An al-Qaeda affiliate earlier claimed duty for ‘coordinated and high-quality assaults’ within the nation.
Mali’s armed forces have killed 80 fighters in response to a sequence of simultaneous and coordinated assaults on army posts throughout the nation, based on a video assertion launched by the army.
“The enemy suffered important losses in each location the place they engaged with the safety and defence forces,” Souleymane Dembele, the military’s spokesperson, mentioned in a particular bulletin broadcast on the armed forces’ tv channel, as visuals of fallen rebels, their weapons, motorbikes, and autos had been displayed.
Al-Qaeda affiliate Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) earlier claimed duty for “coordinated and high-quality assaults”, saying it had taken management of three barracks and dozens of army positions.
Mali’s armed forces mentioned the assaults passed off in seven cities within the central and western areas of the West African nation.
The incidents bore the hallmarks of different latest operations by the group, which has performed related assaults on army positions in Mali and Burkina Faso.
Mali, ruled by a army authorities since 2020, has for greater than a decade fought violent teams linked to ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda, whereas contending with an extended historical past of Tuareg-led rebellions within the north.
The assaults on Tuesday focused Diboli in western Mali close to the border with Senegal, and the close by cities of Kayes and Sandere. There have been additionally assaults in Nioro du Sahel and Gogoui, northwest of the capital Bamako close to the border with Mauritania, and in Molodo and Niono in central Mali, “all struck by shellfire”, the military’s assertion mentioned.
Residents and an area politician confirmed the assaults in at the very least 4 cities.
“We awoke in shock this morning. There’s gunfire, and from my home I can see smoke billowing in the direction of the governor’s residence,” one resident within the metropolis of Kayes mentioned.
The individual described the gunfire as “intense” whereas one other reported sheltering at dwelling whereas the assault raged on.
Elsewhere, an area political official wrote on Fb that “the area of Nioro awoke in shock” and that the cities of Nioro, Sandare and Gogui had been focused.
