Mali says capital under control after insurgent attack
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The military administration stated that "some sensitive points of the capital" were attacked, notably the gendarmerie academy.
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Leader of Mali's ruling junta Lt. Col. Assimi Goita, center, attends an independence day military parade in Bamako, Mali on September 22, 2022 (AP)
Mali announced on Tuesday that the capital, Bamako, was under control after insurgents stormed a gendarmerie training school and other sites before morning, firing gunshots that echoed across the city.
According to an army statement "Early this morning, a group of terrorists attempted to infiltrate the Faladie gendarmerie school," citing that "Mopping-up operations are currently underway."
It advised citizens to avoid the area and wait for further official instructions.
The military administration stated that "some sensitive points of the capital" were attacked, notably the gendarmerie academy.
It stated that the army had beaten back the "terrorists" responsible for the assault and encouraged citizens to go about their regular lives.
The gendarmerie school is located in Faladie, a region on the southeastern suburbs of Bamako, close to the main international airport. Prior to daybreak, Reuters heard gunfire in the Banankabougou area near Faladie. People en route to the mosque for morning prayers turned back when bullets rang out.
The gunshots began at about 0530 GMT. Some residents said it originated from the airport, while others stated it came from near the gendarmerie.
According to a security source, shooting was heard in numerous localities, including near the major airport.
Another security source said that the airport had been closed.
Mali is alarmed that weapons supplied to Ukraine fuel terrorism in Sahel
In early September, Malian Ambassador to the United Nations Oumar Daou expressed concern that the weapons provided to Ukraine by the collective West are eventually supporting terrorism in the Sahel area.
Daou stated at a session of the United Nations Security Council that the government is alarmed " because it's been clearly established that a good part of the weapons … end up fueling terrorism and crime in the Sahel."
The Malian envoy further stated that the weapons transfers have the potential to further destabilize African countries and worsen the suffering of the Malian people, who have already been "sorely tested by several years of conflict with dramatic consequences."
Mali has been experiencing a terror insurgency for over a decade, which the French security mission failed to combat. As a result, the violence spread to Mali’s neighboring countries, Burkina Faso and Niger, prompting the three nations’ military rulers to sever their ties with France and form the Alliance of Sahel States while cooperating with Russia in countering terrorism.
Mali’s defense collaboration with Russia has enabled it to regain control of its large previously militant-occupied territories, the chief of staff of Bamako’s Air Force said in an interview with RTVI last week.
The country had been divided into two with around half of the nation occupied by extremist coalitions over the last decade, Brigadier General Alou Boi Diarra said.
In early August, the Malian interim government announced it is cutting off its diplomatic relations with Ukraine following Kiev's involvement in the terrorist attack that killed Malian soldiers and Russian military contractors.
Ukrainian military intelligence service spokesperson (GUR) Andrey Yusov stated on national television that his agents assisted the militants with “necessary information, and not just information, which enabled a successful military operation against Russian war criminals,” pledging that “there will be more to come.”
