West African bloc ECOWAS on Wednesday expressed “strong condemnation” of jihadist attacks which a day earlier hit the Malian capital where questions remained about the rare and deadly strike.
An Al-Qaeda-linked group on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the attack in Bamako against highly sensitive targets including a military police training centre and the military airport.
The operation was the first of its kind in years, with the Malian capital normally spared the sort of attacks that occur almost daily in some parts of the West African country.
Among the unknowns is the number of human casualties, with authorities yet to release precise details of the toll.
The general staff admitted late Tuesday that “some human lives were lost”, notably personnel at the military police centre.
It confirmed that the targets were a gendarmes’ training centre and the city’s airport, a complex housing a military airport adjoining the civilian one.
The attack was repelled, the assailants “neutralised” and the situation “rapidly brought under control”, it added.
The extent of the material damage following the attacks also remains uncertain.
Gunfire continued for much of the day Tuesday near the airport, officials and an AFP correspondent reported.
Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM) –- the jihadist group that claimed the attack –- broadcast images showing fighters strolling around and firing randomly into the windows of the presidential hangar in the airport complex.
One video showed a fighter setting fire to part of an aircraft.
Authorities have given no indication whether the plane belonging to junta chief Colonel Assimi Goita was targeted.
JNIM claimed that a few dozen of its fighters had killed and wounded “hundreds” from the opposing ranks, including members of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner.
The jihadist group said in a statement on its communication channels that it had destroyed six military aircraft, including a drone, and damaged four others.
AFP has been unable to verify the claims made by both sides, given the restricted flow of information under the ruling junta.
Mali, ruled by the military after back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, has since 2012 been ravaged by different factions affiliated to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
AFP
