Mali: Nusrat al Islam claims attack on military airport and army site
A Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, led by Tuareg Iyad Ag Ghaly, claimed responsibility for the attack that took place at dawn on Tuesday, targeting a Malian army camp in the capital.
The group posted on social media that it had carried out a qualitative operation targeting the military airport and a military training site in the center of the Malian capital, adding that the operation had caused huge losses in lives and equipment and the destruction of warplanes.
Before that, the Malian army announced that it had taken control of the situation in Bamako, speaking in a statement about thwarting an operation carried out by terrorists to try to infiltrate a gendarmerie school.
The Ministry of Security and Civil Protection also issued a statement, announcing that the situation is under control thanks to the vigilant response of the defense and security forces, adding that the armed attacks targeted sensitive points in the capital, including the gendarmerie school.
For its part, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure announced the temporary restriction of access to President Modibo Keita Séno International Airport, as a precautionary measure.
UN staff in the capital, Bamako, received a letter urging them to limit travel until further notice, and the French school there announced it would remain closed due to external events.
Residents of Bamako woke up at dawn today to the sound of explosions and smoke rising from a gendarmerie school building, and video footage later circulated on social media showed the arrest of people accused of the attack.
Bamako has witnessed a series of attacks in recent years, but they remain few compared to some other parts of the country that have faced armed attacks for more than 10 years.
On this context, the group announced the killing and wounding of hundreds of members of the Malian army and the Russian Wagner Group, during the attack carried out by its members on Tuesday on a gendarmerie school and a military airport.
The group added in a statement posted on social media that it had completely destroyed six aircraft and partially disabled four others, in addition to destroying dozens of vehicles, armored vehicles, and other military equipment, and it announced the killing of a few dozen of its members who carried out the attack.
For its part, the General Staff of the Malian Armed Forces announced that the attack resulted in losses in lives, especially among students of the Gendarmerie School, and damage to the airport area.
Malian state television showed dozens of detainees, who it said were involved in the attacks, and some bodies at the gendarmerie school.
Bamako has previously been subjected to several armed attacks, and Tuesday’s attack comes weeks after the Malian army, supported by the Russian Wagner Group, battled armed Azawad groups in the town of Tinzaouaten in the north of the country, near the border with Algeria.
The permanent strategic framework for the defense of the Azawadi people spoke of the army suffering heavy casualties and the capture of members of it and its Russian allies.
It’s worth noting that the so-called “Jama’at Nusrat al Islam wal-Muslimin” group was founded in March 2017, through the merger of four movements, “Ansar al Din”, “Kata’ib Macina”, “Al Murabitun Battalion”, and “Emirate of the Greater Sahara Region”.
The group occasionally claims attacks in northern and central Mali, and sometimes in some neighboring countries, especially Niger and Burkina Faso.
