BAMAKO: Mali’s troubled north witnessed fresh violence on Friday as a military camp came under attack, just one day after two separate attacks carried out by al-Qaida-linked insurgents resulted in the loss of 49 civilians and 15 government soldiers, AP news agency reported citing military sources.
A brief statement issued by the Malian armed forces confirmed the attack on a military camp located in the Gao region, with ongoing efforts for response and evaluation.
Thursday’s attacks targeted a passenger boat near the city of Timbuktu, situated on the Niger River, and a military position in Bamba, further downstream within the Gao region, as disclosed by the military junta in a statement broadcast on state television. Responsibility for these attacks was claimed by JNIM, an alliance of armed groups aligned with al-Qaida.
The passenger boat assault occurred near the village of Zarho, approximately 90 kilometers (55 miles) east of Timbuktu. In response to these heinous attacks, the government reported that approximately 50 assailants were neutralized. To honor the memory of the civilians and soldiers who lost their lives, the government declared a three-day period of national mourning.
Malian army spokesman Souleymane Dembélé explained that the significant death toll was partly attributed to some passengers’ inability to swim, resulting in a tragic drowning incident. He recounted the sequence of events, stating, “When the boat was attacked, the soldiers on board exchanged fire with the terrorists. Unfortunately, many civilians who couldn’t swim jumped into the water,” he told The Associated Press news agency.
Security Situation in Mali
The protracted implementation of the peace accord, coupled with relentless attacks on local communities, has created an opportunity for both the IS group and al-Qaida affiliates to rekindle the conditions reminiscent of the 2012 scenario. It was in that year that Mali experienced a military coup, followed by the establishment of an Islamic state in the north two months later. Although extremist groups were subsequently ousted from power in the northern regions through a French-led military intervention, they have since migrated to more densely populated central Mali in 2015, where they continue to pose a grave threat.
In August 2020, Mali’s president was deposed in a coup that included an army colonel. This colonel would later orchestrate a second coup and assume the presidency in June 2021. Notably, he cultivated ties with Russia’s military and the Wagner mercenary group, whose leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, met an untimely end in a plane crash in Russia on August 23.
The city of Timbuktu has been under siege by armed groups since late August, hampering the supply of essential goods to its residents. Over 30,000 individuals have fled the city and its neighboring region, according to a report by the United Nations’ humanitarian agency in August.
These tragic attacks come at a time when the United Nations is preparing to withdraw its 17,000-member peacekeeping mission, MINUSMA, from Mali at the request of the government. The withdrawal is slated to be completed by year’s end. MINUSMA was deployed in 2013, and the mission has since become one of the most perilous UN operations globally, with over 300 personnel having lost their lives.
