Published on: 07/28/2022 – 00:24
Mali has been the target of a series of coordinated raids over the past week. At least fifteen soldiers and three civilians were killed in three attacks attributed to “terrorists” on Wednesday in Kalumba, Sokolo and Mopti (central and west of the country).
Mali continues to descend into violence. At least eighteen people, including fifteen Malian soldiers and three civilians, were killed in three coordinated attacks attributed to “terrorists” on Wednesday, July 27, bringing their number to eleven in less than a week in the country.
In Kalumba, near the Mauritanian border, “the death toll on the friendly side is 12 dead, including three civilians, at a road construction company,” according to a press release signed by Colonel Souleymane Dembélé, director of information and military public relations became.
In Sokolo, in the center, the army reports 6 dead and 25 wounded, including five seriously injured. The army claims to have killed 48 attackers and “neutralized three terrorist pickup trucks 15 kilometers from Sokolo with occupants estimated to be about fifteen combatants and their equipment,” it said.
A third attack took place overnight in Mopti (centre) without inflicting casualties, according to the same source. The army claims to have “routed” the attackers.
These attacks come five days after those of Kati, at the heart of the Malian military machine, claimed by al-Qaeda-linked Katiba Macina jihadists. A Malian soldier was killed and six injured, including a civilian, in this suicide bombing involving two truck bombs. The day before, a series of near-simultaneous raids attributed to jihadists had hit six different locations in Mali, in the regions of Koulikoro (near Bamako) and Ségou and Mopti (centre).
On Sunday, a new attack that the Malian army said was “frustrated” also hit the Sévaré National Guard camp.
It is the first time since 2012 that such coordinated attacks have taken place in such large numbers, including some near the capital.
Fight with terrorists
Mali, a landlocked country in the heart of the Sahel, was the scene of two military coups in August 2020 and May 2021. The political crisis goes hand-in-hand with a severe ongoing security crisis since the outbreak of separatist insurgencies in 2012 and bloody jihadist actions in the north.
Despite a severely deteriorated security situation, the junta turned its back on France and its partners, relying instead on Russia to try to stem the spread of jihadism.
In central Mali, fierce fighting broke out between the infantrymen stamped by the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM, JNIM in Arabic), linked to al-Qaeda, and the regime’s forces, which were being controlled by auxiliaries from the private Russian security group Wagner are supported. The civilians, caught in a pincer movement, are paying a heavy price.
The army, which announces human sacrifices every week that are as important as they are undetectable in its operations, has announced several times that the jihadist group is “in check”.
In Wednesday’s press release, she spoke of “desperate actions by terrorists clearly aimed at using media stunts to cover up the significant losses they have suffered over the past several months.”
preventive measures
But tensions are rising across the country. On Tuesday, the Minister for Religious Affairs, Worship and Customs invited all religious denominations and associations to “prayer and blessing sessions for peace and stability in Mali”.
On Wednesday, the governor of the Douentza region (centre) banned vehicle traffic from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. in the city of Douentza.
At the end of last week, the management of Mali Airport had announced a “strengthening of control measures at the level of access control” at Bamako Airport and “urged users to reduce their movements in places, except in emergencies”.
And the tension extends beyond Mali’s borders. On Wednesday, the French Foreign Ministry classified the entire Malian territory in the “red zone” because of the “risk of attacks and kidnappings”, i.e. not officially recommended for travellers. Only the capital Bamako remains in the orange zone, so not recommended for compelling reasons.
With AFP