A three-day national mourning has been declared in the country. This attack occurs in full military reconfiguration, after the announcement of the French withdrawal.
Article written by
Published
Update
Reading time : 1 min.
A jihadist attack against a camp of the Malian army in the center of the country left 27 dead on Friday, March 4, in the ranks of soldiers and several dozen “terrorists” have been “neutralized”, the army said in a statement. This is the deadliest attack reported against Malian forces in months. The attack took place at the Mondoro camp, in the center of the country, and also injured 33 people, including 21 seriously, and seven “missing” among the soldiers. A three-day national mourning from Saturday was decreed by the Malian presidency.
— Presidency Mali (@PresidenceMali) March 4, 2022
The army adds that 47 assailants were “neutralized” in the morning and 23 others were killed following a “raking over terrorist sanctuaries”. According to a French military source contacted by AFP, “The Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) did not request support from (the French anti-jihadist force) Barkhane. The Mondoro camp is in an area where Barkhane was asked not to operate, no doubt due to of the presence of mercenaries from (the Russian private company) Wagner”.
This attack comes in full military reconfiguration. In recent months, many reinforcements have arrived in Mali, presented by the Malian authorities as Russian instructors and by Westerners as mercenaries. France and its European allies within the Takuba special forces group have just announced their military withdrawal from Mali.
The Mondoro camp, near the border with Burkina Faso, has been the target of attacks by jihadists on several occasions in the past seeking to impose their hold on the representations of the central state or the foreign presence. An operation against the camp and that of nearby Boulkessi left around fifty soldiers dead in September 2019.