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A soldier dies in an attack on the main military base in Mali, near Bamako

A soldier dies in an attack on the main military base in Mali, near Bamako

22 (EUROPE PRESS)

At least one soldier has died in the attack perpetrated early this Friday against Mali’s main military base, located on the outskirts of the capital, Bamako, as confirmed by the Army, which has blamed the incident on “terrorists” of the Front for the Liberation of Macina (FLM).

The Army General Staff has pointed out that the military “have managed to contain another desperate attempt by terrorists from the Front of Macina — belonging to the Al Qaeda affiliate in the country, the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (JNIM)– who have attempted kamikaze actions with two vehicles loaded with explosives”.

Thus, he has stated that the incident has resulted in a dead soldier and six wounded, including a civilian, while seven terrorists have been “neutralized” and another eight have been arrested.

“The Army General Staff wants to assure the population that the situation is under control and that they can continue with their occupations,” he stressed, while stressing that the military will continue working to “restore calm and serenity” and ” the free movement of people and goods.

According to the information collected by the Malian news portal Malijet, the explosions at the Kati base led to a shooting, amid reports about the evacuation of the place of the leader of the junta and transitional president, Assimi Goita, in a convoy that has gone to Bamako.


Goita led the coup against the then president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, in August 2020–and subsequently led a second coup d’état in May 2021 against the transitional authorities of Mali–at which time he overthrew the president and the prime minister. , Bah Ndaw and Moctar Ouane–, rising to power.

Relations between Bamako and the international community have been strained since then, in part due to delays in the initially announced deadlines for the holding of elections and the deployment of Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group to deal with the jihadist threat, which which has led to the withdrawal of Western troops.

Mali, like other countries in the Sahel, has been registering in recent years a growing number of jihadist attacks carried out by both the Al Qaeda affiliate in the region and the Islamic State, which has also increased inter-community violence and caused the displacement of tens of thousands of people.

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