Al-Qaeda-linked group says it was behind Mali attack

An al-Qaeda-linked group has said it was behind an early morning attack in the Malian capital, Bamako.

Armed men targeted a military training school and other areas in the city, the authorities said. In its statement, the army described the assailants as “terrorists”.

After residents reported hearing gunfire on Tuesday, the army said the attackers had struck near the city’s airport but that the situation was now “under control”.

Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) – the group that claimed responsibility for the attack – have, among other groups, been waging a militant islamist insurgency in Mali for more than a decade.

JNIM is considered to be one of the most active militant groups in the wider Sahel region, having staged numerous attacks in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

It said its “special operation” on Tuesday struck both the training centre and Bamako’s military airport, leaving heavy human and material losses.

The army did not mention any such losses, but said “a group of terrorists tried to infiltrate the Faladie gendarmerie school” in the morning.

The school was among a number of “sensitive points” “targeted by terrorist attacks” at dawn, the security ministry said.

Two members of the security forces told news agency AFP they had been wounded in the attack.

In the afternoon, Mali’s state television channel broadcast footage appearing to show roughly 20 prisoners. The men all had blindfolds on and their wrists tied.

“The terrorists have been neutralised. The sweep is continuing,” army chief of staff Oumar Diarra said during the ORTM news report.

However, he did not mention an attack on the military airport, which JNIM claims to have targeted.

The news report also showed footage of three unmoving bodies laying on the ground.

The security ministry previously assured residents that in the wake of the attack they could carry on with their activities as normal. In contrast, international organisations such as the UN have reportedly advised their staff to restrict their movement.

Videos posted earlier on social media showed black plumes of smoke rising from a part of the city.

As shots rang out, people heading to the mosque for morning prayers had to turn back, news agency Reuters said.

Bamako’s Modibo Keita International Airport has been closed following the attack.

The military seized power in a coup in 2021, accusing the government of failing to do enough to quell the insurgency.

The military expelled French troops and UN peacekeepers and brought in Russia’s Wagner group to help fight the jihadists, but there is no sign of the insurgency ending.

Source: BBC