15 troops, 3 civilians killed in Mali attacks
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The Malian army says three coordinated attacks in central and western Mali killed at least 15 soldiers and three civilians.
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Malian troops (Archive)
At least 15 soldiers and three civilians were killed in coordinated terrorist attacks in Mali, the country's army confirmed Wednesday, the latest deadly violence to rock the Sahel state.
In Kalumba, near the Mauritanian border, "the death toll on the friendly side is 12, including three civilians from a road construction company," the army said in a statement.
The army death toll in Sokolo, in central Mali, was six with 25 others wounded, five of them seriously.
The statement said that the army killed 48 attackers and "neutralized three terrorist pick-up trucks 15 kilometers (10 miles) from Sokolo with (an) estimated fifteen fighters and their equipment" destroyed.
A third attack, in centrally-located Mopti, ended without casualties overnight.
Over the weekend, Mali's army said it had thwarted a new attack on a military camp in the center of the country, two days after a deadly suicide attack in a strategic garrison town near the capital.
It was the first time since 2012 that such coordinated attacks have taken place near the capital.
The Malian army has been upping the pace against terrorists in recent months with the help of Russian instructors.
Mali has witnessed two military coups since 2020. Colonels angry at the government's handling of the long-running insurgency seized power in August 2020, then carried out another coup in May the following year.
The junta that came to power in August 2020 has had sharp tensions with France, which had sent troops to its former colony in what many saw as a bid to still have a foothold in the country.
France's relationship with Mali deteriorated following massive international pressures on the junta. Paris has also objected to the regime’s rapprochement with the Kremlin.
Bamako had accused the French military of espionage and sabotage, pointing out to finding mass graves near a French base in Gossi, which the French have been trying to hide.
In May, the Mali junta decided to withdraw all defense treaties with France, citing "flagrant abuses" of national sovereignty.
Paris no longer possesses the legal basis for carrying out military operations in Mali after the West African nation withdrew from defense agreements with France, the Malian government had said.
