A jihadist attack against a Malian army camp in the center of the country left 27 soldiers dead on Friday, the army said in a statement. This is the deadliest attack reported against Malian forces in months.
The attack, which took place around 6.30 a.m. on Friday morning, at the Mondoro camp in central Mali also injured 33 people, 21 of them seriously, and seven ” missing “ among the soldiers, according to the same source.
According to the army, 47 assailants were “neutralized” in the morning and 23 others were killed following a “raking over terrorist sanctuaries”. “The offensive search and destruction of terrorist sanctuaries will continue unabated”assured the Malian armed forces in a press release.
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 had killed around fifty soldiers in September 2019.
Departure from France and its partners
A French military source, on condition of anonymity, told Agence France Presse that the results of this attack carried out by several hundred jihadists had left between 40 and 50 dead. The source claimed that 21 vehicles had been captured by the jihadists, including several armored ones.
Furthermore, according to the same source, “the Malian armed forces did not request the support of [la force française antidjihadiste] “Barkhane”. The Mondoro camp is in an area where Barkhane was asked not to operate, probably because of the presence of mercenaries from [la société privée russe] Wagner ».
France and its partners engaged in the fight against jihadist groups in the Sahel announced last month their decision to withdraw their military forces from Mali, now deeming it impossible to cooperate with the Malian junta in power since two successive coups in 2020. and 2021.