Malian army launches airstrikes against Tuareg in Tinzauaten after suffering “heavy losses” on Friday

Jul 31. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Malian army announced on Wednesday that it was launching air strikes in conjunction with the Alliance of Sahel States (the AES, the organisation formed by the military juntas of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso) against positions of the Tuareg rebels in the Tinzaouten area, located in the Kidal region (northeast), where Malian forces suffered “heavy losses” over the weekend.

“The General Staff of the Armed Forces informs the public that, in accordance with the solidarity between the member states of the ESA, it has launched an air campaign in the Tinzaouten sector on Tuesday. This campaign aims to protect people and property in the town and its surroundings from the coalition of terrorists,” reads a statement from the Malian army.

The main targets of these bombings include caches, logistics parcels and vehicles, and the US has “invited” civilians to “stay at a distance” from these positions.

Hours earlier, the Malian armed forces acknowledged “a significant number of losses in human lives and material” in the fighting that took place on Friday in the area against the Tuareg rebels, although Bamako has blamed the terrorist group Islamic State of the Greater Sahara (EIGS) and other jihadist groups for the attacks.

The Tuareg, now known as the Permanent Strategic Framework for Peace, Security and Development (CSP-PSD), announced on Saturday that a convoy of the Malian army and mercenaries from the Wagner Group, which tried to take the town of Tinzaouten in an operation that began two days ago, “was completely decimated and neutralized” about 60 kilometers from the town.

The CSP-PSD disputes the account of the Malian military, who yesterday claimed to have caused “major losses” in the ranks of a “terrorist group” following an attack on Thursday against a patrol in the area. This counteroffensive left two soldiers and twenty presumed Tuaregs dead, according to the statement published on Friday by the Malian Armed Forces.