BAMAKO: A Malian official said that attacks on a military base and a passenger boat on the Niger River in Mali on Thursday by suspected militants killed 64 people.
The two separate assaults targeted the Timbuktu boat on the river and a military position at Bamba, in the Gao area, with “a provisional toll of 49 civilians and 15 troops killed”, a government official said.
It did not specify how many died in each attack, but the attacks were “claimed” by a group linked to Al-Qaeda, AFP reported.
64 Killed in Terrorist Attacks in Mali
Earlier, the Malian military said on social media that the passenger boat was attacked at about 1100 GMT by “terrorist groups”.
The boat, plying an established route between the different cities and areas along the river, was targeted by ” three rockets”, the operator Comanav told the media. The boat was stopped on the river, and the military personnel are evacuating passengers, another official said on condition of anonymity.
The attack comes after an al-Qaeda-linked group, announced in August that it was blockading Timbuktu, the crossroads city of northern Mali, AFP reported. The African country has been struggling with the issue of insecurity since 2012, when a revolution led by Tuaregs erupted in the region.
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The insurgency was fanned by militants, who three years later carried out their drive into central Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger sending shockwaves across the region. In northern Mali, the local rebellion was officially ended by a peace deal signed between the militants and the Mali government in 2015.
However, the agreement came under strain following the civilian government was dismissed in 2020 and replaced by military rulers. Tensions in the region have increased in recent days after the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, has been asked to leave by the end of the current year.
