An elaborate attack by an al-Qaeda affiliate in Mali’s capital this week killed about 70 people, diplomatic and security sources said on Thursday, while the government offered no figures on casualties.
Militants on Tuesday attacked an elite police training academy and the main airport, demonstrating their ability to strike at the heart of Bamako.
The country is fighting an insurgency that took root more than a decade ago in its arid north.
The scale and complexity of the attacks further undermines the ruling junta’s claims that security has improved since it booted out French and US forces, and turned to Russia instead for security.
Two diplomats serving in the region, including one based in Bamako, said that the death toll was believed to be in the 70s.
Reuters could not independently verify the numbers.
A third diplomat based in the region said that hundreds were believed dead and wounded, and hospitals had run out of beds to treat people.
Since the conflict in Mali erupted, violence has spread to neighbors in the Sahel region and reached the north of coastal countries. Thousands have been killed and millions displaced in the region.
Some fighters are allied with al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group.
Tuesday’s attack was claimed by Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin.
Mali’s ruling junta has said it sustained some losses, without providing details.
A Malian newspaper reported that funerals for about 50 police cadets were held on Thursday.
Reuters was unable to confirm the services took place.
The attack was captured in videos published on social media that showed insurgents setting fire to the presidential jet and dead bodies at the police academy.
Only days prior, Malian President Assimi Goita, who seized power in a coup in 2021, said that the army had considerably weakened the armed groups it is fighting with Russia’s help.
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