seen several rebellions in past decades.
Death tolls have been hard to establish independently, but France on Monday condemned the extrajudicial killings of some 82 people in the town on January 24, which the Malian army confirmed.
“There were indeed summary executions on this day. People’s throats were cut, others were simply shot in the head,” said Colonel Idrissa Traore, head of the army’s information service.
He said there were civilians among those killed, saying he believed these acts could only have been committed by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
French Development Minister Henri de Raincourt earlier Monday condemned the the killings as he returned from a visit to Mali last week.
“There was absolutely atrocious and unacceptable violence in Aguelhok. There were summary executions of soldiers, civilians,” de Raincourt told RFI radio.
Raincourt said some of the victims had their throats slit, while others were shot in the head at point blank range. “What’s important is that the hostilities stop as quickly as possible,” he added.
“There’s talk of around 100 who were captured and killed in cold blood,” he added, saying the tactic “resembled that used by Al-Qaeda.”
Separately, an official clarified the death toll.
“In total there were exactly 82 deaths, no civilians,” a source close to the matter told AFP, citing Malian official sources.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said that “it’s not very clear what role Al-Qaeda or AQMI played has in these attacks, but there have been appalling massacres that we have condemned.”
Monday’s announcement marked France’s first suggestion of a link between Al-Qaeda’s North African wing and the Azawad National Liberation Movement (MNLA) and other Tuareg rebels, who joined forces at the end of 2011.
Traore said he could not give the exact number of dead, but it was “about 60.”
But an officer involved in burying those killed told AFP he had counted 97 dead soldiers and saw a military camp “completely destroyed, cars were burning.”