(Bloomberg) -- “We're sorry” is something militant groups that have made deadly violence their trademark rarely say.
But that's what an al-Qaeda affiliate responsible for scores of attacks across West Africa said Wednesday as it apologized for the deaths of “our brothers and sons” who died in Mali as a bus they were traveling in hit a landmine meant for the “French occupier and its acolytes.”
About 60 people were on the bus when it passed through a region in central Mali notorious for jihadist violence despite French-led military efforts to repel the militants. Fourteen people died and 15 others were injured in the Sept. 3 attack, according to the government.
The apology from the Group of Support for Muslims and Islam, known as JNIM, was first published by its media outlet Az-Zallaqa and shared on social media.
Though rare, al-Qaeda and its affiliates have apologized for incidents in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. For Mali, plagued by Islamist violence since 2012, it's a first.
--With assistance from Bokar Sangare.
To contact the reporter on this story: Katarina Hoije in Abidjan at khoije@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Pauline Bax, Hilton Shone
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