The AU “strongly” condemns the attacks and calls for redoubling efforts to combat jihadism in the Sahel
Guterres confirms the death of a UN personnel in these incidents
19 (EUROPA PRESS)
Some 70 people have been killed and nearly 200 injured in attacks carried out this week by the Al Qaeda branch of the terrorist organisation in the Sahel against several military installations in the Malian capital, Bamako, according to sources cited by Radio France Internationale, although the authorities have not yet provided an official toll.
Civilian and security sources quoted by the station said that at least 20 people were killed in the attack on a military base near Bamako airport, while the rest of the victims were said to have been killed in the assault on the Gendarmerie School in Faladié.
According to the Le Soir de Bamako website, the funeral of 50 Gendarmerie students is scheduled to take place on Thursday within the perimeter of the facility, although the Malian authorities have not yet commented on the matter.
The military junta in power since 2020, led by Assimi Goita, has not given a death toll and initially claimed that the attack on the Gendarmerie building was repelled, with no further statements since then.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and to the Malian authorities and population in a statement, confirming that a UN member of the dead was among them.
Guterres has called on the Government of Mali to “ensure that all those responsible for this despicable attack are held accountable.”
For his part, the president of the African Union (AU) Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, has “firmly” condemned the aforementioned attacks and has conveyed his “sincere condolences” to the authorities and the families of the victims, according to a statement published by the organization through its account on the social network X.
Faki Mahamat stressed that “these attacks demonstrate, with compelling evidence, the need to redouble collective efforts to fight more effectively and in solidarity alongside Mali and the other Sahel countries that are victims of terrorist activities, both at the national, regional and international levels.”
He therefore made an “urgent” call to “strengthen regional and international strategic collaboration in the fight against the resurgence of terrorism and violent extremism in Africa, particularly in West Africa.”
The Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying that they had resulted in “heavy losses”, although the authorities have not yet commented on possible victims. The main targets attacked were the Gendarmerie School in Faladié and the Senou military camp, located near Bamako airport and where mercenaries from the Africa Corps – formerly known as the Wagner Group – are deployed.
The attack is the first major attack on Bamako since November 2015, when 20 people were killed during an assault by Al-Murabitoun – linked to Al-Qaeda – on a hotel. However, a military base located about 15 kilometres from the capital was targeted in July 2022, in an attack carried out by JNIM. Goita lived there, so it was considered a significant blow, amid the approach of jihadist attacks on the capital.
The African country is currently ruled by a military junta installed after coups d’état in August 2020 and May 2021, both headed by Goita, the current transitional president, who has been rapprochement with Russia while distancing himself from both France and Western governments, including his withdrawal in January – along with Burkina Faso and Niger – from the ranks of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
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