Two Moroccan truck drivers killed when gunmen attacked them in Mali

Morocco, in the midst of forming the new government after the elections and the election of Aziz Ajanuch as head of government by King Mohammed VI, has been dealt a blow from Mali. Two truck drivers transporting goods vehicles to the capital have been killed and one of them wounded in an attack in Didieni, some 300 kilometres from Bamako. It was this third - and a fourth who was unhurt - who recounted the events, explaining that a group of hooded men were waiting for them behind some bushes and attacked them with automatic weapons.

The Moroccan embassy in Mali reported the attack and is in contact with the authorities of both countries. Mohamed VI himself is following the events closely and has sent the ambassador to Bamako to meet the driver - now out of danger - who is in hospital. An investigation is expected to be opened in the next few days to clarify the facts, at the request of the Moroccan embassy. Moreover, according to local sources, the assailants did not steal anything from the trucks, the only target being the drivers of the vehicles.

The remains of the two deceased will be transported to the Malian capital in the next few hours, while the ambassador has already contacted the victims' families following the attack in Didieni. There is great concern within the Malian government about the increase in killings and recruitment of minors in the tri-border region between Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. According to the latest reports, ISIS and the Al Qaeda-affiliated Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims are reportedly behind this recruitment.

The attack on the Moroccan drivers is yet another chapter in the wave of violence that has hit the country particularly hard in the last month. Three weeks ago, 15 Malian soldiers were killed in an ambush in Mopti, located in the centre of the country. Another 39 were wounded, 15 of them seriously. A vehicle bomb followed by automatic weapons fire surprised the military forces travelling to Boni. Now, a new offensive confirms the insecurity and instability in which Mali has been mired for years, leaving two more dead, in this case of Moroccan origin.