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News release

Mali: ICRC provides further medical support for hospitals in the wake of fresh hostilities

Image d'illustration. Commune de Mopti, Sévaré, hôpital Sominé Dolo. Un chirurgien du CICR et ses collègues durant une opération. 2021. Cattani Michele / CICR
Cattani Michele / ICRC

Dakar (ICRC) – The civilian population in Mali has faced grave consequences following fighting that has occurred in numerous locations across the country since 25 April. Many people lost their lives or were injured, some very seriously. Hostilities also damaged water-supply infrastructure in Mopti. 

To meet the needs of those affected, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has provided technical support along with medication and medical supplies needed to care for the wounded. The hospital in Gao also received diesel fuel to ensure that medical services remain available.

“We are deeply alarmed by last weekend’s violence and the consequences,” Patrick Youssef, the ICRC’s regional director for Africa, said of the hostilities. “We are providing help to a number of hospitals to ensure treatment of the wounded. Civilians, medical personnel, facilities and ambulances must be protected and respected.”

Operational update

Following requests from medical facilities in Bamako, Kati, Mopti and Gao, the ICRC has provided medication and medical supplies needed to care for the wounded, including:

  • Emergency-care supplies for at least 50 patients, half of which were delivered to the Kati University Hospital and half to the private army hospital in Kati. The supplies included medication (antibiotics and analgesics), dressing materials and sterilization supplies, surgical and examination gloves, intravenous fluids and disinfectants.
  • 10 containers of medical supplies, five to the Gabriel Touré University Hospital and five to the Point G University Hospital, both in Bamako. Each container included dressing materials, surgical gloves, medication (antibiotics and analgesics), intravenous fluids and supplies for administering injections. 
  • 72 kits with medication and consumables for individual patients, including gloves and compresses, to the hospital in Mopti.
  • 30 kits with medication and consumables for individual patients, including gloves and compresses, to the hospital in Gao.

    The ICRC medical teams based in Mopti and Gao are working alongside surgical teams in the regional hospitals to care for the wounded.

    The ICRC also provided 2,000 litres of diesel fuel to the Gao regional hospital to ensure that medical services remain available.

    In addition, patients and their companions in the Gao and Mopti regional hospitals received nutritional care.

In cooperation with the Ministry of Health and Social Development, the ICRC has supported the regional hospital in Gao since 2012 and in Mopti since 2019, as well as the reference health centre in Kidal since 2014 and in Ménaka since 2019. This support has taken the form of ongoing assistance from ICRC medical teams to local medical (including surgical) staff, medication, stipends, consumables and repairs to facilities.

In 2025, the ICRC's assistance helped ensure care for more than 24,000 patients. This included 13,784 people who were injured, otherwise in need of urgent care or particularly vulnerable, and whose care was entirely provided by the ICRC.

The ICRC in Mali

The ICRC has been carrying out humanitarian work in Mali since 1965 and has had a permanent presence in the country since 1991 following a headquarters agreement. Against the backdrop of persistent armed conflict, especially in the centre and north of the country, and increased pressure on essential public services, the ICRC runs its activities in Mali from its delegation in Bamako, with subdelegations in Mopti, Timbuktu and Gao, offices in Kidal and Ménaka, and a satellite office in Niafounké. It works in the areas most affected by fighting, as close as possible to the people caught in the crossfire.

The ICRC works closely and entirely transparently with national, regional and local authorities. It also maintains a close partnership with the Mali Red Cross and other components of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

About the ICRC

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a neutral, impartial and independent organization with an exclusively humanitarian mandate that stems from the Geneva Conventions of 1949. It helps people around the world affected by armed conflict and other violence, doing everything it can to protect their lives and dignity and to relieve their suffering, often alongside its Red Cross and Red Crescent partners.

For more information, please contact:
Eléonore Asomani, ICRC Dakar, tel.: +221 78 186 46 87, email: easomani@icrc.org

To preview and download the latest ICRC video footage in broadcast quality, go to www.icrcvideonewsroom.org