A three-day national mourning has been declared in the country. This attack occurs in full military reconfiguration, after the announcement of the French withdrawal.
/2022/03/04/phpJOLBSU.jpg "Mali: at least 27 soldiers killed in a jihadist attack in the center of the country") |
| Illustrative photo of a Malian soldier in Kona (Mali), March 20, 2021. (MICHELE CATTANI / AFP) |
A jihadist attack against a Malian army camp in the center of the country killed 27 soldiers on Friday March 4 and several dozen "terrorists" were "neutralized" , the army announced in a statement. communicated. This is the deadliest attack reported against Malian forces in months. The attack took place at the Mondoro camp, in the center of the country, and also left 33 wounded, including 21 seriously, and seven "missing" among the soldiers. A three-day national mourning from Saturday was decreed by the Malian presidency.
The army adds that 47 assailants were "neutralized" in the morning and 23 others were after a "raking of terrorist sanctuaries" . According to a French military source contacted by AFP, "the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) did not request the support of (the French anti-jihadist force) Barkhane. The Mondoro camp is in an area where it was requested Barkhane not to operate, no doubt because of the presence of mercenaries from (the Russian private company) Wagner" .
This attack comes in full military reconfiguration. In recent months, many reinforcements have arrived in Mali, presented by the Malian authorities as Russian instructors and by Westerners as mercenaries. France and its European allies within the Takuba special forces group have just announced their military withdrawal from Mali .
The Mondoro camp, near the border with Burkina Faso, has been the target of attacks by jihadists on several occasions in the past seeking to impose their hold on the representations of the central state or the foreign presence. An operation against the camp and that of nearby Boulkessi had killed around fifty soldiers in September 2019.