18 Oct 2026: gunmen on motorcycles attacked Daoussahak (Idaksahak) herder camps about 50 km from Ménaka, including Tinabow and Tagadayat, and set homes on fire. At least 48 civilians were killed per the Idaksahak community and Studio Tamani; AFP cites a security source for ~50 and Reuters gives a provisional 48 to 70+. Several hundred families fled to Ménaka. The community blames the ISSP, which has not claimed it. The camps belong to the community the MSA recruits from, and the attack came three days after an MSA/FAMa raid on the ISSP-held town of Inarabane (15 Oct), so it is widely read as reprisal.
Area of operation: Gao & Ménaka
Recent (to 21 Oct 2026)
- Sahel Monitor first reported an ISSP raid on MSA positions in Ménaka city, including the home of MSA leader Moussa Ag Acharatoumane (absent), with 33+ MSA killed; then 48 civilians killed. The 48 figure is corroborated; the 33 MSA dead and the house raid are not (C3, Sahel Monitor, t.me/sahelmonitor/505, 19 Oct 2026), (C1, Sahel Monitor, t.me/sahelmonitor/510, 20 Oct 2026).
- Departamente puts the toll at ‘more than 110 civilians by the most modest estimates’, above every independent figure (D4, Departamente, t.me/departamente/8281, 20 Oct 2026).