- Malian military says it fought back against three “terrorist attacks” on Wednesday.
- At least 15 Malian soldiers and three civilians were killed in the attacks, Mali’s armed forces said.
- The army destroyed several “terrorist logistical bases” that were hidden by plants.
The military of Mali fought back against three “terrorist attacks” on towns and military outposts on Wednesday, killing dozens of attackers. At least 15 Malian soldiers and three civilians were killed in the attacks, Mali’s armed forces said Wednesday.
“Combining terrestrial maneuvers, airstrikes, and airborne operations, the prompt, courageous, and dynamic reaction of FAMa [Malian armed forces] highlighted the vanity of the desperate actions of the terrorists which are obviously aimed at pulling media stunts to hide the considerable losses they have been suffering for several months,” Mali army said on Facebook.
The army said that armed attackers attacked an army position in Sokolo, a town in the south-central part of Mali. Six soldiers were killed and another 25 were hurt.
A preliminary report from the country’s armed forces says that Malian soldiers killed 48 attackers and destroyed three pickup trucks full of weapons and ammunition during a subsequent counterattack.
In an attack early Wednesday morning on the town of Kalumba in the country’s southwest, attackers also killed nine soldiers and three civilians. The military said that Malian forces stopped and pushed back the attack and destroyed several “terrorist logistical bases” that were hidden by plants.
The military of Mali did not say if any of the attackers were killed.
The statement said that the third attack on military installations near the town of Mopti in the south-central part of the country was stopped without anyone getting hurt. The international media can’t confirm on its own that the number of deaths given by Mali’s military is correct.
Mali’s military sent condolences to the families of the victims and tried to reassure people that it would stay strong in its “antiterrorist fight” and keep putting pressure on armed groups and their safe havens.
The latest attacks happened just days after heavy gunfire was heard early in the morning at the main military base outside of Mali’s capital, Bamako. Residents of the camp told that they thought it was an attack by Islamist militants.
In February, French President Emmanuel Macron said that France and other Western countries that were helping France fight terrorists in West Africa would start to leave Mali after a coup in 2020 and the formation of a military junta. It was thought that the withdrawal would take between four and six months.
France first started fighting terrorists in Mali in 2013, when Francois Hollande was president.
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