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22-09-2024
BAMAKO: An estimated 77 people have been killed in an attack on Mali’s capital, Bamako, according to media.
About 240 others were injured in the attack, which took place on Tuesday and caused hospitals to be overwhelmed with wounded patients, a diplomat who asked to remain anonymous told the news agency. It’s unclear how the victims were wounded; however, residents reported gunshots and explosions. There was also smoke from apparent fires coming from buildings.
Malian authorities closed Modibo Keita International Airport after the attack.
Mali’s military government downplayed the incident with officials stating the situation was “under control” and the attack had been repelled. Officials later admitted the military had suffered casualties.
State TV station ORTM showed images of about 20 suspects believed to have been involved in the attack wearing blindfolds and with their hands tied. It was reported they had been captured by the military. “The sweep continues,” army Chief of General Staff Oumar Diarra said.
What happened in the attack?
Malian authorities said an armed group attacked an elite military police training school in the Faladie district of Bamako as well as a military base close to the airport early on Tuesday.
Gunshots rang out in the city centre, and smoke billowed into the sky from what appeared to be fires the fighters had lit in buildings and other infrastructure, according to some accounts. Responsibility for the attack has been claimed by the al-Qaeda-linked Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM).
The group’s stated aims include to “remove oppression” and expel non-Muslim “occupiers”, referring to Western influence in the country, such as foreign troops stationed in Mali. It also operates in Burkina Faso and Niger.
JNIM members appeared to have killed scores of Malian soldiers and Russian fighters from the Wagner mercenary group during the nine hours the attack is believed to have lasted for. The Wagner Group, now called Africa Corps, is deployed in the country to assist the government in repelling armed groups.
JNIM posted videos of the assault on social media sites. The clips showed fighters setting fire to a government airplane and firing on a plane owned by a United Nations aid organization, the World Food Program (WFP). Videos also showed dozens of apparently dead soldiers, including white soldiers presumed to be Russians while JNIM claimed to have taken control of the airport and the surrounding area on Tuesday, the Malian authorities said on state broadcasting networks later in the day that the attack had been repelled.
JNIM claimed a few dozen of its members were killed during the assault and it had been able to wound hundreds of Malian soldiers and Russian fighters.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack and confirmed that one UN staff member had been injured. The African Union, Senegal, France and the United Kingdom denounced the violence.
WFP spokesperson Djaounsede Madjiangar confirmed the damage to the aircraft he said was used to “transport aid workers and provide emergency humanitarian aid in remote areas of Mali”. The airplane was on the ground at the time and had no personnel in it. Madjiangar said the attack “reduces our humanitarian response capacity”.
The attack happened in Bamako, the capital and seat of the military government, and specifically targeted military bases. Such a high-profile attack on Bamako has not happened in years. (Int’l News Desk)
