An al-Qaeda linked group says it carried out a significant assault on the Malian city of Boulikessi and the seizure of a military base there.
Greater than 30 troopers have been killed in Sunday’s assault, in accordance with sources quoted by the information company Reuters, nevertheless that determine has not been confirmed by the authorities.
On Monday the identical group, Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), stated it focused the navy within the historic metropolis of Timbuktu, with residents reporting listening to gunfire and explosions.
Mali’s military stated in an announcement late on Monday that it had repelled an “infiltration try by terrorist fighters” in Timbuktu, “neutralising” 14 militants and arresting 31 suspects.
It added that weapons, autos and different objects have been seized, however didn’t title the group answerable for the assault. The military stated search operations throughout Timbuktu have been ongoing.
In an earlier assertion, the military stated it “reacted vigorously” to Sunday’s assault, earlier than “withdrawing” – suggesting a tactical retreat.
“Many males fought, some till their final breath, to defend the Malian nation,” the assertion added.
An unnamed native supply informed Reuters that JNIM had left many casualties and “cleared the camp”.
Unverified video footage confirmed dozens of militants storming the bottom, together with one which captured them stepping on our bodies, in accordance with Reuters.
In Monday’s assault, JNIM stated its fighters had attacked a navy airport and Russian mercenaries.
Navy and safety sources informed the AFP information company they have been “combating again”, however that the militants have been “in all places within the metropolis”.
An area official stated the attackers had arrived “with a automobile filled with explosives” that detonated near the military camp.
Timbuktu, a UN World Heritage Website, was captured by Islamist militants in 2012 earlier than they have been pushed out, however has as soon as extra been underneath siege in recent times.
The assaults, the most recent signal of collapsing safety in Mali and the broader Sahel area, got here after america Africa Command warned about rising efforts by varied completely different Islamist militant teams which function within the Sahel to achieve entry to West Africa’s shoreline.
Throughout a press convention on Friday, the commander of United States Africa Command (Africom), Gen Michael Langley, described latest assaults in Nigeria, the broader Sahel, and the Lake Chad Basin as deeply troubling, warning that the teams’ entry to the coast would considerably enhance their capability for smuggling and arms trafficking.
It’s thought that greater than 400 troopers have been killed by militants for the reason that starting of final month in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, Reuters reviews.
Extra reporting by Simon Ponsford
