Published on: 04/24/2022 – 17:44 Modified on: 04/24/2022 – 18:08
The Malian army announced on Sunday the deaths of six soldiers in three simultaneous attacks by “terrorist” groups on military camps in central Mali. The attacks, which also injured around 20 people, were claimed by a group linked to al-Qaeda.
The Malian army announced on Sunday April 24 the deaths of six soldiers in three simultaneous attacks by “terrorist” groups using “vehicles filled with explosives” against three military camps in central Mali Group claimed to have been linked to al-Qaeda.
These attacks left “six dead” and 20 wounded in the three camps in Sévaré, Bapho and Niono, which were used by “armed terrorist groups (who) used suicide bombers loaded with explosives,” the Malian army said in a statement.
They were claimed by Fulani preacher Amadou Koufa’s Katiba du Macina in an audio message to AFP.
The Macina katiba reports to Iyad Ag Ghali, the leader of the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM) or Jnim, which is affiliated with Al-Qaeda.
“This Sunday morning, the mujahideen of the Katiba of Macina attacked three camps of the Fama,” said the audio message in the Bambara language of the Malian armed forces, citing Ségou, Bapho and Niono.
Ségou, a place in central Mali, is not among the target camps led by the Malian army, which mentions Sévaré among the camps attacked, contrary to the claim’s authors.
“We hit these camps simultaneously, five minutes apart. We inflicted material damage on them (besides) the dead,” the jihadists added.
The UN Mission in Mali (Minusma) “condemns in the strongest possible terms the attacks on the Fama in Sévaré, Niono and Bapho, which left several soldiers dead this (Sunday) morning,” in a message on Twitter.
She says she “immediately deployed a rapid reaction force to Sévaré at the request of Fama.”
deep security crisis
Plunged into a deep security crisis since 2012, which the deployment of foreign armed forces could not solve, Mali has experienced two military coups since August 2020.
Starting in the north of the country, jihadist violence spread towards the center and south before the conflict was further complicated by the emergence of vigilante groups and criminal gangs.
The conflict has killed thousands of civilians and combatants, and central Mali is currently one of the main centers of the crisis in the Sahel.
The military in power since 2020 have drawn closer to Moscow while turning away from France, which has been militarily engaged in the country against jihadists since 2013.
Mali has therefore made a massive appeal to what it presents as “instructors” from Russia, while Westerners (particularly Paris and Washington) denounce the presence in the country of “mercenaries” from the private Russian group Wagner, who staunchly deny the power of Malian colonels.
In February, amid the diplomatic crisis with the junta, Paris announced the withdrawal of its troops stationed in Mali, an operation due to be completed this summer.
With AFP