Mali's Ministry of Security confirmed on Friday evening that six people were killed, including two gendarmes and a police officer, in a rare attack near the country's capital Bamako.

The landlocked country in the heart of the Sahel is facing an ongoing political and security crisis, particularly in its volatile northern and central regions, where an insurgency has raged since 2012. But the violence rarely reaches Bamako, in Mali's southwest.

On Thursday night, about 70 kilometers (43 miles) from the capital, an attack took place "at the checkpoint of Zantiguila, on the road to the central city of Segou," the Security Ministry mentioned.

The attack was carried out "by as yet unidentified armed individuals," leaving three civilians and three law enforcement officers dead, and wounding two others, it said.

Authorities also noted that on June 24, a police station on the same road was ambushed by "unidentified armed individuals", killing one officer.

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.

France’s relationship with Mali deteriorates

It is noteworthy that there are some current tensions between France and Mali's junta, which took power in August 2020.

The agreements that have been terminated in Mali had once laid the groundwork for France's interference in Mali in 2014.

They were inked a year after French troops sent a substantial force to Mali to allegedly help the Malian armed forces in putting an end to terrorism.

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.

Espionage & sabotage

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. 

The announcement was the latest proof of deteriorating relations between Mali's junta and France.

“For some time now, the government of the Republic of Mali notes with regret a profound deterioration in military cooperation with France,” Spokesperson Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga had said in a televised statement.

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. 

The French are trying to hide mass graves in Mali

According to a member of Mali's National Transitional Council, Aboubacar Sidiki Fomba, the French military is scurrying to hide mass graves in Mali that they have been responsible for.

Last month, Malian troops found bodies buried next to the former French military base in Gossi.

"The French military lies, fabricates facts, wanting to hide mine wells. If there are mass graves, then they are responsible for them," Sidiki Fomba had said.

In parallel with this issue, Mali has also issued an investigation to search for possible nuclear waste.

"We have launched an investigation into the search for possible nuclear waste. I was not there, but I receive information in real time," the official had said.