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Mali declares three days mourning after deadly army base attack
BAMAKO, Nov 4, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on
Monday declared three days of mourning after a militant attack on an army
base killed more than 40 soldiers last week in one of the deadliest strikes
on the country’s military.
Islamic State-allied militants claimed Friday’s attack on Indelimane
base in the northeast of the country near the border with Niger, which
authorities say killed at 49 soldiers.
It was the latest assault on target Mali’s military which is struggling
to contain an Islamist insurgency that began in the north and spread to the
centre of the country. At least 40 troops were killed a month ago in a double
attack near the Burkina Faso border.
A presidential communique read on national radio said Boubacar had
declared three days of mourning, though the Malian leader has still has not
spoken publicly about the Indelimane attack.
Islamic State-allied militants claimed responsibility for the Indelimane
strike during which gunmen on motorbikes attacked the base in three different
groups, according to Malian army sources and a UN document seen by AFP.
Over the weekend two more Malian soldiers were also killed by a roadside
bomb and a French soldier was also killed when his vehicle hit an improvised
explosive device.
Northern Mali fell into the hands of jihadists in 2012 before the
militants were forced out by a French-led military intervention. But the
jihadists have regrouped to carry out hit-and-run strikes in violence that
has spread to central Mali.
France still has around 4,500 troops in the country as part of its
Barkhane operation and is looking to hand more responsibility to local
forces.
French Armed Forces Minister, Florence Parly, on an official visit to
the Sahel called for “patience” in the battle against the militants.
“This is a fight where we have to have patience,” she said on a visit to
Barkhane operations in the Chad capital N’Djamena. “We still need time for
the local forces to build up their resilience.”
Neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger have also been infiltrated by
insurgents, at the cost of hundreds of lives.
The G5 Sahel, a five-nation joint taskforce set up in 2014 to tackle the
jihadist threat, is also active in the region. It comprises troops from
Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad.
BSS/AFP/BZC/2020HRS