Tuareg-dominated separatist rebels said on Saturday they had killed dozens of members of their armed forces Yes during Thursday’s attack on a camp in Doura, Mopti district (central).
The rebels claimed to have counted 98 dead soldiers in their first announcement. Then, they spoke of 81 dead soldiers in the second, which signed the Permanent Strategic Framework, a structure with a key element the Coordination of Movements of Azawad (SKA), an alliance with Tuareg rulers.
The announcements of the rebels, like all the protagonists of the hostilities in Mali, are difficult to verify, especially in remote areas. Access to independent sources in the midst of hostilities and against the backdrop of military rule is a complex matter.
Mali’s military has so far limited itself to announcing that an attack had taken place on its base on Thursday, with no further details, despite evidence and photos of the events in Dura being circulated on social networking sites.
Northern Mali has been transformed since the end of August into a theater of renewed hostilities by the SKA and intensifying jihadist attacks against the Malian armed forces.
Diura is the southernmost region where the SKA operated after taking up arms again.
The resurgence of violence coincides with the ongoing withdrawal of UN peacekeepingwhich was pushed out by the military junta that seized power in the 2020 coup.
Violence continues in the central part of the country and jihadists are expanding north and east.
The separatist rebels reported that their own losses were five or seven in both the announcements they made public. They even pointed out that dozens of soldiers were injured and five were captured, that they took “full control” of the base and that large quantities of weapons, ammunition and other material, including armored vehicles, fell into their hands.
The military junta keeps repeating that its main goal is to restore national sovereignty throughout the territory and that it is reversing the trend in terms of security. Experts, on the contrary, see a rapid deterioration of the situation in the country, which has remained mired in crisis since 2012.
Source: News Beast
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