Some 2,000 schoolchildren have been denied access to school for a week because of threats by terrorists demanding an educational system limited to religious materials.
"The terrorists came last week on motorbikes to our town and gathered all the people in the mosque," a teacher in Tubakuru, near Panumba town, about 140 km northeast of Bamako, told AFP.
"Armed terrorists have demanded the closure of all schools where French is taught, but education is limited to memorizing the Koran," he said.
According to identical sources, these militants are declaring allegiance to the extremist preacher Amado Koufa, whose group emerged three years ago in central Mali and in an area east of Panumba.
They launched the same threats last week in the villages of Dandugu, Balala and neighboring Ngonada, according to sources contacted by AFP.
"In the mosques, they asked for the closure of French schools," said Abu Bakr Ndiaye, a local deputy who took refuge in Bamako.
"Today, more than 20 schools have been closed in five villages, and about 2000 students are not going to school."
This is the first time that the closure of schools has been asked for this clarity, which is worrying, because it is less than 200 kilometers from Bamako, "the MP said.
"Soldiers have been sent to Tupacuru to provide security for the population," a security source said.
"It's true, we saw 50 soldiers, but how long?" "The state should strengthen its presence," he said.
On the occasion of entering classes, Prime Minister Somaylo Boubaye Maiga on 2 October reopened the closed schools due to the security deterioration near Mopti (center).
"The state will strengthen security so that children can go to school, we will be more present than ever," he said.
In his latest quarterly report on Mali, UN Secretary-General António Guterich said that 735 schools remained "closed", including 464 in the Mopti region, "at the end of the school year, due to the insecurity caused by threats and attacks by violent extremist groups."
The report added that "1108 schools were closed at least once (in 20 consecutive days) during the school year 2017-2018," depriving "332 thousand children from school.
