Mali army says 80 fighters killed after earlier al-Qaeda linked attacks | Conflict News

An al-Qaeda affiliate earlier claimed responsibility for ‘coordinated and high-quality attacks’ in the country.

Mali’s armed forces have killed 80 fighters in response to a series of simultaneous and coordinated attacks on military posts across the country, according to a video statement released by the military.

“The enemy suffered significant losses in every location where they engaged with the security and defence forces,” Souleymane Dembele, the army’s spokesperson, said in a special bulletin broadcast on the armed forces’ television channel, as visuals of fallen rebels, their weapons, motorbikes, and vehicles were displayed.

Al-Qaeda affiliate Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) earlier claimed responsibility for “coordinated and high-quality attacks”, saying it had taken control of three barracks and dozens of military positions.

Mali’s armed forces said the attacks took place in seven towns in the central and western regions of the West African country.

The incidents bore the hallmarks of other recent operations by the group, which has conducted similar assaults on military positions in Mali and Burkina Faso.

Mali, governed by a military government since 2020, has for more than a decade fought violent groups linked to ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda, while contending with a longer history of Tuareg-led rebellions in the north.

The attacks on Tuesday targeted Diboli in western Mali near the border with Senegal, and the nearby towns of Kayes and Sandere. There were also attacks in Nioro du Sahel and Gogoui, northwest of the capital Bamako near the border with Mauritania, and in Molodo and Niono in central Mali, “all struck by shellfire”, the army’s statement said.

Residents and a local politician confirmed the attacks in at least four towns.

“We woke up in shock this morning. There’s gunfire, and from my house I can see smoke billowing towards the governor’s residence,” one resident in the city of Kayes said.

The person described the gunfire as “intense” while another reported sheltering at home while the assault raged on.

Elsewhere, a local political official wrote on Facebook that “the region of Nioro woke up in shock” and that the towns of Nioro, Sandare and Gogui had been targeted.