Precarious calm in Bamako and Kati after jihadist and Tuareg attacks
via Abidjan.net9 min read
A precarious calm has returned to Bamako and Kati, the garrison town and stronghold of the Malian junta, on Monday morning, following two days of intense fighting between the army and jihadists allied with Tuareg separatists. The country is in a critical security situation after an unprecedented series of coordinated attacks on Saturday against strategic positions of the ruling junta by jihadists from the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims JNIM, allied with Al-Qaeda and the Tuareg separatist rebellion of the Azawad Liberation Front FLA. The Minister of Defense, Sadio Camara, was killed in these attacks. General Assimi Go茂ta, head of the junta, has not been seen or spoken publicly since the hostilities began. The vast West African country has been plagued by conflicts and jihadist violence since 2012, with the junta taking power in 2020. After two days of intense fighting, no shots were heard in Kati on Monday, though debris from burned cars and bullet impacts were visible, indicating the violence of the clashes. The calm also extended to the airport area in the peripheral district of S茅nou, where only military planes were conducting regular rotations. An officer in S茅nou stated that overnight sweeps had been conducted to lighten checkpoints, and authorities are now relying on the population to report suspicious individuals. The government announced on Sunday evening that Minister of Defense Sadio Camara, 47, a key junta official, was killed on Saturday in S茅nou during
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