Insurgents kill dozens in Mali base and attack Timbuktu, sources say
PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — JNIM fighters are seen in a screenshot from a video published by the Al Qaeda-linked Az-Zallaqa propaganda network (via Foundation for Defense of Democracies)
BAMAKO - An Al Qaeda-linked rebel group active in West Africa's Sahel region has claimed an attack on a military base in Mali on Sunday that two sources said had killed more than 30 soldiers.
More than 400 soldiers have reportedly been killed by insurgents since the start of May in bases and towns in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, an unstable region prone to coups.
In a separate attack on Monday, the jihadist group, Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), said in a statement that it had assaulted a military airport and Russian mercenaries in the northern city of Timbuktu.
A toll was not immediately available, but heavy gunfire and shelling could be heard in most parts of the city, according to a Reuters witness and local residents.
"It all started with gunfire similar to shelling followed by automatic weapons fire," one resident said.
"There was panic, people are locked in their homes, we don't know what's going on."
JNIM said on Sunday that it had seized a military base in Boulkessi in central Mali, near the border with Burkina Faso.
The Malian army said it had been forced to pull back after dogged defence, but gave no casualty numbers. Two security sources said more than 30 soldiers had been killed.
A municipal source at Mondoro, near the base, said there were many dead.
Videos shared online showed dozens of insurgents overrunning the base. One showed militants stepping on the bodies of soldiers who had fallen between sandbags. Reuters could not immediately authenticate the videos.
WIDENING INSECURITY
JNIM has claimed a host of recent attacks in the region.
On May 24, it said it had assaulted a base in Dioura, central Mali, killing 40 soldiers.
Last Friday, it said it had seized a base in Sirakorola in southwestern Mali, although the army said it had repelled the attack. It did not provide a toll for that incident either.
In neighbouring Burkina Faso, JNIM claimed attacks on military positions and the town of Djibo in mid-May in which it said it had killed 200 soldiers.
And in Niger, more than 100 soldiers were killed in two attacks in the Tahoua region on May 24 and the Dosso region on May 26, security sources said.
Neither Burkina Faso nor Niger has published a death toll.
All three countries are ruled by juntas that seized power between 2020 and 2023, citing the inability of civilian governments to stamp out jihadist insurgencies.
All have cut ties with Western nations and turned to Russia for military support, but are still struggling to contain violence that has displaced millions.
(Reporting by Mali newsroom; Writing by Bate Felix; Editing by Robbie Corey-Boulet and Kevin Liffey)
