Jihad fighters have launched a series of simultaneous attacks on military posts in numerous towns in Mali, the third major attack on the Army last month.
Mali’s army said it refuted the attack on Tuesday morning, allegedly “neutralizing” more than 80 militants without saying whether there were other casualties.
But Jama’at Nusrat Al-Islat Wal Muslimin (JNIM), a group linked to Al Qaeda, said it was behind the attack, saying it had controlled three military camps.
For more than a decade, Mali has been plagued by deadly Islamic insurgency and attacks from separatist movements.
“The enemy suffered huge losses in every place where they interact with the Security and the Defense Forces,” Army spokesman Souleymane Dembele said in a statement on state television.
Colonel Dembele added that the army had recovered weapons, vehicles and motorcycles from the attackers.
The armed forces said earlier that the attacks occurred between seven towns and cities near the border with Senegal. Mauritania in the north also had further attacks near the border of Mali.
“We woke up in shock this morning. There was gunfire, and from my home, I could see smoke rushing to the governor’s residence.”
JNIM called its attacks “coordinated and high-quality” in a statement posted on social media. They did not elaborate on any casualties.
The group also said two other major attacks were recently carried out.
On June 2, militants targeted the army camps and airports in the ancient northern city of Timbuktu.
Just one day ago, a raid killed at least 30 soldiers in the center of the country.
The attack is the latest sign of rising insecurity in Mali and the wider Sahel, and is at a time when the US Africa Command warns that efforts of a variety of different Islamic militants operate in the Sahel are growing to reach the West African coastline.
In a May press conference, General Michael Langley, commander of the United States Africa (Africa) will describe the disturbing and disturbing recent attacks in Nigeria, the wider Sahel and Lake Chad basin.
He warned that the entry of these groups into the shore would greatly improve their ability to smuggle and arms trafficking.
