It is the first time since 2012 that such a large number of coordinated attacks have been recorded and at such a short distance from the capital.
At least 15 soldiers and three civilians were killed on Wednesday in three coordinated attacks attributed to “terrorists” in Mali, which reached eleven in the Sahel state less than a week ago.
In Kalumba, on the border with Mauritania, “the toll (…) stands at 12 dead, including three civilians, (workers) of a road construction company,” according to a press release signed by Colonel Suleiman Dembele, the army’s director of public relations .
In Sokolo (central), the army reported six military deaths and 25 wounded, including five in serious condition. He assured that his forces killed 48 attackers and destroyed “three semi-trucks 15 kilometers from Sokolo with the occupants estimated to be about 15 fighters with their weapons”.
The third attack took place at night in Mopti (central), with no casualties. The army assured that it “put the perpetrators to flight”.
Series of attacks
Yesterday’s attacks were carried out five days after the one in Kati, the heart of Mali’s military apparatus, for which the jihadists of the Katiba Mashina organization, close to al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility. The terrorist attack by suicide bombers in two trucks rigged with explosives resulted in the death of one soldier and the wounding of six others, including a civilian.
A day earlier, a series of near-simultaneous jihadist attacks hit six different locations in Mali, in the districts of Kulikoro (near Bamako), Ségu and Mopti (central).
The gunmen, who the military said were members of Katiba Masina, attacked checkpoints, gendarmerie facilities and a camp, particularly in Kolokani community, about a hundred kilometers north of Bamako.
On Sunday, another attack, “prevented” according to the general staff, took place at a national guard camp in Sevare.
It is the first time since 2012 that such a large number of coordinated attacks have been recorded and at such a short distance from the capital.
Mali, a landlocked country in the heart of the Sahel, became the scene of two military coups in August 2020 and May 2021.
The political crisis goes hand in hand with a serious security crisis after separatist insurgencies and bloody jihadist attacks broke out in the north in 2012.
Despite the worsening security situation, the military junta has turned its back on France and its partners, preferring to turn to Russia to try to stem the spread of jihadist activity, which has now spread to much of the country and neighboring states (Burkina Faso, Niger).
The tension is rising
In central Mali, fighting is raging between members of the so-called Organization for the Support of Islam and Muslims (WIM), which is close to al-Qaeda, and regime troops, backed by the Russian private military company Wagner. The civilians, caught in the trap, pay a heavy price.
The army, which every week announces spectacular and impossible to verify casualty figures in its operations, has repeatedly assured that the jihadist organization is blowing the whistle.
In his announcement yesterday he spoke of “desperate actions by the terrorists” which are “obviously” intended to ensure “coverage by the media” and to “hide the heavy losses they have been suffering for several months”.
However, tension continues to rise across the country and in Bamako.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Religious Affairs called on believers of all faiths and religious organizations to organize “prayers and sanctifications for the peace and stability” of Mali.
Yesterday, the governor in Duendza district banned the movement of cars from 18:00 to 07:00 daily in the town of the same name.
At the end of last week, the directorate of airports of Mali announced the “reinforcement of control measures” on the perimeter of the Bamako airport and urged “users” to “reduce their visits to it”, not to go to the facility except ” if necessary”.
“If you have the right to hire mercenaries to kill defenseless innocents, then we have the right to destroy you,” UIM’s propaganda arm said on Saturday in a message claiming responsibility for the Kati attacks.
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